Studio kit reviews

Glen

Glen

Uncle Glen
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Glen
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Got my copy of Professional Photographer last week, but only just opened it today. There is a good review of 2 entry level lighting kits, these also happen to be the 2 I was deliberating over.

Elinchrom D-lite2 and the Bowens Studio in a box.

Both are around £400 give or take.

The result from the review has the D-lites as the clear winner.

Which has made my mind up now as I found myself leaning towards these, but still not able to make a choice between the 2 sets.
 
Neither of those sets have Fans to cool the equipment. It does mean you cant use them all day long as they overheat and also means you have to let them cool down properly before packaging up to store - unless you leave them setup permanently.

The D-Lite2's have just dropped in price on Warehouse Express to £350.

Another I would consider is the Interfit Stellar 300W Softbox Kit. You get so much for your money @ £439. An extra 100W on each of the kits you mention and has Fans to keep the units cooler.
 
Glen said:
Got my copy of Professional Photographer last week, but only just opened it today. There is a good review of 2 entry level lighting kits, these also happen to be the 2 I was deliberating over.

Elinchrom D-lite2 and the Bowens Studio in a box.

Both are around £400 give or take.

The result from the review has the D-lites as the clear winner.

Which has made my mind up now as I found myself leaning towards these, but still not able to make a choice between the 2 sets.
Click to expand...

I have just brought the elinchrom set and am absolutely over the moon with them, I have only had them running for about 2hrs a time but have had no probs with them overheating. even after that time they are not hot, all I do is leave them on the stands while I back everything else away so they have a chance to cool down. The other thing about the elinchroms is that they come with carry cases for both the heads and the stands and softboxes, I have also fitted m stand for my backdrop in the case
 
My original budget was £400ish for a set but having a look around you now can get the d-lite 4's for around £429 so I think I'll go for these instead.
 
I use the D-lite's all the time, and they haven't yet overheated

Tips though - if you're using them to light the background - set it up - turn off the bulb, you don't need it

As for any key(s), turn the bulb down to a very low setting - you can still see the spot in their eyes, and again it doesn't create much heat

Both tips make the bulbs last many times longer too!
 
2s - the cheapest ones, I just have 3 of them - tip... find a mate who also wants 3, by 3 sets of 2 between you and split one; much better value than buying a 3rd head alone

Gives me f9 at 3-5ft, 100 ISO - not quite on full power - and through a 1m Octagonal softbox (which was £220 itself btw)

As I often shoot at anything from 18-70mm (mostly below 50mm, so 'portrait' lens purists will not approve), f9 gives more than enough DoF and is the exact sweet-spot of the lens too (which is nice!)
 
Thats a good idea Dave....anyone want to go halfs on some D-lite 4's :D
 
Thanks Dave. Is that softbox on your keylight? Reason I ask is that I may need to purchase one soon. The diffuser I bought recently has two broken rivets on it and it's going to collapse on me soon :)
 
Turn off the bulb = modelling light, yep. The modelling light helps see what's going to be lit by the flash, but once it's in the right place you can turn it off

Yep - gig softbox is on the key. This creates a much bigger source of even light, so there are less hotspots on the subjects (none in fact), and the area of even illumination is bigger - so the tots can move around more and still be well lit
 
Thanks for that Dave, so if my understanding is correct turn the bulb off and just let the flash act as normal.
 
rwotton said:
Thanks for that Dave, so if my understanding is correct turn the bulb off and just let the flash act as normal.
Click to expand...

Yep - think of it like this...

Imagine you have a nice small off-camera flash, works well, but you've no idea what it'll actually light for you before you've taken the shot - so you strap a powerful torch onto your flashgun

The torch shows you how the flash will light the subject, so as soon as you know that -you'd turn off the torch to save batteries right? Leaving the flash to just get on with the job

Well a studio flash is pretty much the flash and torch built-in, just that the torch is now called the modelling light

Use the modelling light to see the effect you're after, then (not to save batteries this time, but to save the bulb itself), turn it off

A bonus here is that it also means far less heat is created, so your flash will work pretty much all day long without ever tripping itself, or needing to cool down for a while

The more powerful units that have fans are, IMO, only useful where you need the modelling lights to stay on - which for me would only be if you're constantly changing the set-up (unlikely for us kiddie togs); and also where you use them for repeated high speed flash, which again you don't normally do in kiddie shots

HTH
 
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