Beginners studio kit help please

joeteds

joeteds

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Joe
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Hey all
I want to start getting into studio portraits and am after a studio kit for beginners including the soft box, flash head etc etc. Ive had a look online but dont really know what would be best for me as Im obviously a total beginner at studio work, has anyone got any recommendations that would be good for me ? I havnt got thousands to spend but would like one that includes all the kit that I will need for good results. Budget is about £350
Thanks alot in advance
Joe
 
hi joe,

look at interfit, lencarta or elemental.

do a search on here for all of the above and you will find views on all of them.

for the record i have lencarta and i am very happy with them but there are plenty of owners of the others who are as pleased as me. :)
 
imustbedreamin said:
hi joe,

look at interfit, lencarta or elemental.

do a search on here for all of the above and you will find views on all of them.

for the record i have lencarta and i am very happy with them but there are plenty of owners of the others who are as pleased as me. :)
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Thanks alot Sye, Ive been having a good read up but being a complete studio novice Im struggling to decide what to go for out of 1 umbrealla and 1 soft box, 2 umbrellas or 2 softboxes ? I want be using it to photgraph the little 1 and girlfriend and probably family stuff now and then.Any ideas what would be best for me ? Ive read that softboxes spread the light evenly over the whole subject which sounds good to me and what you would want but then Im thinking if thats the case why would people bother with umbrellas ?
 
I think that a lot of people use umbrellas because they're cheaper and because they fold away to nothing (although you can get folding softboxes too).

Take a look at this article in the Lencarta Learning Centre, it illustrates what all of the popular light shaping tools actually do. You'll see that there is no such animal as 'best' because there are a lot of different tools available and they all do different jobs in different ways - but for starting out, I strongly recommend a kit with 1 softbox and 1 umbrella. Typically, you would use the softbox as the main light and the umbrella as fill light, but that isn't carved in stone - nothing is.
 
as gary says joe. a brolly and a softbox to start will do just fine.

you can then add to your kit if required but the above will serve you very well........if you buy lencarta go for a folding softbox.....i wish i had:bang:
 
To start of, as a simple studio set up, I've bought this light set up, to go with a background set up I got as a birthday present earlier this year off Fleabay.

For me it's an ideal cost effective set up, and is helping me in gaining experience in shooting portraits for family members, and a good learning curve without worrying, at the moment, on having the pressure of creating pictures for paying clients.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I think that a lot of people use umbrellas because they're cheaper and because they fold away to nothing (although you can get folding softboxes too).

Take a look at this article in the Lencarta Learning Centre, it illustrates what all of the popular light shaping tools actually do. You'll see that there is no such animal as 'best' because there are a lot of different tools available and they all do different jobs in different ways - but for starting out, I strongly recommend a kit with 1 softbox and 1 umbrella. Typically, you would use the softbox as the main light and the umbrella as fill light, but that isn't carved in stone - nothing is.
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Thanks alot Garry thats brilliant. Ive been going through and reading the links last night and today. Theres alot I dont understand but I suppose thats why Im a complete beginner :) . Im really liking the look of the lencarta set so will probably go for that but as you, Sye and simon have said the folding softboxes look really handy, just a few questions though about them -
1.The folding softboxes are not part of that kit so will that mean I will have to buy each bit of kit seperately just to get the folding one ? Ive worked it out and it comes to about £60 extra.
2.theres not a 60x60cm folding soft box and the only square one from lencarta is 100x100cm, will that matter for me ? from what Ive read the bigger is better for family stuff and full body shots. but does that mean it will be too big for just head and shoulders shots ?
3.does it have to be square ? what is rectangle for ?
Thanks again Garry
 
1.The folding softboxes are not part of that kit so will that mean I will have to buy each bit of kit seperately just to get the folding one ? Ive worked it out and it comes to about £60 extra.
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Buy the nearest kit to it - say the one with 1 umbrella and 1 softbox and add the softbox of your choice. I will then make sure that you aren't sent the kit softbox and are given an immediate refund of its value. To do that, I need an email to support @ lencarta dot com immediately before the order goes through.
2.theres not a 60x60cm folding soft box and the only square one from lencarta is 100x100cm, will that matter for me ? from what Ive read the bigger is better for family stuff and full body shots. but does that mean it will be too big for just head and shoulders shots ?
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The general view is that bigger is better, because a bigger one can produce softer light if required. But if it's used in a small room, it may be too big to allow you to get it high up (low ceilings) and may not leave you enough space to work. It will never be too big for head and shoulder shots, you can always make the light harder by moving it further away and you can also make it smaller by masking the front with cinefoil or even binbags...
3.does it have to be square ? what is rectangle for ?
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It can be any shape you like. The shape affects the coverage and also determines the shape of the catchlights (the reflections of the softbox in the eyes) and that's just personal preference.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Buy the nearest kit to it - say the one with 1 umbrella and 1 softbox and add the softbox of your choice. I will then make sure that you aren't sent the kit softbox and are given an immediate refund of its value. To do that, I need an email to support @ lencarta dot com immediately before the order goes through.
The general view is that bigger is better, because a bigger one can produce softer light if required. But if it's used in a small room, it may be too big to allow you to get it high up (low ceilings) and may not leave you enough space to work. It will never be too big for head and shoulder shots, you can always make the light harder by moving it further away and you can also make it smaller by masking the front with cinefoil or even binbags...
It can be any shape you like. The shape affects the coverage and also determines the shape of the catchlights (the reflections of the softbox in the eyes) and that's just personal preference.
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Thanks loads Garry,
My mum and dad are going halves with my gf for xmas for me so will be ordering really soon. What do I need to put in the email ?
By the way Ive just seen the folding octabox, would you recommend these over square or rectangle ?
 
Just say what it is that you don't want sent (for example the softbox that's included) so that the warehouse can be told, and the refund can be put through.

A lot of people like octa softboxes, but it's really all down to personal choice.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Just say what it is that you don't want sent (for example the softbox that's included) so that the warehouse can be told, and the refund can be put through.

A lot of people like octa softboxes, but it's really all down to personal choice.
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Ok thats great thanks alot Garry. Would you say a light metre is a must ? Ive been reading up and watching videos on them and struggling to understand how they end up with their camera settings from reading the metre. What kind do you think would be ok for a total beginner ? as theirs loads out there and dont want anything too complicated to understand.
 
joeteds said:
Ok thats great thanks alot Garry. Would you say a light metre is a must ? Ive been reading up and watching videos on them and struggling to understand how they end up with their camera settings from reading the metre. What kind do you think would be ok for a total beginner ? as theirs loads out there and dont want anything too complicated to understand.
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Personally I always use a metre in the studio because I find it to be much more accurate and much quicker than not using one, but not everyone agrees with me.

I did this video some time ago, hope it helps.

As for make, meters are pretty simple things and they all work in the same way and should produce the same readings, so it doesn't make much difference which one you have. The more expensive ones may have more features, which may or may not be important to you. I use a very expensive Minolta meter simply because of the build quality - if I drop it I just pick it up again and carry on using it, with some of the cheaper ones you may have to kick the bits towards the bin instead of carrying on using it:)
 
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