Choosing a Strobist Light Kit

[jr_mott]

<p>I am an amateur photographer working on starting a side business doing headshots/fashion as well as event/band photography. My current camera and lighting setup includes a Rebel XS, 430EX, and Gary Fong Lightsphere. I am thinking that I should spend some money and upgrade my lighting capabilities, light stand, umbrella, etc, and am leaning towards this setup from mpex: http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,12321.html<br>

<br /> It seems like a good deal and would cover my needs, but I'm not sure if it is overkill for where I am in my endeavors. I hear mixed reviews of the Cactus flash system, and am not sure that is worth the hassle. As I would be photographing people, not objects, a misfire could make the difference between getting a great shot and missing it.</p>

<p>What is the general consensus on this kit?</p>

[derek_hofmann]

<p><a href="http://www.alienbees.com/cybersync.html">CyberSync</a> s are half the price of Pocket Wizards and seem to get good reviews.</p>

[chad_hoelzel1]

<p>I'd suggest going to http://strobist.blogspot.com/ and do some reading. A lot of light modifiers you can build yourself. You might want a second more powerful flash as well and/or a reflector. Don't cheap out to much on the light stand if you are doing locational or you'll have issues with it getting tipped to easily. You might want one silver umbrella and one white with removable black backing (shoot through or reflective). Also I second going with CyberSync radio remotes. If you ever want to get studio strobes for a small home studio or locational photography then you are already set if you get alien bees or white lightning.</p>

[dave_redmann]

<p><em>headshots/fashion as well as event/band photography</em></p>

<p>Those strike me as all different types of shots, requiring different equipment. A "strobist" setup might work okay for a headshot with a DSLR, but would not seem appropriate (or even remotely useful?) for the other types. "Event" to me means a flash attached to the camera, although to me a true pro uses a more capable flash mounted on a swiveling flash bracket. "Band" usually means available light--fast lenses, do you have a 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS? "Fashion" can cover a range, but in the studio you'd likely need a far more formidible kit, but more importantly, the know-how to use it.<br>

<br /><em>working on starting a side business</em></p>

<p>Sounds like you need a good bit more experience before you're ready to ask anyone to pay you money to shoot. If you really want to pursue this, shoot what you can, get experience, read up, maybe take a course if one is available at a community college. Or start with a strobist setup and take headshots of family and friends (for free, for the experience). When you get comfortable with that, maybe go to a somewhat more capable lighting rig. Shoot local bands at local venues. Compare your results to what you see elsewhere. Much can be learned.</p>

 

[randy_ramkissoon]

<p>Hi JR</p>

<p>I was looking into the strobist kits at MPEX and ended up ordering the items I wanted separately since I was only saving a couple of bucks.</p>

<p>The one item I would change would be the umbrellas. I would recommend getting the Eclipse 45" umbrellas (http://www.mpex.com/browse.cfm/4,5809.html) with removable covers. This will allow you to use the umbrellas as a shoot through or bounce. Also the silver umbrellas tend to generate harsh light because silver is highly reflective.</p>

<p>Also the pocket wizard products are quite pricey. You might want to consider "Elinchrome Skyport" products which do the same job. You can check out a discussion about them here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157603810079989/.</p>

<p>On a side note you can use the promotion code "light" to get 10 percent off at MPEX.</p>

[mark liddell]

I have much of the similar stuff. The westcott umbrellas are brilliant since they are double fold so fold down to to a tiny size which makes them justify the extra price tag. I would get the second with the back cover so you can use it in reflected mode too rather than only shoot through which sends light both ways.

 

The nano stands collapse really small and are very light but they do only go to 6ft high so you might want to add another bigger stand later for more flexibility when you don't need a super small run & gun kit. Also, calumet sell the same stands as their own brand for much less.

 

While the umrellas are great for setup and light weight, they do send light all over the place so I've added a westcott 28" apollo softbox to give some more directional light when I want it and deal better with wind. The guys on lightenupandshoot.com use that for 95% of their shots - it's great since it packs away like an umbrella and needs no adapter ring for use with speedlights, I think the guy from onelightworkshop uses it too. It won't pack away as small as a double fold umbrella though.

 

The pocketwizards are overpriced and dated now, there are cheaper options for dumb sync triggers. Radiopopper are producing tiggers at that price that do TTL which is great for fast paced strobist style work since you can control all your flashes from the camera is either manual or ttl and will also handle FP high sync. I would avoid the skyports, they would not sync with my D700 at 1/250 - look at cybersync instead.

[jr_mott]

<p>Thanks for the replies everyone - the cybersyncs seem like a great alternative to the pricey PWs.</p>

<p>Dave - you're right, I am going after a pretty varied set of scenarios, perhaps too much. The headshots and band photography idea came from the fact that I have some connections in the theater and local band scene. While not ideal, my 50mm 1.8 has served me fairly well for both these purposes. A fast zoom such as Tamrons 17-50mm F2.8 would be great for the band shots, and might be a good choice if I start getting more band opportunities.</p>

<p>Perhaps I should put the event and fashion on hold, until I get even more experience. Those two just seemed like obvious additions to what I was hoping to do, so I figured WTH, why not offer those services?</p>

<p>It does sound like a strobist kit might be overkill at this point. Perhaps I should get more experience (and work) before going for that. Being as my budget is small, I could add either the Tamron Lens or a Strobist Kit depending on where my business seems to be heading.</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>I think this strobist "kit" and some of the others I've seen ignore one of the basic ideas of the strobist concept. The strobist web site was developed by a working newspaper photographer whose primary objective was to get good lighting while having to work in a "run and gun" environment where you have to travel light and work quick. Therefore small flash units, collapsible stands and umbrellas, etc. But the other thing he has emphasized is getting good lighting on the cheap, which fits in with newspaper budgets and budgets of underpaid photographers. Shooting in the strobist style, you might eventually end up with everything that's in this kit. But everything can be purchased piecemeal with a lot less up-front hit to your budget. If you already have a reasonable shoemount flash, I would start with a lightstand, and umbrella, the mounting bracket and a long PC cord. All of that can be picked up for a little over $100 and all of it will contribute to the pictures that you make. Pocket Wizards or other radio units are very convenient, but not necessary for most shots. Carrying bags and luggage carts and little pieces of cloth to wrap up gear are also great, but add to the cost of the kit without making any difference in your pictures.</p>

[dave_redmann]

<p><em>A fast zoom such as Tamrons 17-50mm F2.8 would be great for the band shots, and might be a good choice if I start getting more band opportunities.</em></p>

<p>I'm not sure exactly what sort of bands you're talking about, but for most popular music, I think you will find that too wide. How close to the inidividual band members do you expect to typically be? Take a look at band pictures and see which ones you like. I suspect that few of them will show the whole band, and most will focus on one member, typically in a less-than-full-body shot. To get that kind od shot with your XS and a 50mm lens, you'll have to be less than 10 ft (3 m) away. Can you get that close?</p>

<p>A Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 might be a better choice, or even one of the 50 - 135/150 mm f/2.8's, or 70-200mm f/2.8's, from Sigma, Tamron, or Tokina. Moving from 50mm to 150mm lets you move from 9 ft to 27 ft.</p>

 

[milan.ilnyckyj]

<p>I have a Strobist umbrella and light stand and have found both to be really flimsy. That said, they are pretty cheap and one should generally expect to get at one pays for.</p>

[bob_bill]

<p>Mark, the skyports work fine with my d700 at 1/250 with speedlights and studio lights. Never heard of a problem. Now 1/320 produces banding but that is a camera sync speed issue, not the triggers. Couple of things I like about the skyports in addition total reliability, is the small size that enables velcroing the receivers to the speedlights and when shooting with other photogs, not a lot of folks have them so no channel issues or other folks using your lights. As far as strobist gear, the nano is light, and only 6 feet, and certainly not a c stand. but throw it over your shoulder on a sling with a bungied umbrella and you have the start of some great shots. I keep a Honl snoot in my bag for restricting light. and a few gels gaffer taped to the flash. A flash shoe in my bag. Trigger and 2 receivers. I keep a reflector in the back of my vest. With the bob, big orange ball, that gives you 4 light sources. Should be plenty. </p>

[mark liddell]

I consistantly got a shutter blade in the bottom half of the frame at 1/250 and have no issues with my SB800s off camera using CLS - I have read about other people having issues with them at 1/250 online. I don't know how much battery life they had since they were borrowed along with the elinchrom quadra system or if that has any effect. I found them pretty flimsy in build and there is no way of locking onto the hotshoe which was not confidence inspiring but they are small and light. I've seen examples of the cybersyncs up to 1/8000 so if I was in the market for a dumb sync trigger that would be my choice.

 

Be careful of cheap stuff being sold under a 'strobist' tag, the popularity of the blog has meant people use this just to sell anything.