relatively newbie photography needing help!

[photodrew]

hi, rather new but im wanting to buy my own lighting studio to do portraits n some fashion shots along the way! ive been looking at ebay (as im a poor student ) looking for good deals and i found these set ups floating about, they bout £200 for the following:

3 x 250W Strobe Light
3 x 75W Modeling Bulb
3 x uk plug (with a EU adapter & a sync cable)
3 x Light Stand
2 x Soft box
2 x 84cm(33") umbrella
1 x 16 Channel wireless Trigger
1 x barn door
1 x Carrying Bag (72 x 25 x 25cm)

is this a good deal or not! it looks great, and i would need to get myself a backdrop to go with it, possibly changing white n black one!

finaly (sorry for the rant), is strobe better than continous?! a lot of feedback with people saying different things! i personally would like to try both but not got the chance to yet!

 

[Garry Edwards]

Well, you haven't posted a link but I think I know the sort of thing you're talking about, and this question gets asked all the time so if you do a search...

Frankly, nearly all of the lights sold on Ebay are junk. They work, but not very well, and maybe not for very long.

Usually they don't have standard accessory fittings so you're limited to what's supplied with the kit or what can be attached with so-called 'universal' fittings, the power is different with every flash and so is the colour of the light.

And 75 watt modelling lamps are too dim to be much use, unless you're shooting in a darkened room.

As for whether flash is better than continuous lighting, the answer is a definate yes. All that continuous lighting has going for it is the price.

 

[photodrew]

cheers gary! is it worth saving money n sticking to lens capturing (as i call it) or trying my hand at studio work! there are many different systems on ebay! i wouldnt no where to start or go online for the best recommended sites?! any clues??

what would you say for a set up for x2 soft boxes with strobes n stands! a modeling lamp. couple of umbrellas? bout £500??

 

[vaizki]

Sorry to burst the budget, Andrew.. but I'd say you need to set aside minimum £500 to get a decent 2 light kit and the appropriate entry-level light modifiers, flash triggers etc. Add maybe £200 to push that to 3 lights but learn the 2 first

Don't skimp on the lights.. if the light's not good, what is there to capture with your camera?

 

[photodrew]

it hard been on a non-existant budget!! personally i would spend the £200 on a couple of lights just trying them out for experience more than anything! we have to start somewhere and that seems a good place to go for stuff!!

cheers for advice vaizki, ye i agree about the lights!! they are a good piece of equipment and ive been reading various blogs/forums about them. I really could do with getting on amazon and spending 100 quid on books to jump start my knowledge

 

[Garry Edwards]

cheers gary! is it worth saving money n sticking to lens capturing (as i call it) or trying my hand at studio work! there are many different systems on ebay! i wouldnt no where to start or go online for the best recommended sites?! any clues??

what would you say for a set up for x2 soft boxes with strobes n stands! a modeling lamp. couple of umbrellas? bout £500??

There's nothing wrong with using just available light, and often it's the right thing to do (after all that's what we do with most outdoor photography) but the beauty of studio photography is that it allows us to control the direction and quality of the light.

Typically, you'd want 1 softbox and 1 umbrella. If you find later that you want more then no problem, but there isn't much point in buying things that you don't need when you're setting out.

Take a look at this Lencarta 2 head kit. A complete kit with 1 softbox can cost just £291 - that's with the SmartFlash heads, which will be back in stock in a few days.