If you had to choose

[scottanderson]

Ok folks if I could get some answers from those of you out there with

experience using these affordable, beginner light kits. I am choosing

b/t these two setups for my first lighting kit and I am sticking with

these two for a few different reasons, so please if you have any

experience with these light setups I would much appreciate your

feedback the good, the bad, and the ugly.

 

Here are the two choices:

 

1) Paterson Stellar 300 lights

-comes with a small softbox, umbrella and other necessities

 

2)Adorama' Flashpoint 2's also a pair of 300ws monolights and kit

goodies.

 

Heard all kinds of rave reviews about the Adorama flashpoints and

only minimum amount of feedback on the Paterson's.

 

The price is about the same and at a glance the features are as well.

Only thing different is the accessories you can get with Paterson.

They offer a big selection, again at reasonable prices. The big

things Im looking to hear about is if anyone has had reliability

probs or exceptionally reliable experience. What little features you

find helpful and convenient and such. Please comment if you have any

likes/dislikes with these lights.

 

Thanks,

Scott

[ben_lovejoy]

The lesson that many people have learnt is: Don't waste money on cheap strobes. Umbrellas don't soften the light much, and small softboxes are of limited value. Low power limits their use for much more than headshots.

 

A single decent strobe with large softbox and a reflector will be of more use than a pair of cheap strobes.

 

I did the maths myself. By the time I'd accounted for a decent strobe, large softbox, background support, decent-sized backdrop and flashmeter, even buying secondhand I decided I was much better off joining a camera club and paying studio hire fees for decent kit.

[skipd]

If you are in the US, I would ignore both of those and look at the AlienBees products. They are superb for the price. They sell strictly from their factory - see www.alienbees.com. Their customer service is outstanding.

 

For a good, detailed, review of the AlienBees flash units check out this site: http://davidweikel.com/E20_Page/alienbees/bees.shtml

[whitworth photography]

Another vote for Alien Bees. Been using mine for over 2 years now and had a great experience thus far.

[scott levine]

I would look at the Calumet/Bowens range. Rock solid with tons of accessories available.