"Studio in a bag" - Pet Portraits, People Portraits, Product Shots Large & Small?

EdinburghGary

EdinburghGary

Reply not Report
Suspended / Banned
Messages
19,271
Name
Gary
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi, do you think a "Studio in a bag" such as:

THIS

OR
THIS

Would be sufficient for starting out in:

  • People Portraits
  • Pet Portraits
  • Product Shots (Large Items)
  • Product Shots (Small Items)

Just to play around and have a bit of fun...

I can't seem to find the Jessops own brand studio in a bag...also Calumet apparently had one, which I can't seem to find.

What would you recommend, even going down the route of buying it all seperately? I have 2 spare rooms at home doing nothing, so have space to play with.

Gary.
 
I know nothing
but would probably go the Bowens route ('cos I've heard of them!)
 
I started off with the Jessops one, and it's okay for individual shots but not really for more than one person

If the pennies aren't too much of a problem, the Bowens is good - but my preference are these http://www.theflashcentre.com/d-lite-2-two-head-kit-i547.html which I use as the full-time lights in my studio (I have 3 though)

HTH

DD
 
In order of importance I would rank the following.

1: Product Shots Small (most important)
2: Product Shots Large
3: Pet Portraits
4: People Portraits (Not hugely fussed at the moment)...

So I may opt for something which covers 3 out of 4 so to speak :)
 
EdinburghGary said:
In order of importance I would rank the following.

1: Product Shots Small (most important)
2: Product Shots Large
3: Pet Portraits
4: People Portraits (Not hugely fussed at the moment)...

So I may opt for something which covers 3 out of 4 so to speak :)
Click to expand...



Those mostly require soft even light, which means a big light source and hence bigger/more powerful heads and large softboxes would be my recommendation - Bowens/Elinchrom are your best best methinks

DD
 
I had the Portaflash kit you linked to for years before upgrading to Bowens last year. The Bowens gear is massively better, better quality, better controllability etc. I got the Bowens 500 digital but I expect the quality/controllability issues still apply the same to the 200's . It makes the cheaper Portaflash look like a false economy I reckon.

Flashy
 
I recently bought the Interfit EX200 + barn doors/honeycomb/gels kit and pretty happy with it - that's what I used for the flower shots from the other day. Only 2 heads but I can used my 430EX as an extra if I really need it.
 
i got the d lite 4s and cant fault them, if the money is available, stick to the elinchrom or bowens.
 
Elinchrome and Bowens are definately the best received by the pros. Interfit are pretty good (I've got three 300w ones) They also benefit from taking the same accessories as Bowens so I get to play with some really nice goodies. Lencarta are recommended by some and there are a new range on the market by Calumet. (Thread on them with a linky in the lighting forum)

The best idea is to work out which directions you want to go in (which you have pretty much done) and work out what you need from there. You will need adequate power and accessories to light your subjects. and don't forget if you want to go wireless you will need some kind of trigger (IR or radio) and a light meter never goes amiss either.

Have fun.
 
Having a quick peek at those choices I'd rule out this and this. This though, might be an OK place to start.

Hope that helps some. :D
 
Ok..... you need power to be able to get a good balanced light over a largish area. The 500 heads are getting there and would be a good enough place to start you kit, with them moving over to secondary/backup units as you get some real gear later on.

A good lighting kit that will take on all and sundry in terms of the nature of commercial snapping is going to be deep into the thousands unless you can gather some good used deals together.
 
EdinburghGary said:
A quick google would suggest that kit on Ebay is trash...only read a few threads though...
Click to expand...

That's nonsense. The Lencarta kit is anything but trash, it isn't as good as Bowens or Elinchrom but it isn't the same price either. Take a look in my gallery, several of the shots there were taken with it.

I've no comment on the Kenro kit as I know nothing about it. I definately don't advise the Jessops Portaflash - frankly it was always very much a starter kit which, with care, can produce excellent results (as can any lights) but there are much better choices available today. Again, a lot of people are very happy with Interfit, but a lot of people are very unhappy with reliability problems and there are reports of them catching fire.

Don't get too hung up on power. Power requirements depend on the type of camera, the type of subject and so on, but if all you want to do is to produce portrait-type shots with a digi camera very little power is needed and too much can cause problems.

Before you decide anything, take a look at my Basic Lighting Guides posted in the Lighting Forum. There's one there on studio equipment.
 
if all you want to do is to produce portrait-type shots with a digi camera very little power is needed
Click to expand...

Very true, if you can ramp up the ISO and get away with it then you can afford to have less power but for product shots, usually you cant. Add a large set where you need a good distance from lights to subject to get an even cover and a smallish aperture for a good depth of sharpness, and well, you can very quickly find that there is no such thing as too much power. :lol:
 
Garry Edwards said:
That's nonsense. The Lencarta kit is anything but trash, it isn't as good as Bowens or Elinchrom but it isn't the same price either. Take a look in my gallery, several of the shots there were taken with it.

I've no comment on the Kenro kit as I know nothing about it. I definately don't advise the Jessops Portaflash - frankly it was always very much a starter kit which, with care, can produce excellent results (as can any lights) but there are much better choices available today. Again, a lot of people are very happy with Interfit, but a lot of people are very unhappy with reliability problems and there are reports of them catching fire.

Don't get too hung up on power. Power requirements depend on the type of camera, the type of subject and so on, but if all you want to do is to produce portrait-type shots with a digi camera very little power is needed and too much can cause problems.

Before you decide anything, take a look at my Basic Lighting Guides posted in the Lighting Forum. There's one there on studio equipment.
Click to expand...


Sorry mate, I didn't write the posts - just read them :D Clearly some people unhappy. So what do you reckon then, a good set?

G.
 
dazzajl said:
Very true, if you can ramp up the ISO and get away with it then you can afford to have less power but for product shots, usually you cant. Add a large set where you need a good distance from lights to subject to get an even cover and a smallish aperture for a good depth of sharpness, and well, you can very quickly find that there is no such thing as too much power. :lol:
Click to expand...
This is very true.

I do a lot of furniture sets, often shooting at 25 ISO, f/16 on M.F. digital or at f/45 on 5" x 4" - many thousands of Jules and many thousands of £. It's all horses for courses and there is no really simple solution because, for example, a 6000J generator pack that can form only a small part of a furniture shoot can't be cranked down anywhere near enough for a headshot. Of course there are workarounds such as deadheading and ND gels but this just adds to the complications so it makes sense to restrict power for portrait use and to either spend a lot of money on more specialised gear for specialised needs or to simply not take on the shoots that need a lot of wellie:lol:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top