Hows this for a basic studio setup ?

gothgirl

gothgirl

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I have two Lastolite backdrops, one sky blue one and one larger mocha one with a trail

I was considering getting with some Christmas money
  • 50mm 1.8 lens for my canon 40d...
  • and one of these lights
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310697211754?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

How would it be ?

I have never done studio type photography before other than small subjects in a lighting tent and I don't want to spend too much in case I don't enjoy it.....

But how would that be for a starter setup ?

  • Backdrop
  • 50mm 1.8 Lens
  • Umbrella light
I like the look of that light as its got the umbrella with it and its height adjustable from 2ft to 6ft, so it can be used for people and with my table top lighting tent for small subjects....

I'm going to start with family / friends first, but is this going to be a usable setup for the foreseeable future at least ?

I am never going to be charging for it professionally, but is it going to give me good results for myself and my portfolio?
 
I wouldn't bother with those lights, they're very weak unless you get the quad versions. I have one and think I used it once or twice.
 
Don't waste your money on that light, it's useless. Not bright enough, and since the bulb has no reflector to channel the light into and through the umbrella, it will just spread everywhere with zero control. You need flash, much more light, suggest one of the many cheaper Yongnuos that you can use for general flash photography as well as making a decent studio light. Plus umbrella, plus stand, plus flash trigger.

Why do you want the 50/1.8 lens? What other lenses do you have?
 
I have a 18-55mm and a 55-200mm, I wanted the 50mm prime for the Depth of Field... and I was told its a really good lens.

I do have a speedlite flash, diffuser and a flash bracket so that I can mount it off camera with.... just searching for a cable / wireless setup for it as its an old flash that won't fire wireless
 
gothgirl said:
I have a 18-55mm and a 55-200mm, I wanted the 50mm prime for the Depth of Field... and I was told its a really good lens.

I do have a speedlite flash, diffuser and a flash bracket so that I can mount it off camera with.... just searching for a cable / wireless setup for it as its an old flash that won't fire wireless
Click to expand...

Okay, so with the 50/1.8 you'll then have that focal length covered three times over. Fine if you want shallow DoF, but you'd probably be better off getting started with portraits at around f/5.6-8.

Have a go at portraits with one of your current lenses, and hook up the flash gun with a sync cable, though it would be unusual for it not to fire successfully with a radio trigger, eg YN RF-602 or 603.
 
Probably would with a trigger, but I have no idea when it comes to setting stuff up, its all new to me, its an old canon speed lite from a film camera. I'm going to buy a Wireless Flash Trigger and Receiver for canon speedlite camers and use that, as I believe it would be less annoying than having a cable attatched to it one a bracket

Everything that I was reading up before, said that the 50mm was an excellent portrait lens, and that f1.8 was excellent at throwing a very shallow depth of field(obv)

Are you saying that the 50mm 1.8 is not worth buying ? as I can see it being a very handy lens.....
 
gothgirl said:
Probably would with a trigger, but I have no idea when it comes to setting stuff up, its all new to me, its an old canon speed lite from a film camera. I'm going to buy a Wireless Flash Trigger and Receiver for canon speedlite camers and use that, as I believe it would be less annoying than having a cable attatched to it one a bracket

Everything that I was reading up before, said that the 50mm was an excellent portrait lens, and that f1.8 was excellent at throwing a very shallow depth of field(obv)

Are you saying that the 50mm 1.8 is not worth buying ? as I can see it being a very handy lens.....
Click to expand...

No, 50/1.8 is a handy lens, and great value, but you don't 'need' f/1.8 to get started in portraits.
 
I was told by a pro that to do portraits, the best lens was around 100mm, if that helps.
 
HoppyUK said:
Don't waste your money on that light, it's useless. Not bright enough, and since the bulb has no reflector to channel the light into and through the umbrella, it will just spread everywhere with zero control. You need flash, much more light, suggest one of the many cheaper Yongnuos that you can use for general flash photography as well as making a decent studio light. Plus umbrella, plus stand, plus flash trigger.

Why do you want the 50/1.8 lens? What other lenses do you have?
Click to expand...

I'll second this! I looked into this and posted exactly the same as the OP, apart from I was looking at two of those continuous lights off ebay. I asked on here like you have done and got the same advice. I then bought a Yongnuo 560iii flash for £50, stand £10, Flash mount £10, shoot through brollie £5 and a set of 2 Yongnuo RF603 triggers for £20. I'm glad I did and I would recommend it to anyone wanting a simple set up on a tight budget. Not only has the flash come in handy for portraits but I have used it on loads of things now and really expanded what I know about photography. I'm not saying I'm an expert but I wouldn't have been able to do half of the stuff I have done with my camera than if I was to get those cheap continuous lights.

Because the Yongnuo 560iii flash has a built in receiver I'm only using one of the RF603 triggers. I have gone out and bought a second Yongnuo flash and I'm still only using the one trigger to run both flashes. They are a great bit of kit for the money. Regarding the lens, before I upgraded my telephoto to a better one I was just using Canon's kit lens, the 55-250. I kept it at around 100mm and got some great results.

All in all I would go with what has been said above by everyone else, please don't get that continuous light lol. I'm glad I didn't and it was all down to asking on this forum:thumbs:
 
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