Opionions on portable lighting kits.

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dnihtn

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I'll be getting another installment of my student loan in April and I was wondering, because the university's lighting equipment is unavailable to us when the uni is closed over Christmas, Easter and summer breaks, that I'd invest in a lighting kit. Now, at the minute I'm looking at more money = better equipment, which is not always necessarily true, so I was wondering if anyone had any information, tips or opinions to share and discuss with me?

The equipment I'm after is a light meter, wireless trigger and the kit itself and so far I've come across the Interfit INT466 Stellar X Triple Head Pro Kit (found here: http://www.fotosense.co.uk/interfit-int466-stellar-x-triple-head-pro-kit-150-watts.html)

Any information's gratefully received as I don't fancy wasting a lot of money on duff products.
 
if by portable you mean you want one on location and dont need an external power supply that wont do.

If it will mostly be indoor then you obviously are covered.
 
Yeah, I'm aware of the on location implications and all that, the lights will be used indoors... By portable, I meant kit that could be moved around.
 
interfit generally make crap, hit up lencarta and elemental for cheap brands that make good kit
 
david1701 said:
interfit generally make crap, hit up lencarta and elemental for cheap brands that make good kit
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I don't think Interfit are that bad. Modest spec and modestly made, but they work and have won a few awards, based on being good value if nothing else.

The respected 'quality' brands are Lencarta as mentioned, also good value, Elinchrom and Bowens. They all make good quality kits. Note that if you want a nice big softbox, and you probably should, that's easy to put up and take down, they are rarely included and will bump the price up a lot.
 
I've used Elinchrom stuff before, as it's what the uni has in stock. They seem pretty sound from the usage I've had with them although the softboxes are extremely fiddly, so I agree with you on that one, Hoppy. It'd probably be best to invest in a decent softbox.
 
Elinchrom produce good light quality (in fact the light quality is much better than the build quality) but their accessories are on the pricy side.

If you go for Lencarta (or any other S-fit lights) you will be able to get much cheaper accessories. Lencarta have a range of folding softboxes that are true softboxes but which fold up like umbrellas.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Elinchrom produce good light quality (in fact the light quality is much better than the build quality) but their accessories are on the pricy side.

If you go for Lencarta (or any other S-fit lights) you will be able to get much cheaper accessories. Lencarta have a range of folding softboxes that are true softboxes but which fold up like umbrellas.
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Good examples of different softbox prices on Garry's link - fiddly 120cm octa £70, easy folding version £130, Elinchrom 135cm octa - bigger and easy to put up, but £280!

Why don't Lencarta make them in Elinchrom fit too? It's only a matter of a £1.50 adapter ring...?
 
HoppyUK said:
Good examples of different softbox prices on Garry's link - fiddly 120cm octa £70, easy folding version £130, Elinchrom 135cm octa - bigger and easy to put up, but £280!

Why don't Lencarta make them in Elinchrom fit too? It's only a matter of a £1.50 adapter ring...?
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Lencarta is a British Company, and could be sued if it infringed other people's patents or design copyright.

More examples of pricing differentials
 
Garry Edwards said:
Lencarta is a British Company, and could be sued if it infringed other people's patents or design copyright.

More examples of pricing differentials
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Lastolite is another British company, that makes a range of lighting equipment to fit several different brands, including Elinchrom.

Sigma/Tamron etc make lenses to fit Nikon, Canon, Sony etc. Every flash gun manufacturer makes brand-specific models.

So the real reason must be a commercial decision. Or maybe Lencarta just haven't got around to it yet. I would like to buy some Lencarta stuff right now. I can't be the only one. The profit margin of on accessories is massive ;)
 
dnihtn said:
http://www.lencarta.com/smartflash-mains-flash/fla0018bg-smartflash-3-head-softbox/umbrella-kit-+-background/index.php - Is what I'm looking at, at the minute. What are your opinions? Is 200W sufficient to light a range of situations? Or is this kit too low bugdet at 504 English Sovs?
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Good value, does the job, good range of accessories :thumbs: V popular round here (if only because Garry works for them ;) ).

For most regular portrait stuff, you don't actually need much power. I have 200ws Elinchroms and they are usually turned down nearer min than max. Bear in mind that 200ws is only one stop down on 400ws, and so on. So you can get the same result by increasing the ISO by one stop, or the f/number etc.

If you are shooting big groups with the lights inevitably a bit futher back, you need power, but otherwise not.
 
I love Elinchrom - great lights and seriously portable.

Interfit have less power, are lumpy to cart around, and are worse in virtually every measurable way - but they are way cheaper, and I'd rather have Interfits than no lights (they're quite nice), especially if the power requirements are low, and you don't have commercial time constraints.

Good luck

Steve
 
dnihtn said:
http://www.lencarta.com/smartflash-mains-flash/fla0018bg-smartflash-3-head-softbox/umbrella-kit-+-background/index.php - Is what I'm looking at, at the minute. What are your opinions? Is 200W sufficient to light a range of situations? Or is this kit too low bugdet at 504 English Sovs?
Click to expand...

They have plenty of power for portrait and similar uses, you would only need more power for lighting more complex situations, e.g. room sets, complex still life shots and so on, and for use with large format film cameras.
 
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