portable studio lighting

P

PhatimagesAberdeen

Suspended / Banned
Messages
19
Name
Neil
Edit My Images
Yes
HI,

Looking for some guidance as would like to purchase some lighting that could be set up in a home, hotel room ect.
Plan to try and gain more portraits, fitness, cosplay, and Glamour style phootshoots.

The camera would be a Canon R7 with either be my 50mm f1.8 or 24-105mm lens depending the room size just now.

Not sure if i should be thinking about a 2 or 3 lighting set up.

For the first while i will be pairing up with a friend who is experienced in these shoots but would like to be pre paired before hand in what could be needed.

budget would be under £1000.
 
The AD200’s are the only lights that fit the budget, which is unfortunate as they have no modelling lights.

For clarity, modelling lights make it easier for less experienced photographers, as the difference between ok and awesome studio work is precise placement of lights.
 
When you are saying portable and you want to use them in a home/hotel room etc do they have to be battery powered or as you will have access to mains power do you mean portable as in pack it up and move?
A quick google turns this up https://www.lencarta.com/godox-ad300-pro-twin-flash-kit-xpro-trigger which is only £50 over your budget, if you can live with just mains power you could get the Lencarta smartflash for a lot less
 
I’ve assumed you mean battery powered, but there’s a premium for that convenience.

Mains powered heads can be found for £100 ish and the AD200’s are nearer £300 (both Essential photo and Lencarta both offering at less than £270 atm).

You’ll need to add S type brackets to make them use standard bowens mount modifiers.

Maybe a compromise within budget is a single AD300 to use as key as it has a modelling light. £400 Essential Photo. And a pair of AD200’s.
3 full height stands, a large octa, std reflector with grids, snoot, and a couple of brollies (white and silver) could possibly come in under a grand.

It’s fairly easy to fill a bag at Amazon to check.

I recommend Lencarta stands, fab bang for the buck, most stands at a similar price are junk, and cheap stands are definitely a PITA and should be avoided.
 
@Phil V and @troutfisher are both right. Godox are now seriously expensive, one alternative (high end) flash about equivalent to the AD400 is the Visico 5, for a fraction of the price, I'm very happy with mine and it has a very bright LED modelling lamp too https://www.lencarta.com/visico-5-portable-studio-flash-head-400w-hss-ttl - but as Phil said, get the unique Lencarta stands.

Another option would be a brand that's cheaper still, but again more than adequate, No doubt they sell on price, but they sell extremely well and seem to be reliable. I don't have any personal experience of them, the quality is bound to be lower than either Godox or Visico, I may nol choose to use them for critical commercial photography, but glamour-type shots don't need absolute colour and output consistency https://www.lencarta.com/neewer-vision-4-300ws-studio-flash-kit-with-trigger

I don't know exactly what you want to photograph but can guess (been there, done that). If my guess is right then you can manage perfectly well with 2 lights plus a reflector, 3 lights will cost more, will involve a lot more work, more skill and need a larger room.

There are plenty of sellers out there, but my advice is to avoid most Amazon and eBay sellers - they're usually a bit cheaper but the security of a warranty that will be honoured if something goes wrong is worth paying a bit more.

Be aware, I have a personal friendship with Lencarta and used to work with them, so I may be biased.
 
Quick maths:
An AD300 will be budget busting, and even 3 AD200’s will probably go over by the time you’ve finished with everything else
 
If you want to be completely self-sufficient and not have to use someone elses mains electricity, then you will need some sort of battery powered system. If you have access to plug sockets then that is a different proposition and your buying power extends further with pre-owned stuff.
 
@Garry Edwards
I wasn’t aware of the sneaky new undercuts, good call.
They might lack some of the bells and whistles*, but look more than capable.

*love Godox for their ecosystem, but TTL HSS aren’t an absolute necessity in England.
 
Phil V said:
@Garry Edwards
I wasn’t aware of the sneaky new undercuts, good call.
They might lack some of the bells and whistles*, but look more than capable.

*love Godox for their ecosystem, but TTL HSS aren’t an absolute necessity in England.
Click to expand...
Yes, the Godox trigger system is the best.
Visico does have all the bells and whistles, personally I don't find HSS or TTL useful, but they're there for those who do.

IMO, FWIW, the competitive cycle has started to turn again. A few years ago, the lighting world was dominated by just two brands, with overpriced products. Godox came along, offered better specs and better prices, got rid of the competition and then started pricing themselves out of the market, leaving the door open for new competition. Personally I'm happy with many Godox products, but I won't pay their prices.
 
Needless to say, I have no argument with the suggestions above. (y)

However, I think a good starter kit for your budget would be the following:

Two (three would be better) of these:

www.ebay.co.uk

Godox SK400II 400Ws GN65 5600K 2.4G Wireless Studio Flash Strobe Light 711811935053 | eBay UK

Godox SK400II Photography 400Ws Studio Flash Strobe Lamp Light Head 220V. Model: SK400II. 1 SK400II Falsh Head. Model : SK400II. â Godox SK300II SK400II Light. power: 400Ws. power : 400Ws. -Built-in Godox 2.4G wireless X system with outstanding functions.
www.ebay.co.uk

One of these (there are cheaper versions, but not by much). Consider a second one as a backup:

www.ebay.co.uk

Godox XProII-C XPro II TTL Wireless Flash Trigger Transmitter For Canon Camera | eBay UK

We’ve been delighted to launch the XproIIL which opens up a whole new lighting system for Leica users. And now we are even more excited to introduce the upgraded XproII flash triggers in Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, and Olympus version.
www.ebay.co.uk

Lencart stands for sure - definitely the best:

www.lencarta.com

Lencarta Light Stand 265cm | Pneumatic Air Damped | Heavy Duty

#html-body [data-pb-style=Y0LUJSG]{justify-content:flex-start;display:flex;flex-direction:column;background-position:left top;background-size:cover;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-attachment:scroll} The Lencarta Light Stand 265cm Heavy Duty Pneumatic Air Damped | Lencarta Essentials The...
www.lencarta.com www.lencarta.com

Softboxes can be very cheap, but it's worth spending a little more on decent ones. This one is great value to get you started:


If you want to operate away from mains power, one of these (not available new any more):


Lastly, welcome to the forum. :welcome:
 
Last edited:
Thank You everyone for their help.
will have to get something sorted out and go play around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sky
Phil V said:
The AD200’s are the only lights that fit the budget, which is unfortunate as they have no modelling lights.

For clarity, modelling lights make it easier for less experienced photographers, as the difference between ok and awesome studio work is precise placement of lights.
Click to expand...
This! I really could do with modelling lamps with my AD200's, there is an attachment (round head) you can get that has a modelling lamp but i'm not sure how good it is. Then, it'd be a faff about as you'd have to attach the round head, place your lights using the modelling lamp, then change the head of your strobes so you can use your modifiers! Other than that, i'm really pleased with my 3x AD200 pro's
 
Sky said:
Lencart stands for sure - definitely the best:
Click to expand...
From experience and money wasted on them no they are not. The spigots are pretty defective by design and this company doesn't give a f*** about cs and aftercare
 
LongLensPhotography said:
From experience and money wasted on them no they are not. The spigots are pretty defective by design and this company doesn't give a f*** about cs and aftercare
Click to expand...
Which is the opposite of what others have found.

I’ve used their products for many many years, and found them faultless, and their customer service 2nd to none (even supplied me with spare parts FoC for a product I didn’t buy from them).
 
LongLensPhotography said:
From experience and money wasted on them no they are not. The spigots are pretty defective by design and this company doesn't give a f*** about cs and aftercare
Click to expand...

I'm very sorry to hear that, but I suppose someone had to have the 'duff' one. ;)

As for customer service, I've also found them to be very good - my last order had an item missing, but after a phone call I got it the following day with an apology.
 
Sky said:
I'm very sorry to hear that, but I suppose someone had to have the 'duff' one. ;)

As for customer service, I've also found them to be very good - my last order had an item missing, but after a phone call I got it the following day with an apology.
Click to expand...
It was all 3 of them really. It is a bad design. The top is 1-2mm too large for the main pole diameter and is only held by 1 pin. I have no idea what they were thinking but it clearly wasn't "let's design a durable and wobble-free light stand"
 
Phil V said:
Which is the opposite of what others have found.

I’ve used their products for many many years, and found them faultless, and their customer service 2nd to none (even supplied me with spare parts FoC for a product I didn’t buy from them).
Click to expand...
I can only conclude some people may have very low expectations but it is not reasonable to expect the same from everyone else.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I can only conclude some people may have very low expectations but it is not reasonable to expect the same from everyone else.
Click to expand...
A reasonable assumption:

In unrelated news; I grew up with the phrase ‘ooh look; our Jonny is the only one marching in step’.

I know what I believe ;)
 
Should I post this or not? As a moderator, perhaps I shouldn't, but first and foremost admins and mods are members, so perhaps I should.
So, as a compromise, please be aware that I'm saying this as a member and not a mod, and I do not speak for TP.

I worked with (never for) Lencarta since before I joined TP 15 years ago. I retired 8 years ago. I have had a close personal friendship with the boss there for all of that time, and still see him and his wife socially. I have detailed knowledge of their business ethics but because of both my history and this friendship, I'm not impartial.

Over the last 15 years there have been (from memory) 3 complaints on here about them and I have no way of knowing whether those complaints are genuine or not, but in each case I have offered to help, asking the complainant to contact me personally with full details of the problem so that I can take it up with Lencarta's boss, who of course wouldn't necessarily know about any complaints made to staff. That offer still stands. It may or may not be significant that nobody has ever taken up that offer:(

Any business can screw up, supplying goods that are not up to standard, or the wrong goods, or can provide poor customer service. The litmus test, as I see it, is how they deal with problems once they know about them.
 
Phil V said:
In unrelated news; I grew up with the phrase ‘ooh look; our Jonny is the only one marching in step’.
Click to expand...
I strongly suggest you completely weed out this highly toxic belief unless one truly never intends to think outside of the grey box and achieve anything extraordinary. We don't need 9 billion of people thinking and saying the very same
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I strongly suggest you completely weed out this highly toxic belief unless one truly never intends to think outside of the grey box and achieve anything extraordinary. We don't need 9 billion of people thinking and saying the very same
Click to expand...
You’re such a naive and troubled soul.

and you’re entitled to carry on in your own little deluded world. But please don’t broadcast the totally ridiculous and deluded belief that you’re uniquely perfect.

Let’s just agree we’re all unique ;)
 
LongLensPhotography said:
I strongly suggest you completely weed out this highly toxic belief
Click to expand...
This is comedy gold:

You’re suggested that my lived experience, having met several people at Lencarta, visited the premises more than once, bought goods and had excellent customer service is (checks notes) toxic.

That’s some conclusion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top