Lighting kit on a budget

hewhoknows

hewhoknows

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Matt
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I would like to kit myself out with some studio lighting that is easy to transport so I can start to learn how to use effective lighting.

My budgets are pretty low and have seen a few kits on fleabayhttp://www.ebay.co.uk/. Being a novice with lighting set ups I was wondering if someone could give me some honest feedback on whether these kits are any good and worth the sale price.

This is the kit i have been looking at: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/900W-Flash-Kit...item2eb4fc04a7

Thanks in advance ;)
 
A very attractive price, but like most of the junk sold on ebay, not very good value for money.
No cooling fan, so it only has low powered modelling lamps that won't be much help unless you're in a pretty dark room
No interchangeable reflectors, so you'll be pretty much limited to the accessories supplied with the kit, and the heads without interchangeable reflectors don't work as well as they should with softboxes.
The statement about colour temperature, "5400±200K" is very unlikely to be correct.

It's obvious from the listing that the seller knows very little about the product - what will the after sales service be like?
 
No, No, No. £260 for this may look good but you would need to replace soon I would expect and I doubt quality would be up to much. A 2 head kit from Lencarta is just £300 so not much more and is a great piece of kit and ideal for a novice (or someone who knows what they are doing too!!)
 
why not start with some strobist stuff if you dont have a studio space ?

couple of cheap manual only strobes couple of stands, brackets , shoot through brolly and softbox, and they are still useful out on location when you have graduated to proper studio kit later ?
 
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Looks like the power control is very vague, the seller doesn't even list how much variation there is between full and minimum power. Those triggers are pretty awful as well, had a similar set to them and ended up binning them.

I'll echo Garry about the built in reflectors, this is a very bad design compared to any of the mainstream manufacturers.

Also what is it with the barndoors on these ebay kits? Never really seen them used much with flash except on these kits
 
tigerdriver said:
why not start with some strobist stuff if you dont have a studio space ?

couple of cheap manual only strobes couple of stands, brackets , shoot through brolly and softbox, and they are still useful out on location when you have graduated to proper studio kit later ?
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This was going to be my second option and now it seems to be my first based on feedback :D

Im pretty new to lighting so excuse my naivety but feel now is the time to start to learn. Ive just found the 'strobist' blog which seems like an excellent read. Gonna plough through it later
 
hewhoknows said:
This was going to be my second option and now it seems to be my first based on feedback :D

Im pretty new to lighting so excuse my naivety but feel now is the time to start to learn. Ive just found the 'strobist' blog which seems like an excellent read. Gonna plough through it later
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Well, hotshoe flashes have their place but they aren't a substitute for studio flash, especially if you want to be able to control the light well and move beyond basic tools such as umbrellas a and softboxes - each has its own strengths and weaknesses. This thread does a pretty good job of explaining things
 
I saw one of the Interfit kits in Jessops today for £200 - hadn't seen the Lencarta ones till I saw this thread. They do look much better though I like the idea of having a softbox. Once these get added to the basic Lencarta kit it starts to push up the price. But as with most things, you get what you pay for so maybe I should save up a bit longer :)

Also, would need to think about a trigger. Are they that much better than a cable?
 
If you have a low budget - just buy LESS - but buy quality! You can do a lot with one studio flash and a reflector - build up as your savings grow again - do NOT buy cheap cr*p - because a) it is cr*p and b) it could actually be unsafe.

BTW - I would recommend Lencarta - I use it! :)
 
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£282 seems reasonable for that, though I think I would rather a different option than two translucent umbrellas.
 
Thanks Andrew - good advice :)
 
Bythesea said:
£282 seems reasonable for that, though I think I would rather a different option than two translucent umbrellas.
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Yes, a good starting point for portraits is one softbox and one umbrella.
Typically, the softbox is generally used as key light and the umbrella is used for on axis fill - as an on axis fill a shoot through umbrella is fine, but that's about all that it is ideal for, a reflective umbrella is the better choice for just about everything else because the light is far more controlled.

But hey, they're cheap, so don't worry too much about it.

If you have a low budget - just buy LESS - but buy quality! You can do a lot with one studio flash and a reflector - build up as your savings grow again - do NOT buy cheap cr*p - because a) it is cr*p and b) it could actually be unsafe.

BTW - I would recommend Lencarta - I use it!
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:thumbs:
 
I have one of these kits the umbrellas are ok along with the strobes nothing great, but they will give reasonable shots. Soft box is useless, no instructions and cannot be fitted, I ended up buying a bowens setup strobe and softbox.
 
The more I think about it the more I think I am heading towards buying a single (better quality) head with a softbox and brolly then starting with that and reflectors. Can get a second head later when I have mastered using a single light. As a lot of what I want to do is still life that is apparently naturally lit, then I would have thought a softbox to use as a "window" with reflectors would be good.
 
I think that's a wise decision - too many people buy a multi head kit and go blasting in without knowing what they are doing. One light can produce magic.
 
awp said:
I think that's a wise decision - too many people buy a multi head kit and go blasting in without knowing what they are doing. One light can produce magic.
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I already have 1 flashgun which i use on camera. From what you are saying you think that good results can be obtained if i get a stand, soft box, a brolly, a few reflectors and a remote trigger?

I was going to ask the question if it was advisable to start out with 1 strobe and branch from there so im glad its been mentioned.
 
hewhoknows said:
I already have 1 flashgun which i use on camera. From what you are saying you think that good results can be obtained if i get a stand, soft box, a brolly, a few reflectors and a remote trigger?

I was going to ask the question if it was advisable to start out with 1 strobe and branch from there so im glad its been mentioned.
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Fine, but just don't think that a hotshoe flashgun off camera is the same as a studio flash. It isn't, by a million miles.

Both have a specialised role, and although those roles can crossover to a certain extent, it's much better to use a hotshoe flash when you can't use a studio flash and to use a studio flash when you can.
 
I thought you were going to but a single studio flash head and accessories? That would be my recommendation.
 
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