Some advice please studio lighting

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Mr Mike

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Hi all, I currently have the following...

1 x sb-600
2 x yn460-II (used inside on floor of hilite)
2 x konig light stands
2 x FITP brollies
1 x small round reflector
1 x Lasotlite hitlite with vinyl train

I am considering one of the cheap ebay deals after seeing some on here using them, my question is is it worth it or is it complete rubbish which would hardly better my current kit?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200627514...4.m1423.l2649&clk_rvr_id=276901604898&afsrc=1

I know i could spend a small fortune on proper flash heads but i dont want too because i dont use it enough.

Any advice here would be appreciated

Mike
 
Choice 1 - proper studio flash, much more versatile than choice 2 and much easier to use
Choice 2 - what you already have
Choice 999 :) the Ebay junk
 
Garry Edwards said:
Choice 1 - proper studio flash, much more versatile than choice 2 and much easier to use
Choice 2 - what you already have
Choice 999 :) the Ebay junk
Click to expand...

Thanks for you input on this, guessing its option 2 stick with what i have but add a extra light stand so i can get quick access to the yn460-II on both sides of the highlight rather than crawling inside to reach them everytime i make adjustments.

You say Choice 999 which already has alarm bells ringing, can you please explain why the 'ebay junk' is so bad and not worth my money?

Also out with the junk option is there anything else worth considering for under £200?

Richard King said:
What do you shoot? and where?
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I mainly shoot landscapes to be honest but im keen to move more towards people and portraits. It will be more friends / friends of friends / families complete with the pet dog lol

Moved house at the start of the year so now have a dedicated room for my studio which im about to get sorted out and painted, my biggest pain is crawling inside the hilite to reach the yn460's as stated above so a simple addition of another light stand will sort that issue. Also about to order a 6'x6' clear perspex to cover the vinyl train which will creat some great reflections, cant believe that alone is going to cost minimum of £70 delivered :eek:

Anyone know where else to get perspex cheaper?

Mike
 
Mr Mike said:
Thanks for you input on this, guessing its option 2 stick with what i have but add a extra light stand so i can get quick access to the yn460-II on both sides of the highlight rather than crawling inside to reach them everytime i make adjustments.

You say Choice 999 which already has alarm bells ringing, can you please explain why the 'ebay junk' is so bad and not worth my money?
Also out with the junk option is there anything else worth considering for under £200?



I mainly shoot landscapes to be honest but im keen to move more towards people and portraits. It will be more friends / friends of friends / families complete with the pet dog lol

Moved house at the start of the year so now have a dedicated room for my studio which im about to get sorted out and painted, my biggest pain is crawling inside the hilite to reach the yn460's as stated above so a simple addition of another light stand will sort that issue. Also about to order a 6'x6' clear perspex to cover the vinyl train which will creat some great reflections, cant believe that alone is going to cost minimum of £70 delivered :eek:

Anyone know where else to get perspex cheaper?

Mike
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Well, I see that someone has written his review of the Ebay junk here and he seems happy with it, I'm sure that some people - and especially those who have never used anything better, are happy.

But you have to remember that these products come out of Chinese factories that make down to a price rather than up to a quality standard. The same factory probably makes electric kettles and foot spas too, and they know and care nothing whatever about studio lighting - all that they've done is to take a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy of european flash head and copy it, cheapening the process as much as they can, just as the people whose light they copied did. The EU sticker on it may mean that it acomplies with EU safety standards - or it may not.
 
Garry Edwards said:
The EU sticker on it may mean that it acomplies with EU safety standards - or it may not.
Click to expand...

Personal experience (in an unrelated industry) confirms this to be true. To get the CE mark, you just need to ask the factory to put it on :lol:
 
Hi Garry :)
I am happy with the ebay light setup, seems to do what i want it to do, but like you said, i dont really know any better :)
Ive only really watched other people use studio lights myself, so its still a learning curve for me.
If i had more money i would have went for something better, but they seem to be fine for my little home studio setup for learning and messing around.
Obviously if i was serious about this then i doubt i would trust the ebay lights day in day out, but think they would be a decent backup to a better kit, or for me, a good introduction to studio lights and learning about lighting in general. I dont care who made them as long as they work, ive had guitars made in chinese factories that probably also make tables and they tend to be pretty good if im honest, good for home practice or as a backup guitar at a gig.
I would always stick with my top end Fenders and Gibsons though if doing anything professional as i know they will be reliable and sound quality through a big stage setup will be consistent..... guess its the same with these lights, absolutely fine for an amateur or for basic use but not something you would rely on in a professional setup :) horses for courses and all that.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
stratocaster72 said:
Hi Garry :)
I am happy with the ebay light setup, seems to do what i want it to do, but like you said, i dont really know any better :)
Ive only really watched other people use studio lights myself, so its still a learning curve for me.
If i had more money i would have went for something better, but they seem to be fine for my little home studio setup for learning and messing around.
Obviously if i was serious about this then i doubt i would trust the ebay lights day in day out, but think they would be a decent backup to a better kit, or for me, a good introduction to studio lights and learning about lighting in general. I dont care who made them as long as they work, ive had guitars made in chinese factories that probably also make tables and they tend to be pretty good if im honest, good for home practice or as a backup guitar at a gig.
I would always stick with my top end Fenders and Gibsons though if doing anything professional as i know they will be reliable and sound quality through a big stage setup will be consistent..... guess its the same with these lights, absolutely fine for an amateur or for basic use but not something you would rely on in a professional setup :) horses for courses and all that.
Click to expand...

I'm not knocking them, and if you're happy with your purchase then that's all that matters.

But there are quite serious performance issues that only become obvious when you compare them to better products. As for the safety issues, I hope that you never find out about them - but would advise you never to leave the room with the lights plugged in. Any studio flashes can blow a capacitor, but cheap ones are far more likely to do so and there are possibly other electrical safety issues too - with many thousands of volts running around in a metal body...

If a capacitor blows you can expect a very loud bang, clouds of acrid black smoke and burning oil dripping down onto your carpet - none of which is a problem if you're in the same room.
 
I dont doubt there will be performance issues compared with more expensive lights, i havent noticed anything so far, but ive only had them a few weeks, if i do notice anything i will be quick to point it out.
As for safety, well, i take the usual precautions, will just have to see..... certainly i cant find any posts anywhere on the net of people saying these have blown up on them (and theyve been around for a few years now), so i will take that as a positive.
Again, i will post if anything happens.

Cheers
 
If you're going down the cheap ebay route, which is fair enough, then just be aware of the constraints. Shoot slower, dont stick your camera on "machine gun" frame rate, don't leave the modelling light on if you don't need to, turn it off if you're not shooting for 10 mins or so and you should stand a better chance of getting some life out of it.

Everybody has different budgets, different committments, different levels of photography. However, I agree with Garry 100%, lighting is an area of photographic kit that is commonly underestimated, personally I prefer to spend money on lighting before anything else.

Best of luck with your purchase though and hope you learn lots

Dan
 
cheers :) and I do more or less follow your tips, I tend not to fire off bursts of pics so that works out ok for me.
 
stratocaster72 said:
I dont doubt there will be performance issues compared with more expensive lights, i havent noticed anything so far, but ive only had them a few weeks, if i do notice anything i will be quick to point it out.
As for safety, well, i take the usual precautions, will just have to see..... certainly i cant find any posts anywhere on the net of people saying these have blown up on them (and theyve been around for a few years now), so i will take that as a positive.
Again, i will post if anything happens.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Let's hope you're right. But be aware that products like these are sold under a host of different names, and hardly anyone knows who actually makes them, so net searches for just one of these names may not be helpful
 
Garry here's my brain clicking away trying to make some sort of decision regarding this home studio lighting.

I'm now looking at the smartflash 200 as a starting point to move away from my speedlights.

I guess i could still use 2 speedlights in my lastolite hilite and purchase a smartflash as my main / key light, can you think of any reason not to do this?

Also having no idea about studio flash heads i dont actually know what i would require with it? Do you have a package with smartflash, trigger, stand and probably a softbox? Is this possible anywhere near the cost of ebay junk?

At least with this option i can purchase another 2 smartflash heads in the future if i feel the need without having to replace something i already spent money on :thinking:
 
Yes, that would work - and the Lencarta SmartFlash is expandable, i.e. you can use virtually the entire range of S-fit modifiers with it.

The SmartFlash flash head is £107 and if you're using it with a softbox you don't need a standard reflector but really you should get one anyway for what they cost, they make it much more versatile and allow honeycombs and umbrellas to be used too.
Softbox... depending on space, ceiling height and personal preference, but maybe this 90cm octa?
Lighting stand? That's £20. If you already have a decent stand then don't buy it, but stands for studio flash heads obviously have to be able to support a lot more weight than stands or hotshoe flashes.
Radio trigger? You can use the SmartFlash as a slave, fired off of your hotshoe flashes, so can manage without a radio trigger.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Yes, that would work - and the Lencarta SmartFlash is expandable, i.e. you can use virtually the entire range of S-fit modifiers with it.

The SmartFlash flash head is £107 and if you're using it with a softbox you don't need a standard reflector but really you should get one anyway for what they cost, they make it much more versatile and allow honeycombs and umbrellas to be used too.
Softbox... depending on space, ceiling height and personal preference, but maybe this 90cm octa?
Lighting stand? That's £20. If you already have a decent stand then don't buy it, but stands for studio flash heads obviously have to be able to support a lot more weight than stands or hotshoe flashes.
Radio trigger? You can use the SmartFlash as a slave, fired off of your hotshoe flashes, so can manage without a radio trigger.
Click to expand...


This sounds like a much better idea allowing me more freedom to expand over the years.

Few questions for you...


Light stand - can it already handle my exiting brollies or do i need adapters?

Trigger / Slave - I currently fire my sb600 using commander mode on my d90 then use the 2 yn460-II on S2 slave mode, so are you saying i can just fire the smartflash the same way as the yn460? Im very confused about this part to be honest, cant really have the camera metering for sb600 in hilite while the yn460 fires as slave or can I? Kind of got away with this when the sb600 was my key light :thinking:

I really dont have a clue about the softbox or which would suit me best, if i want to shoot say 2 people lying or siting on the hitlie train (trying to find cheap perspex to add reflections) would this be sufficient? I guess for portraits any of the softbox size / shapes would be fine?
 
Mr Mike said:
This sounds like a much better idea allowing me more freedom to expand over the years.

Few questions for you...


Light stand - can it already handle my exiting brollies or do i need adapters?

Trigger / Slave - I currently fire my sb600 using commander mode on my d90 then use the 2 yn460-II on S2 slave mode, so are you saying i can just fire the smartflash the same way as the yn460? Im very confused about this part to be honest, cant really have the camera metering for sb600 in hilite while the yn460 fires as slave or can I? Kind of got away with this when the sb600 was my key light :thinking:

I really dont have a clue about the softbox or which would suit me best, if i want to shoot say 2 people lying or siting on the hitlie train (trying to find cheap perspex to add reflections) would this be sufficient? I guess for portraits any of the softbox size / shapes would be fine?
Click to expand...
The light stand just takes the flash head. The umbrella fits into the flash head, not into the light stand. The light stand you have will be fine as long as it has the standard 16mm spiggot (not a hotshoe for a hotshoe flash) and as long as it's up to the job of supporting the weight.

The SmartFlash has a slave cell (which can be switched either on or off) With the cell switched on, it will see the flash from your hotshoe flash and fire instantaneously, meaning that you don't need a separate radio receiver for it.

The choice of softbox is really just down to personal choice when it comes to shape - it depends on whether you like octagonal, square or rectangular catchlights. When it gets to size, it's better to have several different sizes but if you can't do that then it's a good idea to have a big one - but if it's too big it will take up most of your space and if you have a low ceiling you won't be able to get it high enough, so a sort of medium size is a good idea for most people
 
Garry Edwards said:
The light stand just takes the flash head. The umbrella fits into the flash head, not into the light stand. The light stand you have will be fine as long as it has the standard 16mm spiggot (not a hotshoe for a hotshoe flash) and as long as it's up to the job of supporting the weight.

The SmartFlash has a slave cell (which can be switched either on or off) With the cell switched on, it will see the flash from your hotshoe flash and fire instantaneously, meaning that you don't need a separate radio receiver for it.

The choice of softbox is really just down to personal choice when it comes to shape - it depends on whether you like octagonal, square or rectangular catchlights. When it gets to size, it's better to have several different sizes but if you can't do that then it's a good idea to have a big one - but if it's too big it will take up most of your space and if you have a low ceiling you won't be able to get it high enough, so a sort of medium size is a good idea for most people
Click to expand...

Garry, i have the konig light stands that say max weight 2.5kg so i would be safer with the spring dampened stand to be honest. Im going to sit and think about it over the weekend, GF was planning the 'ebay junk' as my xmas present so I may have to wait a bit, saying that i could maybe get the smartflash, reflector and stand very soon and let her treat me to the softbox and some other bits.

Appreciate your time and advice with this,im glad i kept researching this because until today i hadnt realised i could buy a decent branded flashhead for this sort of money plus i hadnt actually thought until today that i could continue to light the hilite with my existing speedlights until i felt the need to upgrade to 2 further smartflashes.

Mike
 
Yes, the spring damped stand would be much safer than the Konig. I was just trying to save you 20 quid:)
 
Mike, I would highly recommend starting with a single Smartflash & softbox and building from there. As I have said in other threads, it's a great way to start and the YN-460's will work fine.

Here's a quick example from last weekend when I had a play around:-

RosieTP.jpg


A bit overexposed but you get the idea.
 
PeteMo said:
Mike, I would highly recommend starting with a single Smartflash & softbox and building from there. As I have said in other threads, it's a great way to start and the YN-460's will work fine.

Here's a quick example from last weekend when I had a play around:-

A bit overexposed but you get the idea.
Click to expand...

Hi Pete, thanks for the post, i think ive have made my decision and im about to purchase the lencarta smartflash with standard reflector and stand :thumbs:

I will add the softbox to my christmas list and have to wait a few weeks, biggest problem is now deciding between the octabox 90cm or 140cm or rectangular softbox 70cm x 140cm. None of the decisions regarding photography equipement seem easy to me, stress out every time, suppose its because of the £££'s spent and maybe getting it wrong
 
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