Which set of lights?

To all:

 

I am a beginning photo student who is about to take an artificial

light class and I am looking at purchasing a set of lights. After

perusing that famous auction site, I have it narrowed down to two

sets. One is a set of four Britek lights 480ws. The second is a set

of four HKS lights 400ws. The Britek set has a few more odds and ends

with it,two more umbrellas, carrying case than the HKS set. But the

HKS lights have built in optical slaves that can be fired by my on

camera flash. I have not been able to find if the Britek lights have

this feature or not. This one extra the HKS lights have has me

leaning to wards them. I would like your feedback on either of these

light systems please. I forgot to add that I am on a limited budget

of $500 so that is why I looked at these sets.

 

Thanks in advance for the help

Gary

I'm not familiar with either set, but I'd figure that the 80ws aren't going to make a big difference. If either set have modeling lights that would add much more usefulness at your stage of ability.

Before you jump onto (shudder) Britek lights, take a gander at Alien Bees. Ten times the quality for just slightly more money. You will be limited severely by some 20,000 or 30,000 flashes with no real option to replace your lamps cheaply with the britek, whereas the Bees will give you something like 250,000 flashes and an easy, inexpensive way to replace lamps when they go. I'm not too sure about any of those figures, but it is substantually better with the Bees. Don't get Britook! I don't know anything about the other lights. I bought my bees about two years ago and just love them. Also, they are made in America and the company is easy to work with.

I don't and have never owned Britek lights, but research I have done indicates that they are crap, and break down after a short while. Alien Bees and the "big brother" White Lighting monolights are what you want. I use White Lightning lights all the time, they are awesome.

Unless you are required to have the lights BEFORE you take the

class, I'd strongly recommend waiting. A little experience and

guidance with how they're used can make a world of difference

in knowing what's a better choice for you.<p>

Also, check out the article on <a

href="http://www.photo.net/learn/studiolighting/">Choosing

Studio Lights</a>; it discusses some things you'll want to

consider before making your decision.<p>

There aren't many BAD lighting systems, but the likelihood of

getting one does, sadly increase as the price falls--the very

inexpenive systems often have significant consistency and

reliability issues

Thanks for the helpful info. Kevin, I don't have to have these before the class but the better half as allocated money for them, so that is why I was trying to find a decent brand to get started with :). I have checked out the Alien Bee website and I have one new question. How much would I be hurting myself if I got the package of two B400 lamps as opposed to trying to save the money for little while and get two B800's.

 

Thanks again for all the help

 

GRY

Gary, the only down side of going for the B400's is that you might want more power for larger group portraits, etc. However, there's not a thing in the world wrong with them for more close-in work.

 

You'll want light stands and some reflector/diffuser devices like umbrellas to start with.

 

However, if you're on a really tight budget, you can manufacture things that will do for a while. The Alien Bees (and most other monolights) will clamp to the end of a rod that's up to 5/8" in diameter. You could, for example, make a serviceable light stand out of ordinary surplus building materials like 2x4's, pipe or electrical conduit, and a piece of 5/8" dowel for the flash unit to fasten to.

 

Reflective umbrellas are extremely convenient but a little harder to make. There are some fairly inexpensive umbrellas available. Possibly you could build some portable white reflector panels to use in the beginning. PVC pipe and a good clean surplus bed sheet come to mind for materials. Even if you got the umbrellas, the reflectors would be very useful.

The Alien Bees are a great choice. White Styrephome works for reflectors if were're going low budget. Try to swing the 800s and what ever you get can be used for backdrop lights when you move up in the world.

Just wanted all of you to know that I recieved my bee's today. Hopefully I will have some shots posted soon for everyone to see!

 

Thanks again to everyone for the advice

 

 

Gary