Light Kit

I know absolutely nothing about studio kit, not having been in one for about 12 years, and that was well used and abused college equipment, but that looks like a fair lump of kit for the money, though of course I expect it wont be of the best quality, but for starters, and if you dont plan to be using it daily, will probably serve you well to begin with. Be careful though, I am told studio work can become addictive. ;)

I suppose what would be useful is mailing them to find out exact brands and asking if anyone here has had experience with those items.

It would be by gut feeling to go for continuous lighting to begin with, but thats only me knowning I struggle with flash, so would prefer it to be all set and working before I start. :shrug:

I would also be interested to hear what more experienced users say, as its something I want to look at in the future when I finally have a spare bedroom:naughty:
 
having used both methods, i'd get a flash setup. they have much more power and are much more versatile, allowing you to fine tune where and how much light you need. make sure it has a proportional moddeling light so you can see how the light is falling.
 
Hi, i use a continuous light set up with shoot thru brollies. The lights, stands and leads etc cost only £165. It's easy to use, and providing you do a white balance setting the results are good.
Dean:)
 
I'd go for the flash set up. You'll have more control than continous as most (though not all) of the latter cannot have their outputs varied, meaning you'll need to move the second light further away to reduce the amount of light falling on the subject from it. Another problem with tungsten continous kits is heat. Interfit's 3200K is pretty much standard and has two 500W bulbs. That's the same as a single bar on an electric fire remember!

Interfit's EX150 is a very good beginner set. The only downside is that there's very little in the way of add-ons for it though they do now sell a seperate softbox and snoot iirc. A better buy for a beginner's flash kit IMO would be Elinchrom's D-Lite 2. Unlike the EX150, the flash tubes on the Elinchroms can be changed by the user, saving you the hassle and cost of sending them to a local repair shop. The D-Lites come with their own bags for easier transport (the box for the EX150 quickly fell apart, requiring the purchase of bags to transport the kit). They are compatible with a large range of Elinchrom's studio add-ons such as honeycombs, beauty dishes etc as well as being a little more powerful and robust...oh and they only cost £20 more than the set you're looking at :)

Another alternative for those wanting the convenience of continous lights for knowing what the lighting will look like at the flick of a switch is Interfit's Coolite 5 kit. It's 2 x "Coolite" heads with 5 x 24W fluorescent "pig's tail" like bulbs that have something like the equivalent of 400-500W of power from a tungsten set up but obviously only pump out 120W per head. They're daylight matched (which is probably more important to film shooters these days) and each tube has it's own power switch so you can set the power output in 24W increments. Not as flexible as a digital flash but certainly better than the usual continous setup.

HTH :)
 
I too like flash setups more then continous lighting, as you get more power if you need it, and you get a better quality of light. Also I am not a fan of having a model in the studio sweating due to heat and having the makeup run.

Also Lighting is like cameras. You are buying into a system, and I would not be comfortable getting a cheap setup knowing I had not much expandability with it.
 
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