worth getting expensive lighting to start out

am about to buy some lights to start as a portrait photographer, and

was wondering about the difference between ?200 set ups and ?800

setups. is it that they have more features and a better build quality,

or does the quality of the light differ and show up in the quality of

the portrait. am going to go for studio flash lights. have been

looking at the interfit set up for ?200. any comments about the

difference in quality or interfit lights would be much apporeciated.

 

thanks

 

paul

With studio lighting (as with most things) you get what you pay for - cheaper lights can lack more than build quality and features, they can also be very inconsistent in terms of light quality, output and colour.

 

Having said that, it's possible to get good value with some of the cheaper units. My mother always told me that if I can't say anything good about someone I should say nothing at all - bearing that advice in mind I have nothing to say about the Interfit units....

what would anyone suggest getting out of the cheaper gear around the �200 mark that is a bit better quality than interfit? my main concern is that the light is good rather than it'll last. cos my attemps at studio photography may not last.

There are two entirely different things: power output and quality of construction. You are talking about the difference between 200 and 800. The cost goes up with power. But the cost also goes up with overall build quality, durability and actual power versus nominal power. You can buy a good 300 Ws light or a cheap one. The good one will actually output 300 while the cheap one might only give 150. 200 is very little but might be enough to start with. 800 would give more options and can be adjusted down anyway. Again, a good 800 would give close to 800 Ws of power while a cheap one might give 500.

Ilkka, I think the numbers in Paul's post are prices, not joules. The question marks are missing Pound signs.

 

"...the difference between 200 GBP and 800 GBP setups." Right, Paul?

Ilkka, I think the numbers in Paul's post are prices, not joules. The question marks are missing Pound signs.

 

"...the difference between 200 GBP and 800 GBP setups." Right, Paul?

Ilkka, I think the numbers in Paul's post are prices, not joules. The question marks are missing Pound signs. "...the difference between 200 GBP and 800 GBP setups." Right, Paul?

Oooh. Sorry about that. Slow server. he, he.

Tom, good point. But the message shouldn't change. More money buys either more power, which may be useful or essential depending on the type of photography, or better build quality, and usually both. If you only need a set of lights for occasional head and shoulder portraits and reliability is not crucial, then cheap lights will suffice. For anything else, I would suggest buying good but less if money is constraint. Better start with one or two good lights than two or four unrelaible low powered ones. You can hardly tell a bride to have another wedding next month 'cause my light just quit'.

My 2 (euro) cents are as follows:

 

Check that the lights you are looking at can be fully adjusted for flash power. My basic 250W Prolinca heads are good quality but can only be operated at full or half power, which is FAR too bright (even with modifiers) for most traditional portraits, where you want to have the softbox within arms reach of the subject etc..

 

Oh and you should also have a look at Garry's Photolearn ebook on studio lighting. Not sure If I am allowed to promote it on the board, but if so you can find it on eBay (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Learn-about-Studio-Equipment-from-a-pro_W0QQitemZ7564591278QQcategoryZ3860QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem)

 

Jim

James, thanks for that, but the link doesn't seem to work. Obviously it would be wrong for me to promote my own book but as I don't normally feel a need to delete supplier links I don't feel a need to delete yours. This link should be better. http://www.photolearn.co.uk