Studio Lighting

h.r.ford

h.r.ford

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Renee
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I have asked for 2 studio lights for Christmas and my husband wants to know what the difference is. Ummm I really know nothing about it and just want it to play around with my family. So what should I look for. What makes a good light. I don't need great ones as it will just be occasional use. Where can I go that maybe tells me in plain english (like I'm an idiot please) to help me with what I'm looking for? Thanks in advance.
 
Well you'll be able to tell "good" lights easily - they're the ones costing several thousand pounds ;)

However, the £200 dual-head sets you can buy will be fine for messing about and general non-pro stuff. Or, if you want to go the budget-but-portable route then you should take a look at Strobist for guides on using flashguns off-camera (properly, I mean. Not just on a cord but on stands, with umbrellas, sync'd with PocketWizards, etc). That's the route I'm going to start down pretty soon.
 
I think that the £200 is more my speed and really all I need as it isn't for more than a monthly having some fun sort of thing. I've looked at strobist before but I'm not sure it is any cheaper as flashguns run a couple hundred pounds themselves.
 
A second-hand Nikon SB-24 (and yes, you can use Nikon flashguns with Canon cameras - you can use any flashgun with a PC sync socket) can be had for £50 delivered if you take a bit of care on eBay.

A stand, umbrella adapter, umbrella and sync cord will cost you another £70 or so. The only expensive part is PocketWizards, should you decide to use them, which will be an extra £120 per light plus £120 for the one on the camera. But as I said, you don't need them if you're prepared to put up with sync cords.

Admittedly, that's still more money per light than the cheap setups I mentioned but you can take that kit into the middle of a field and it'll still work. Cheap dual-head systems need to work off the mains.
 
That is something to really think about though. I've read that the Nikon flashguns are rather nice too. I'll go and mumble to myself some more...
 
Studio lights or big flashguns?

If you want 'proper' studio lights, then Bowens are pretty good. Arri also are making inroads into studio flash after years of Cinema lighting exellence.

Look here under 'studio lighting' - http://www.warehouseexpress.com/
 
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