Choosing studio flash

[alessia_c.]

Okay guys I'm totally lost again.

My father said I have a budget of $2500-$3000 for lighting.

I'm still new to studio stuff, I don't even own one.

But I will end up shooting mostly outdoors, for the next couple of years.

I will rent a studio during the winter and will need to shoot indoors as well.

 

I was going to get some White Lighting lights or AlienBees, then I read in a

recent thread about how garbage their ringlight was and then I thought, "are all

their products like this"? I mean I know about their GREAT customer service and

it had me thinking, is that their big selling point? Customer service?

 

Then I thought about my limited budget and how much I could get with the White

Lighting stuff or Bee stuff as opposed to Hensel or whoever.

I then read that Hensel's customer service lacks a LOT.

I did a test call with an email and it's true, they're not so great.

 

So can anyone PLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEASE help me out.

I just want 3 lights, no more.

I was considering a beauty dish or a ringlight from the Bees, but not so sure

anymore. :(

 

Please, please, please.........................thank you so much xoxoxoxox

[alessia_c.]

last post at the bottom of this thread made me think about the purchase again.

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00LkLp

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

God's light is the best. Utilize that gift to us. Find a studio that has the window of

opportunity to light with this beautiful gift. All you will need are a reflector or two, set up

your appointments for the time of day when the light works and then create beautiful

images.

 

Simple is best. Yoiu may need a scrim and a reflector with black on one side to control

light but a lot of money thrown at artifical lighting would make beautiful images unless

you understand the mechanics of light.

 

Check this feller and his wife out:

 

http://www.duenkel.com/

 

Best to Your Success!

[aubrey_haynes]

I have been using White Lighting for 12 years( 7 1800s ) and I got the ring light a month ago

(320 WS) and loved it!! The only thing was not enough power so I excanged the ring light for

the Ring Master and a 2500 WS power pac. This light is the best thing I have done for studio

shooting in 15 years. Paul Buff has a 60 day money back (no questions Asked ) satisfaction

guarantee. Try it !

[buckry]

I use SP monolights. I love them, tons of features at decent prices. Plus you can usually get a light stand an umbrella when you buy one from any reseller. I love their lightstands, not sure how tall they go, but they're a good 2 feet taller than most of my light stands. They're plastic so of course you have to be careful with them, but you can't go wrong with a monolight that uses standard incandescant modeling lights, I'd much rather pay $1 for a new bulb at Wal*Mart than $25 for a halogen plus $15 shipping from a specialty store. I've currently got 5 SP Strobes, total cost was probably $1500, and 2 of them came with battery packs, which are great.

[brooks short]

Alessia,

 

Go here http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/shop/2250/Strobe_Packs_Heads_Kits.html

 

and look at Dynalite, Profoto and Speedotron lighting kits. Look for a kit with at least a 1000ws or 1200ws power pack, three flash heads with color corrected flash tubes, 250 watt modeling lamps etc.

[alessia_c.]

Hey guys, what do you think of this link?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/478443-REG/Elinchrom_20812KIT_D_Lite4_2_Monolight_Kit.html

 

The link you gave me, can I used them outdoors as well?

I don't have a studio, so most of my stuff will be done outside.

 

Also, what wattage should I be worried about if I want to shoot a lot of sun lit/backlit subjects. Meaning, what if I want to overpower the sun sometimes.

 

Wow, I'm so glad I didn't put an order in for anything today.

 

Thank you guys, all of you...xoxox

[brooks short]

Alessia,

The Elinchrome monolights that you've linked to have 100 watt modeling lamps. I wouldn't buy anything with less than a 250watt model lamp. 100 watts is just too dim and hard to see. And, 400ws per monolight is not a lot of power.

 

The Speedotron and Dynalite strobes I mentioned above do have accessory battery packs for use outdoors. The Elinchrome monolights will require either AC or a generator.

 

None of the kits mentioned are are really for outdoor use. For that you'd be better off buying some portable flashes like Lumidyne.

[paul_d5]

Brooks Short is right the modeling lights at 100W are too weak. I have a set of those and I knew about that limitation when I bought them. Unfortunately I was on a low budget. Ideally you need 300W.

[martin_krzywinski]

See my post about the ABR800

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00MH1i

 

The person that is returning it - you referenced their message at the top of this thread - clearly had no idea what a ring flash was all about. Most of their reasons for returning the ABR were due to the nature of the ring flash in general (e.g. too hard to meter, models don't like it) vs the specific model.

 

I agree, the ABR800 is cheaply made, but it is the cheapest ring flash out there. Not only is it the cheapest, Profoto/Hensel ring flashes require you to buy a power pack, which means you gotta drop $3k (or more) to get your hands on one.

 

Consider the Hensels too. They're well priced and extremely good. A 3 light kit is $2k. They have 300W modelling lamps, which is nice.

[martin_krzywinski]

<p><i>God's light is the best. Utilize that gift to us. Find a studio that has the window of opportunity to light with this beautiful gift. All you will need are a reflector or two, set up your appointments for the time of day when the light works and then create beautiful images.</i>

 

<p>God's light? WTF? A photon is a photon, regardless whether it comes from the big softbox in the sky or a softbox I put over the model's head.

 

<p>Natural lighting is nice when it's diffuse. Rarely is hard natural light desirable.

 

<p>That being said, if you're serious about location photography, you *will need* a strobe. In too many places, the lighting is just not acceptable for photography and you can't assume that you'll get good natural light.

 

<p>A strobe behind a scrim will give you a nice "window" look. The benefit here is that you can control light levels relative to ambient.

 

<p>Booking clients based on light availability will limit your schedule. Book when you/they are available and create the light you need, be it with strobe or modifying ambient.