Does the quality of studio lighting matter?

Does the quality of studio lighting make a difference?

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CrazeUK

CrazeUK

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CrazeUK
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Hey guys
I am looking at buying some portable studio lighting.
However on limited funds.

I have found various bits on Ebay: example 1 Example 2

Are these any good, or should i be a brand whore and wait until I can buy the more expensive kits?

Thanks
 
You'd probably get a better response in the Studio Lighting section.
 
You buy cheap, you buy twice.
 
Don't buy the cheap e bay lights, you will get so cheesed off with them, save and get decent ones, you will only buy decent ones after a little while anyway, False economy.
 
Its worth searching previous threads as a few of the more experienced have written quite lengthy replies to the same question a number of times and may not want to go over it again.

But the general gist has been yes, better quality yields better more consistent results.
 
There's probably a good reason that those three lights are a third of the cost of a new speedlite...

The colour temperature will be varied (and that's across lights, so you might get one warm and one cool in a two light setup), recycling times will be slow and, and this could be a big issue, the customer service might not be great (or exist at all).

For the money they'd be fine to play around with but I imagine it wouldn't be long before you'd be looking to upgrade.
 
It depends what you want to do. If you just want to have a play, maybe using them every now and again, they'll be fine.
I have used the very same lights, they're flimsy as hell, its hard to get them to go down to lower power settings, and the colour temperature is not very consistent. They will fall to bits far sooner than most other makes, but for infrequent use, and the silly money, they're not that bad.

However if you want really decent lights, that will last, you will need to pay more. :)
 
Guys thanks for the advice.. i will hunt around for those other threads.

Right now for me they are just practice lights, and wont really have great use.
Although saying that they will be packed away and re assembled quite often, seen as i dont have studio space either.
 
I would agree with all of the above but would still personally look at ebay ones
yes they'll be weaker and not as robust, but I know pro's that hire their studios out to people using 'cheaper' lighting which is pretty good but replacing them is as expensive as repairing the premium brands.
for me, cheap is fine as I'm only learning. but if it's a long term thing and you know you'll get the use of it them, then you get what you pay for like in anything photographic
 
Suggest you start with one good light, stand and umbrella or softbox. You can do a heck of a lot with one light and a reflector or two.

Take a look at a Lencarta Smartflash - not much more than £100 for a decent head. And you are sure to get good technical and customer support if you ever need it.
 
Another vote for the Lencarta gear, good quality but for a reasonable price and with great customer service :)
 
My only thing about the Lencarta gear is even though its probably reasonably priced in comparison to the true pro stuff. Its still looks quite expensive.

If i could afford a lencarat kit i would definitely not think twice.

I dont actually have a studio space, so for me its still occaisional hobby, learning thing.

Besides i still havent paid my cam off to the mrs lol

Does anyone have any ideas on the Jessops kit? Its my birthday next month so the mrs is fishing for things to get. I was thinking the Ebay stuff or this jessops stuff.
 
I'm not going to comment about the quality of the alternatives you've mentioned because I'm involved with Lencarta...

But I would point out that the Jessops kit you linked to is continuous lighting, not flash. You need flash.

If you can't afford or justify a proper flash kit, have you considered
A single smartflash head with stand
A 80cm 5 in 1 reflector
and a radio trigger (if you haven't already got one)
?

That's what I used, with an 85cm softbox, for the shots here
These were taken during a talk at the Talk Photography convention, with more time you can do better.
 
Hey Thanks for the info.

Ok i am a little confused.

So for studio lighting there are two types?
Continuous and Flash?

What situation would i use either with?

I do have a Metz Mecablitz AF44 TTL Flash unit that i use with my Nikon D7k.

Would this do?

For the moment, my aim is to do a lot of portrait and posing shots.

Thanks

Garry Edwards said:
I'm not going to comment about the quality of the alternatives you've mentioned because I'm involved with Lencarta...

But I would point out that the Jessops kit you linked to is continuous lighting, not flash. You need flash.

If you can't afford or justify a proper flash kit, have you considered
A single smartflash head with stand
A 80cm 5 in 1 reflector
and a radio trigger (if you haven't already got one)
?

That's what I used, with an 85cm softbox, for the shots here
These were taken during a talk at the Talk Photography convention, with more time you can do better.
Click to expand...
 
You would use continuous lighting if you believe that it's easier than flash, or if you really want to spend the absolute minimum amount of money. But you'd be wrong about it being easier, you need flash.
 
i have example 1 set..tbf..just for house set up studio(not proffessional studio)they work pretty damn good for me..i was on a budget to..and was reccommended these..for me..im happy..if they only last the year im not to sad to buy some better ones..downfall replaced model bulb on one already..but for my house they give more than enough light..to the point i havnt needed to use them altogether yet..a good starter pack really to get you accustomed to them
x
 
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