Advice on an affordable portable lighting kit

louise-knight

louise-knight

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Louise Knight
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Hello!

I'm really chucking myself in at the deep end here as I'm a natural light kinda girl, but I have a new business venture which is sure to take off, but to do so, I'll need an affordable lighting kit that's easy to transport, set up and use. Looking through a couple of photography magazines, I'm none the wiser..

I'm not after the top of the range kits.. yet. I'm also not looking for the cheapest of the cheap..!

Can anyone help? :)
 
Hi Jason, that's looking a little over my budget at the moment! Thanks though :D

I'm looking more around the £200-£400 range :S
 
For around that money you are going to struggle for "real" studio style lighting, let alone the portable stuff. I have gone a different way in some respects, in that I have created a portable battery pack to run my existing strobes.

Works well, but is not a dedicated portable system.

Your only other option to be truly portable will be a couple of hotshoe flashes with stands and light modifiers, but they will be a lot less powerful.
 
How portable?

I have a studio lighting kit from Stable Imaging that all packs away into a large kit bag that cost £200.

www.stableimaging.co.uk
 
I may have misunderstood slightly - do you want this to run from battery or mains? When you said portable I assumed battery.....:bonk::bonk::bonk:
 
Thanks for everyones input.

Looking through a couple of magazines, practical photography have reviewed 6 home studio kits. All range from £200 to £540 ??

I think I'll pick up a review magazine if there's such thing :)

I'm looking for one to run off the mains but be portable enough to take round my clients houses :)
 
louise-knight said:
Thanks for everyones input.

Looking through a couple of magazines, practical photography have reviewed 6 home studio kits. All range from £200 to £540 ??

I think I'll pick up a review magazine if there's such thing :)

I'm looking for one to run off the mains but be portable enough to take round my clients houses :)
Click to expand...

Well, you did say portable and portable means battery powered...

Not to worry, now that we know what you want that makes life easier.
My advice is to think carefully about what you want to do with your kit, to avoid buying something unsuitable, and to buy on specification and reputation, not on price - because there's nothing worse than buying cheap and buying twice.
This article may help you to decide what's important to you.
And the Lencarta SmartFlash 200 starter kitis probably the best quality kit you can get at a budget price
 
Garry Edwards said:
Well, you did say portable and portable means battery powered...
Click to expand...

Not trying to split hairs but portable just means you can move it about. Which you can with a kit that packs up into a big bag! :)
 
Sorry if my definition of portable is wrong, but I thought it just meant being able to move it from A to B regardless of how it's powered :D

Garry, when you say "think carefully about what you want to do with your kit", what exactly do you mean?

To be honest, right now I will only be using them indoors, the sun is sufficient enough for me outdoors for the moment :)
I'll be shooting portraits with them..
Is that what you mean??!

Just checking those links you've posted :)
 
Portrait lighting isn't demanding, compared with still life, commercial etc. Most beginners need 1 light as key, often fitted with a softbox or umbrella, possibly a second as a hairlight and a reflector for fill. If you want to light the background you will need an extra light. If you want the background to be pure white (which is just a matter of taste) then 2 lights on the background would be better, except for headshots which normally only need 1.

Hope that helps.
 
Another vote for Elinchrom D-Lites. Quality kit at sensible money and if you want portable (I had no trouble with your meaning Lou ;) ) then they are much lighter than most others.

This 'Christmas Special' two head kit with brollies looks to be very good value at £399 http://www.theflashcentre.com/d-lite-christmas-kit-i2831.html Brollies are good for portability as they are very light and easy to use, and just as good as softboxes for portraiture.

There are a couple of D-Lite outfits in the For Sale section right now. If you buy second hand, make sure you get the fan cooled units. The earlier ones were not and could over heat and shut down for a bit if you seal them up in a softbox and give them a blasting (should be okay with brollies through).

The Flash Centre also does very good hire rates for these kits - £35 for a week all in.
 
JasonRS said:
I'm loving this at the moment

http://www.lencarta.com/safari-portable-flash/fla017-safari-twin-head-portable-kit/index.php

You're welcome to come over and try it out if you'd like. It's perfect for outdoor use, and is sooo much more powerful than the hoshoe flashes I have!
Click to expand...

Jason - does the Safari kit you mentioned compare well againt the Quandra Ranger stuff? I get the feeling they are aimed at the same audience - is that right?

OP - sorry to butt in but I get the feeling that the Lencarta stuff is good vfm (although I could be wrong!!)
 
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