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Starting equipment: Lights
Can anyone give some basic input on a good starting lighting package? Ive looked at B&H been to some group shoots and ive seen other photographers use a host of different set ups, but I have no clue as to what to get as a basic start up kit. I need something thats portable( as I travel alot, and do alot of Location work in my home town) and thats good for indor and outdoor use. I dont need anything to elaborate to start but I do want to buy quality gear that i can build a rig on, not cheap crap that i plan on replacing later. I could also use a good manual or 2 on lighting for photography so a sugested reading list would be cool to;) Thanks for any help or sugestions. P.S. Shops to buy lights at are helpful, but i really need to know what kinds of lights are good to start out with. Sep 15 05 05:07 am Link Sep 15 05 05:18 am Link Jonathan Cain wrote: My personal choice is Photogenic Powerlights. They're a little expensive if you buy them new but you can usually get good deals on eBay. My second choice is Alienbbees. The advantage of the Photogenics is the range and quality of accessories you can get for them. Sep 15 05 06:46 am Link [/quote} My personal choice is Photogenic Powerlights. They're a little expensive if you buy them new but you can usually get good deals on eBay. My second choice is Alienbbees. The advantage of the Photogenics is the range and quality of accessories you can get for them. As for books, JJ Allen's Posing and Lighting Techniques for Studio Portrait Photography has been my bible. I see it's on sale for $19 on amazon. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ … 32-1560807 Paul thanks! Sep 15 05 06:57 am Link Alien Bees. Inexpensive, but good quality studio monolights. They are very lightweight, so this fits the bill for your traveling consideration as well. Customer service is top-notch. Sep 15 05 08:39 am Link Buy something that you can expand on without breaking the bank. I first bought Excalibur monolights, which were cheap and worked fine, but I couldn't really expand on them. Then I bought second-hand Profotos, which are great, but accessories and replacements are way too expensive. Sep 15 05 08:55 am Link Ken Doo Photo wrote: I'm in the same situation as Jonathan. I've also seen other folks rave about Alien Bees. Can you tell me what makes them better than other options? How expandable are then when you start looking at building a system? Sep 15 05 09:13 am Link BrothaLoveImages wrote: The big plus is that they're infinitely adjustable over about five stops (many others in the same price range use click stops) and they provide a pretty fair amount of power for the money. They have their own accessories and can also take those made by/for Balcar. Sep 15 05 10:03 am Link I started with 2 sets of Alien Bees and have since bought 2 sets of closeout(800s) from White Lightning. I don't know lighting well enough to pump them on technicals. What I can say is that the service is outstanding. All service reps are extremely helpful and courteous. If the nearly two years since I started, I've asked for help numerous times. In addition, I blew up a light I bought over a year ago. I called, and was told to box it and send it in. It was fixed and back at no charge in 10 days. Sure it was under warranty, but I got no hassle. Let my Nikon D70 go out and I try to get the same help... Won't happen. Sep 15 05 08:09 pm Link I am going to swim upstream a little bit here, sorry. I use Photogenics as well because of the range of accessories, the wider range of tube temperatures and the much higher power level available in the new 2500's. They are an extremely high quality light. Photogenic also makes a lower cost light that takes the same accessories, the Studio Max II. They cost about the same price as the Alien Bees. I am not suggesting them over the Bees, but most people don't know they exist. That having been said, Alien Bees are great lights for the money. I don't know how you can beat them. I love that they are light weight. They can easily be hung from a boom. They are also quite reliable and the service is great. I really only have one negative comment about them. I really guess that it depends on your level as a photographer. If you read the technical write-ups on the Alien Bees (and the White LIghtenings as well), testing has shown that the color temperature of the flash tubes tends to wander as the lights get hot under constant use. There have been several articles written on this. I've had one of my meters and a camera body matched and had the service department profile the body to my Photogenics with the UV tubes. When someone brings Alien Bees into my studio, I can twiddle with the white balance on the camera and get a good, acceptable result. However, over time, if the lights are being hit relatively hard, I can see the white balance wander. Not a big thing, it just annoys me when I get something set up right, don't move a thing, but it changes anyhow. Bottom line though, I suspect the inexpensive Photogenic Studio Max II's probably do the same thing. It probably doesn't affect most people because they don't hit the lights hard enough to get them that warm, but it is something to consider. If your photography improves but your images at times become inconsistent, check the light output with a color meter. Just my thoughts. Rip them apart as you will. Sep 15 05 09:03 pm Link I got my first set of studio lights 6-2-05,Very new to the studio. Used do do most of our work outside. I live in Nashville so Alien Bees was a sure deal for me. All I can say is, I love them..........but I am a little biased because they are all I have known. Sep 15 05 10:08 pm Link Tungsten hot lights. Smith-Victor are good. Set of three including barndoors, grids, snoots and any other light modifiers except softboxes. Softboxes are easy to fake by bouncing light off walls, white boards or hi-temp umbrellas anyway. They travel easily, cost about a tenth what strobes costs, let you see what you'll get without polaroid (sorry, with digital that's not an issue I guess), and give you more than enough light for f5.6-f11 (asa100) shooting of a single subject with the right bulbs. And when you work with them, you'll have time and the experience to figure out what you really need in strobes. If you really, really don't want to be the only guy on the block without strobes, go rent some a few times to see what works best for you. The worst thing is to find you've bought too little and the second worst is to have too much to ever use. I've done both. -Don Sep 15 05 10:41 pm Link Alan, one thing about the Studio Max II's is that they don't have a fan, at least they didn't the last time I checked. Paul Sep 15 05 10:43 pm Link Jonathan Cain wrote: I agree with buying the best you can afford rather than buy/replace/buy/replace. It's usually a budget issue for most people. Dependability is something I prefer and that comes at a little higher price sometimes. Paul Ferrara wrote: That's a good book for sure. Sep 15 05 10:58 pm Link Paul Ferrara wrote: That is true, but .. neither do my Photogenic PL375's or my PL750. Sep 15 05 11:14 pm Link I use Calumet Travelite monolights. They're made by Bowens and built very well, with a great reputation. I've never had a failure, but have a five-year warranty to back it. Calumet is also a company that has a good reputation and stands behind their name. For location work, new units have a battery option which allows use of two 750ws heads. Nice compact setup and built sturdier than the Bees. Bowens/Calumet also has a sensational range of accessories available for them. Travelites come on one, two and three head kits with lights of either 375ws or 750ws, as well as mixtures of both. You can also buy them separately, adding on as you need them. The light is clean and easily controllable, the technology always improving (and they have been high-quality for many years). These lights are pro gear but affordable. Check 'em out at www.calumetphoto.com Sep 16 05 12:12 am Link This is going to be way out of left field, but since you mentioned portability, that made my mind instantly jump to my go-to, infinitely portable strobe rig... Patterson flat-panel strobes. The little ones are a single setting, but you can take them literally ANYWHERE, mount them off camera or on, fire them as masters or slaves, and because they're flat panels, it significantly reduces all the rest of the accessories you'd typically have to have on hand (umbrellas, softboxes, scrims, etc, etc). Shooting a wedding in an EXCESSIVELY dark chapel, I even managed some darn sweet shots placing a couple of these babies in the windows & triggering via an IR strobe. Did I mention they're daylight balanced and last ridiculously long on 4 AA batteries? Handiest damn things on the planet... Of course Alien Bees are probably the best option for studio work... Sep 16 05 12:22 am Link Alan from Aavian Prod wrote: I never knew that. I have two of the 150 ws models and just checked and by golly, no fan. Sep 16 05 12:30 am Link Jim Warren wrote: Calumet stuff is very nice and worth the cost. I almost went with them instead of Elinchrom but some features of Elinchrom won me over (digital features). Can't go wrong with a brand like that. Sep 16 05 08:54 am Link LiteFocus Studios wrote: There are now digital Travelites in 500 and 1000ws. They don't have the battery option for location, but accept the same light modifiers and are similar, with a 6-stop range. Sep 16 05 09:45 am Link I've always wondered what "the greats" and "my favorites" used.... anyone? what about cameras? I know some of the "newer" fashion photographers don't use lights like Terry Richardson, Mark Borthwick and Juergen Teller.. anyone know what any other "known" photographer uses? Sep 17 05 06:13 pm Link phil taylor wrote: Most NYC pros apparently use Profoto. That's also what most rental houses carry here, though not exclusively. For them it's about availability, sturdiness, light control, safety and consistency of the light output, esp. when doing fashion or catalog work. Sep 17 05 06:48 pm Link Jay Farrell wrote: I heard about these on another MM forum post, but that was the first time. The Mobilights look interesting for me because I like to shoot on location and power is always a challenge. Has anybody had any experience with these lights? Sep 19 05 08:33 am Link i use a cheaper slave flash and three 200 watt natural light flood lights from home depot... with some sorta reflector thingies. works good enough for now. Sep 19 05 06:08 pm Link phil taylor wrote: I just saw a snippet of an SI calendar shoot on TV the other night. They must have had a dozen staff members and the photog was using an RZ67 with what looked to me like a digital back. They used fill flash on every shot too. Sep 19 05 07:22 pm Link Robert_Vega wrote: How much of the $5K did those consume? Sep 19 05 07:23 pm Link A friend of mine has the Mobilites. They are pretty good but as he says, "God help you if they fall over." They aren't built to sustain much of an impact. I restarted my career two years ago with a Vivitar 285, a light stand, an umbrella, and an IR slave set I got for $20. The whole set up cost me about $200 and it was enough light to do what I needed to get done. Then I found a Sunpak 120j flash for $100 at a swap meet and started using that as my main light and would use the 285 as a fill. This set up has lasted me for 2 years now. Just today I have finally upgraded to a Quantum X2. When I opened my studio a few months ago I got a small Dynalite 400 w/s pack with 2 heads. But 75% of my work is still location and all I take on location is that old 120j and a 285. 9 out of 10 images on my site are lit with the 120j and/or 285. Cheers, Zack Sep 19 05 07:32 pm Link For the original poster: I second AlienBees. I have used them at another photographer's studio and found them to be consistent and reliable. They are certainly not the most robust ones out there like my Bowens or the Profoto I occasionally rent, but the ABs and White Lightning lines are really hard to beat for value, features and consistency. They even have location battery pack now. Grab a set AND one or two of their closeouts, those are just ridiculously cheap. Re: JTLCorp, I have a friend who shot in LA that would swear by their reliability. They also are great value for money, but they just aren't built as strongly as the Profoto, Elinchrome, Bowens (Calumet) etc. You get what you pay for, but light is light to some point. I think most of the biggest pros use Profoto, but that's second hand info, but it's bloody expensive. Ok ok. I need to add. Like Don, I also started with hotlights. I had some Arri (I think?) and still have Smith Victor. Good cheap, consistent and highly controllable light sources. Tons of modifier and great heat source for shooting in the winter months in Seattle.  Sep 20 05 02:04 am Link Look, everybody's talking about strobe here. Frankly, if you're REALLY just starting out, strobe is a bad idea. Start with light you can see. Simple photofloods (ie Smith-Victor) is a really good idea. The only knock is you can't use 'em outdoors, or anywhere you can't plug in. So what to do in that case? Use reflectors (bounce board). You'd be surprised how many published photographers work this way as often as they can. I'm one of them. Strobes are just a damn nuisance in every way. They're sometimes necessary, they're sometimes the only way a certain look can be achieved. But so, so often they're just not worth the hassle. There are an awful lot of shoots I've done in natural, available light that COULD'VE been done under strobe, but would've turned out all the worse for it. Learn the art of lighting and controlling light (and exposure!) first. Then go for the light that you can't really see while you're working (strobe). The modelling lamps in those things suck, that's not the light that you're photographing. You aren't going to get a modelling lamp in anything short of a Profoto pack system that even vaguely approaches the look and quality of the actual flash. None of these inexpensive monoblock units will put out anything resembling the actual strobe from their modelling lamp. Sep 20 05 02:15 am Link lll wrote: Hensel Porty for location, Profoto for studio. Profoto is the rental house standard pretty much world-wide. In some markets they like renting Elinchroms, in some it's Bowens or Balcar, in a lot of US markets they like renting out the Normans, especially in Southern California, in others it's Broncolor. But pretty much everybody does Profoto. Sep 20 05 02:21 am Link phil taylor wrote: What shooters specifically? What kinds of work? Lots of top shooters use LOTS of different gear depending on what they're shooting. AND, where they happen to be located and what's rented there. Sep 20 05 02:34 am Link Jonathan Cain wrote: Not sure if anyone asked you yet, but whats your budget for lights (including stands & umbrella's/softbox's)? Sep 20 05 07:52 pm Link I have Hensell and Elinchrom, i like the hensell ones a lot better.. you can get a two light kit with a bunch of things like umbrellas and grids for a couple grand... Sep 20 05 11:06 pm Link i use Speedotron Brownline series. Looking to upgrade to Blackline in the future. Sep 22 05 07:19 pm Link what do you shoot with? Light requirements vary with format. Speedotron brown lines are a good starter. They're not expensive used and they're fairly versatile and durable. Sep 23 05 08:52 pm Link Marko Cecic-Karuzic wrote: He also used Plaubel-Makina 6x7s and Fuji 6x4.5 folders, among the more odd-ball of his arsenal. In his studio work he used both strobe and hot lights according to photos I've seen of him working. lll wrote: Oh I actually started with strobe in photo school and then in my commercial business. I ended up with tungsten because I prefer working with it and am in a situation where I get to do whatever I want. Sep 23 05 10:59 pm Link I don't have much to add, but to say that this is a supremely helpful and informative thread. Thank and kudos to all contributing! Sep 23 05 11:27 pm Link D. Brian Nelson wrote: Sorry Don... Sep 24 05 12:15 am Link lll wrote: Gee Leo, it's not a biggie - I probably shouldn't have mentioned it except that folks tend to dis tungsten because it's not tech enough or something. On an entirely different subject, you're making some great stuff and seem to be aswarm with babes up there. Maybe it's time I come visit. I'll ride the Interceptor (unless Asian bikes aren't welcome). Sep 24 05 12:22 am Link phil taylor wrote: some actually use that big light source in the sky from what I understand. Sep 24 05 12:37 am Link |
