Studio lighting gubbins.

Kev M

Kev M

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I'm starting to look more and more at getting a portable studio set up something like and interfit exd200 or elinchrom d-lite2.

Will I get by on 2 heads or will I need 3 if I'm going for hi-key type stuff?

For triggers are infra-red or wireless better and are there any brands to avoid?

And lastly for now, if using wireless do you use a reciever for for each head or just one and set the others as slaves?
 
If i can help with what little I've Lent from my portrait course....
I too am very keen on the elinchrom d-lites, Ok they are perhaps £100-200 more than a cheaper branded like for like, but they are v good quality and they have digital controls thus you get exact readings unlike the dial version out there, plus they are expandable and can use all elinchrom accessories. With regard to hi-key and 2 light setup, you may find you'll be OK (help anyone) although on my course we did use 2 lights to shine on the background, when I get my kit I'm going 2 lights first and see whats what. We used a prolinca £45 ish(sp) infra red trigger, which to me seemed fine, seeing as I've never used one before, when you clicked it or took a picture all the lights flashed at the same time because they had photocell jobbies on them, so that may hopefully answer all most of your questions. :thumbs:
 
Cheers Glen, you're course review has been a big inspiration to me and I've been in touch with PPC about spending my resettlement allowance with them when I leave the RAF. The only thing I've heard about IR triggers is that they flash heads don't always pick up the signal if you're stood in a certain position in relation to them. I like what you're saying about the digital adjstment as opposed to the dial adjustment too. I also want to find out if the D-Lites can be powered with a battery pack so you can use them outside if needed.
 
Hi guys

The problems with the 'white room' style is to get the background only 1/2-1 f-stop above the subject, else you can get so much light coming back it blows hair out.

With the need for very even lighting, only one light means you have a spot that's perfect, and it recedes quickly thereafter. If you have space to shoot a whole child at play (I charge for shooting kids!) you'll almost certainly need 2 lights on the background to give the largest & most even area.

Basically, 3 lights is ideal.

The D-lites come in kits of 2, so I found a pal who also wanted this set-up too and we bought 3 kits between us, splitting them then into 2 sets of 3.

The digital set-up is nice, but the most useful feature of D-lites is that the exposure remains constant between flashes - others I have used can vary a full f-stop between successive flashes, even where the settings are supposed to be the same! Quality counts & does cost a bit more too

IR triggers are very reliable indoors, but not much use outside on a sunny day as there can be insufficient difference between the available IR and the trigger's IR for the slave units to trip. If you really are shooting outside a fair bit, I'd suggest a good Radio trigger costing about £100 (the cheap ones are just too unreliable IMO - I have a £45 one - total rubbish). I use the Prolinca IR trigger and have had no issue with it at all

Hope that helps - cheers
 
The D-Lite 2 is the setup I am currently looking at also so will be keeping tabs in here for now. If you have a Flashgun, you could always use that as a Slave to fire onto the backdrop likewise desk lamps etc. Just be careful with the temperature difference between the main lights and others....
 
My flashgun should be arriving sometime this week hopefully and I had thought about using it if necessary but I think combinging a flash gun with 2 heads might be trickier than 3 flash heads. Cheers for the advice on the triggers DD, I've looked at a few on Ebay which seem alright but I'll do some searches before delving into buying one. I think wireless is going to be best all round as I have some ideas for outdoor stuff and what you sad about the IR seems obvious now. I think you can buy D-Lite heads seperately but I think 1 head is £200 and the kit of 2 heads, stands, softboxes and a bog costs £400. Perhaps if I order Flash kit, 3rd head, trigger, background, support and lightmeter from the same place I'll get a better deal.
 
Check out the Innovatronix inverter. A power supply that works with the D-Lites. www.Innovatronix.com

I too am looking at the D-Lites and thinking about the D-Lite4s rather than the D-Lite2s. Decisions decisions!! I too would like a 3 head set.
 
EOS JD meet Kev Mills! Buy 3 kits between you and share as we did!!!

Kev, buying a single head means you need your own stand, softbox, etc. that would come as 1/2 a kit which is why it's a better deal.

Buying 3 kits from TheFlashCentre, Leeds, got us about £100 worth of freebies too just for asking

Good luck whatever
 
There was me trying top save money :-)!! Glasgow might be a bit too far north although I do a bit of work in Cumbria!

Not having used a studio kit befor I don't know whether this is overkill. I only have a small studio space (move to the new house on 26th and have a single garage).
 
Don't get too carried away guys I'm not in a position to buy yet. I've either got to get very lucky with my business start up grant, sell my motorbike or hardest of all, both. I like to do a fair amount of digging around before hand when I'm making what I consider to be big purchases.
 
Phew! :-)
 
Thinking about what had been said about digital control I went back to the EXD200 to check and they, like the D-Lites are digitally controlled. Having read the comprehensive reviews of the D-Lites by Steve Aves on the warehous express site I'e contacted him to see if he'll do one for the EXD200's as I reckon they're pretty much direct competition for each other. Hopefully I'll hear something soon.
 
Well I've already heard back from Steve Aves twice today. He is wainting on getting a set of interfit EXDs to test and an interfit Venus set to test. He believes that the difference in quality between the EXDs and D-Lites will be considerable in terms of power accuracy and colour temperature. He also suggest that my intended setup of three 200W heads won't be enough to acheive a high key effect on a 3m wide background. b****r. Thinks I should look more towards 4 500W units, kerching!

He also stated that if I was after a set that could be used outdoors the only ones he knows of are the Bowens range of Gemini heads, which whilst they are rather good are also rather more expensive than the D-Lite equivelant. Perhaps I should just buy a diesel generator.
 
I use 3 bowens Gemini Esprit units. They come singularly or as a 2 or 3 head kit complete with stands, reflectors, softbox, brollies and a kit bag. You can buy as an optional extra the travel power pack for use outdoors with out mains electric.

You only need one remote trigger because the others will work from the slave sensor built into the unit. The only draw back is that if someone shoots over your shoulder with a compact their flash sets yours off. If this is likely to be the case get one for each head. I recommend radio triggers because they are much more reliable than infrared. some infrared have also been known to damage electronics in DSLR's.

You don't need to spend a lot on a trigger, I use one of these http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Studio-Flash-...97QQihZ003QQcategoryZ3860QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
for less than £20. They are very discreet, the transmitter is barely noticable on the hot shoe, whereas the more expensive ones are huge! The only problem I have had is that if you leave them on they use up batteries (2x AAA's).
 
Kev depending on when your gonna take the plunge, it might be worth waiting until the end of Feb and go along to the focus on imaging show at the NEC. I'm hanging fire for this, as last year there were all the leading players there with all the kit they offer set up for demos. This might be better as you'll be able to see them all in the flesh and speak to the tech people too. Also there were some mega deals floating around from everyone. :thumbs:

http://www.focus-on-imaging.co.uk/
 
spend your money???

Just thought this might be the best option, I got a few things last year, good deals, some with VAT free prices too.
 
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