recommend me a studio lighting kit

Andy77

Andy77

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Ok guys been looking into a lighting kit to do home portraits ect, will be using in peoples so need to pretty portable, im new to all this lighting :thinking:, ive been looking at the lencarta smart flash/ elichrom d-lite systems, i have a budget of £400-£450, do i need a kit with 2 brolly's or 2 softbox's or even a 2 softbox and 1 brolly kit ect.

Help apprieciated

Andy
 
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You won't go wrong with either the Elinchrom or the Lencarta, both are good quality units and both will do what you need them to do and should last for many years.

In terms of cost, the main difference is that Lencarta uses the (almost) standard S-fit accessory fitting and Elinchrom uses their own fitting. There are many more accessories available to fit the Lencarta than the Elinchrom, and the prices are much better too.

You may think that if you're only thinking in terms of softboxes and umbrellas the cost difference may not be enormous, but if your studio lighting interest/skills develop the difference in cost will be substantial.

If you don't plan on shooting with white backgrounds then you need a two head kit, and a good starting point is one softbox and 1 umbrella. If you want to produce chavgrounds beautiful white backgrounds then you'll need another 2 heads to light the background.
Unfortunately the SmartFlash have now sold out again, new stock due first week of October, you may want to look at the ElitePro softbox kit
 
Andy,

I will chuck in my 2p worth and strongly agree with Garry about the Bowen's S fit. You can buy a cheap kit for £250 that seems to include everything but you are pretty much stuck with that! I have all three of the Lencarta lights, the ElitePros, Smartflash and Safari and would say that either the Elitepro or Smartflash will do what you want but remember you can mix and match so what you could do is pick a 3 light Smartflash kit and maybe replace one of them with an Elitepro to give you more power from the main light etc etc. Also something I hadn't realised at first :bang: You can change the light boxes for the fold up ones which are brilliant (all you do is find the item you want and add that price then take off the item you don't need - it is a like for like thing though so softbox for softbox/umbrella, radio trigger for radio trigger, stand for stand etc).

Anyway I've been well pleased with my stuff and been back several times. Remember to add £30 for the days training it is worth so much to know how to use the stuff properly....
 
If you can push your budget a little to £500, you can get some a used Bowens 500 kit from ebay.
 
I cant speak for the lencarta stuff, so don't know how it is for colour consistency, build quality etc. Just from what I own the power, colour and build quality are very good for the money. In a new vs new buying scenario the Lencarta's may offer better value for money but I haven't seen as many on the used market and I know the Bowens hold their used value well. Just throwing another option in the mix.
 
blazzar said:
I cant speak for the lencarta stuff, so don't know how it is for colour consistency, build quality etc. Just from what I own the power, colour and build quality are very good for the money. In a new vs new buying scenario the Lencarta's may offer better value for money but I haven't seen as many on the used market and I know the Bowens hold their used value well. Just throwing another option in the mix.
Click to expand...

Maybe they are so good nobody ever sells them :shrug: :lol:

I have looked at the Bowens kit but not used it. I have had no problems at all with inconsistency with the Lencarta. I did have a few problems with the studio imaging kit but mainly when taking one shot after another at the highest speed that they could handle. They are also consistent across the range so I can mix Safaris with Elitepros etc.
 
Thanks for the reply's guy's, i think im going to opt for one of the lencarta kit, due to all the great words spoke about them, and i think ill throw in the extra £30 for the training to, just need to decide which kit i want now, i will be using different backgrounds including white so, could i getaway with a 2 softbox and 1 brolly kit???

Thanks Andy
 
Andy77 said:
Thanks for the reply's guy's, i think im going to opt for one of the lencarta kit, due to all the great words spoke about them, and i think ill throw in the extra £30 for the training to, just need to decide which kit i want now, i will be using different backgrounds including white so, could i getaway with a 2 softbox and 1 brolly kit???

Thanks Andy
Click to expand...

I think you are right. I would possibly swap one of the softboxes for an octo softbox which gives a more pleasing catch light. If you are using it in the studio all the time then swap the radio triggers for the mains radio trigger which is the same price BUT never needs batteries (in the receiver). You WILL leave the battery ones switched on :)

Good luck.
 
If you want something really portable have you thought about a couple of strobes ie: speedlites.
Take a look at Flash in the Pan's gear
http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=244521

Other useful links from helpful togs here to TP

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=3007022#post3007022

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?p=2865305#post2865305

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=259685

http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

If you get the bug then you can lay your money out on studio lights at a later date :)

Phil
 
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Andy you are still welcome to come to have a look at my Lencarta set up if you wish, though i can assure you that you wont be dissapointed for the cost. Come along to the portrait training day on 10th Oct (if still available), myself and cowasaki will both be there - for £30 its far too good to miss!
 
Cris_L said:
Andy you are still welcome to come to have a look at my Lencarta set up if you wish, though i can assure you that you wont be dissapointed for the cost. Come along to the portrait training day on 10th Oct (if still available), myself and cowasaki will both be there - for £30 its far too good to miss!
Click to expand...
For anyone who doesn't know, the Lighting workshops are subsidised by Lencarta and are open to everyone who wants to improve their lighting skills, not just to Lencarta customers.
Lencarta customers who spend £300 within 3 months either side of the booked course get half their money back, reducing the cost to just £30.
 
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