Is this kit any good for a beginner?

sc0ttie

sc0ttie

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Scott
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If not, what is wrong with it? I want to photograph people, products and outdoor portraits (eventually).

Ebay link

Any thoughts?
 
No link, but I doubt whether that would make any difference to the answer - Ebay is the dumping ground for new lighting junk that will only sell to people who don't know anything about the subject.

And even the second hand stuff from good makes often sells for more than the new price:)
 
You know what? When I checked the eBay one I thought "ah the Amazon one must be better". But it's not. You would almost certainly be better with an anglepoise lamp from Ikea....

The Amazon lights aren't flash - they are very low powered continuous lights. These are OK (as in could possibly do the job) for static subjects in a darkened room. For portraits of people who actually breathe, forget it. Outdoors they would be less use than a torch from Halfords.

eBay ones fit the eBay pattern - cheaply built, non standard fittings and probably a bit flimsy. They will (probably) go flash when you tell them so yes, you could get results with them. But they would be hard work.

Looking on eBay I can't find anything under £200 that looks good.

If that's really your budget then a single Lencarta Smartflash, stand and small softbox would just about come under budget. Plenty you can do with 1 light.

ETA: posts crossed with Garry - we both agree the Amazon stuff is junk... :)
 
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I'd rather use a Miner's head torch.

Buy a single good quality studio head and add to it...just like you would a camera system. Listen to ^^^ these guys they kind of know what they're talking about :)
 
So, Jonathan and Garry, are you saying that Lencarta are the only good brand of flash head in my price range? Are Elinchrom any good? Bowens? am just looking at some other brand names as well.
 
sc0ttie said:
So, Jonathan and Garry, are you saying that Lencarta are the only good brand of flash head in my price range? Are Elinchrom any good? Bowens? am just looking at some other brand names as well.
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Elinchrom and Bowens are both good too. Bowens are out of your price range, Lencarta is within your price range and Elinchrom may be within your price range. You won't go wrong with any of these makes.
 
sc0ttie said:
So, Jonathan and Garry, are you saying that Lencarta are the only good brand of flash head in my price range?
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Not at all - but they are one I know.

sc0ttie said:
Are Elinchrom any good? Bowens? am just looking at some other brand names as well.
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Both excellent makes.

D-lite 2 would cost you £183 head only and Bowens starts at £210 (Warehouse Express prices). Neither of those leave you much room for stand and mods on a £200 budget.

The Flash Centre will have an offer on D-lite kits at Focus - about £450 gets you a lot of kit and it would be an excellent buy. But it's over double your budget.

ETA: damn that Edwards types fast.
 
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JonathanRyan said:
ETA: damn that Edwards types fast.
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Yes, and I'm going be typing up learning notes at Focus for the people you're demonstrating "how to photograph softboxes" to:)
 
sc0ttie said:
So, Jonathan and Garry, are you saying that Lencarta are the only good brand of flash head in my price range? Are Elinchrom any good? Bowens? am just looking at some other brand names as well.
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In all honesty your budget is a very tight one, whichever direction you go you'll be looking at entry level equipment. Personally I would go for D Lites, accumulate some Elinchrom modifiers over time and then upgrade the heads. The D lites have some great features now, built in skyport receivers, intelligent slave cells that recognise pre-flashes etc. I'm debating adding a pair to my kit just to power the hilite I use, maybe at focus we'll see
 
There is a lot of junk on ebay, but some of it is very good. Jinbei for example, which is the Chinese company that makes Lencarta heads. You have to know what you're looking at which is hard for the uninitiated (and even for the initiated sometimes) and be confident that you're not going to have problems. A decent brand is one way of ensuring that.

The brands that I rate are Bowens, Elinchrom and Lencarta, although there are others but I don't see them offering anything that these three don't. At the budget end, Interfit is respected as good value amateur gear - by which I mean, don't expect to hammer it day in day out and throw it around, but most folks don't do that anyway.

For your budget, I would get a single head from one of the quality brands, stand, brolly and reflector, and take it from there. You can do most things with one head actually, and TBH having too much kit at first tempts you to use it all and you just get in a mess. Almost all good lighting is based around one main key light, and the others are mostly for the background or secondary effects.
 
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I use the one in your ebay link they work very well, ok there not top quality(but i dind't expect them to be) they have pleanty of power and do the job well, also they are making me money which is great, will i replace them(yes when they stop working) but at the moment there making me money and they have paid for them selfs a few times over also my d700 and 70-200mm vr 1.
so am i happy with them yes,
 
Thanks for the suggestions, these will all be considered by me.
nobody mentioned elemental lights?
http://www.studio-flash.com/studio-flash-heads/250/genesis-250ws-mkii-strobe.html

are they any good?

scottthehat said:
I use the one in your ebay link they work very well, ok there not top quality(but i dind't expect them to be) they have pleanty of power and do the job well, also they are making me money which is great, will i replace them(yes when they stop working) but at the moment there making me money and they have paid for them selfs a few times over also my d700 and 70-200mm vr 1.
so am i happy with them yes,
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Interesting to hear from someone who has actually bought the set I originally mentioned. They make you money, that is great to hear of, would you say you have produced some great quality images with that kit or not? Any regrets about buying that kit?

BTW my budget may be small but I have not ruled out buying used equipment if that is plausible.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
To put the price of that kit into perspective.....

2 x lightstands £25
2x 33" umbrellas £15
1x set of triggers £20
Shipping £10
Ebay/Paypal fees £15

That leaves £55 including the seller's profit for the lights themselves.....
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I had no idea Amazon accepts paypal...
 
Jessops do an interfit set for £199. Not the best in the world, but within budget and a little recourse with the retailer if you have problems.

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/74367/show.html

Not that i have ever used it, just something I kow the price of. I do not expect it to be up to the standards of the kit the Gary recomends.
 
sc0ttie said:
Thanks for the suggestions, these will all be considered by me.
nobody mentioned elemental lights?
http://www.studio-flash.com/studio-flash-heads/250/genesis-250ws-mkii-strobe.html

are they any good?



Interesting to hear from someone who has actually bought the set I originally mentioned. They make you money, that is great to hear of, would you say you have produced some great quality images with that kit or not? Any regrets about buying that kit?

BTW my budget may be small but I have not ruled out buying used equipment if that is plausible.
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im more than happy with them, when i started i was on a budget and thought i would give them ago. within a month they had payed for them self, might dearer ones be any better i dont know probably,, please fell free to look at my site.
 
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lawrie29 said:
Jessops do an interfit set for £199. Not the best in the world, but within budget and a little recourse with the retailer if you have problems.

http://www.jessops.com/online.store/products/74367/show.html

Not that i have ever used it, just something I kow the price of. I do not expect it to be up to the standards of the kit the Gary recomends.
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I might go for that kit as it seems to have most of what I want at my price level, thanks for the link.
 
Sorry to hijack Scott.......

Anyone used the Jessops lighting kit (the one in the link above)? Is it any good or would any of you buy it?

Cheers :)

Si
 
There are a lot of good reviews out there for Elemental kit too,

Budget pirce but great performance seems to be the tone of the reviews (S-fit also)

linky:

http://www.studio-flash.com/


Rich
 
Would you say that his is a good set up kit?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....307614&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_3327wt_907

I currently use a couple of speedlites, 430exII and YN460II, and I also get free access to full equipped studios with Bowens, but come the summer this ends as I'm leaving uni. I'm after a bigger lighting kit, and sadly can't afford the likes of Bowens etc, so the above kit seemed ideal, with good reviews too!
 
Flash In The Pan said:
To put the price of that kit into perspective.....

2 x lightstands £25
2x 33" umbrellas £15
1x set of triggers £20
Shipping £10
Ebay/Paypal fees £15

That leaves £55 including the seller's profit for the lights themselves.....
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Or does this just show how much extra we're paying for a name?

We've become a nation of brand loyal buyers who frown upon anything that isn't from a big name. Are we becoming sacred we paid too much for something that had a name?

The OP wanted something fit for purpose with a tight budget, but his/her suggestion was dismissed out of hand, aren't we getting a little bit elitist here?

I was always led to believe the camera was the tool for capturing the image, the photographer was the one responsible for the quality of the image.... maybe its the same here? Does it have to be expensive to do what we want or are we just being snobish?

I agree quality costs, but the OP can't afford that, so surely something is better than nothing?

Would we have the same view if we saw a single parent buying economy beans and bread to feed her children cos she can't afford heinz??
 
jovialjester said:
Or does this just show how much extra we're paying for a name?

We've become a nation of brand loyal buyers who frown upon anything that isn't from a big name. Are we becoming sacred we paid too much for something that had a name?

The OP wanted something fit for purpose with a tight budget, but his/her suggestion was dismissed out of hand, aren't we getting a little bit elitist here?

I was always led to believe the camera was the tool for capturing the image, the photographer was the one responsible for the quality of the image.... maybe its the same here? Does it have to be expensive to do what we want or are we just being snobish?

I agree quality costs, but the OP can't afford that, so surely something is better than nothing?

Would we have the same view if we saw a single parent buying economy beans and bread to feed her children cos she can't afford heinz??
Click to expand...

That is an interesting post. I have to admit I did feel that a few of the lighting threads on here asking about kit seemed to have been hijacked by the Lencarta police... :lol:
 
Well I thought I might add to this thread as I’m looking at what is currently available. About a year or so ago one of my mono’s died and is beyond economic repair, the thing is, I’m not in the least put out by this as I bought these units second hand and I’ve been using them for nearly 30 years.

Up to last night I was managing with the remaining two heads, and various reflectors (got loads of those). But I feel like I’d like to get back to a three head kit, so started looking at the current Multiblitz range - I’ve used Multiblitz exclusively for over 40 years now. I only want the lower power units, 200w/s will do fine and I do have a preference for lower power modelling lights which gives me the option of two units at £370 & £510 respectively from my preferred brand. This is quite a lot of money for a single head, but as has been pointed out - “…you get what you pay for…” as nearly 30 years of trouble free service would seem to indicate.

The thing is though; the other heads are still very old & although Multiblitz would always be my first choice I just can’t justify buying three units. So I’ve started looking at other brands for the first time and I have to say I’m thinking about an Elinchrom D-Lite IT ‘kit’ as this would be about the same price as a single mono of choice from Multiblitz. Now if I lost all heads and had limited funds, the thing that is perhaps more important than the brand itself is the support offered by the company selling the goods. Would low a budget eBay/Amazon offering ever be on the cards, even though I’m used to the best ;) well if that was the only option open to me then the answer is obviously yes, though my expectation would be of a limited life span and probably little or no support or spares in years to come. Less important but still a bit of a disadvantage would be the lack of available light-formers.

Paul
 
Few of the interfit kits on Ebay ATM
 
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