Studio lights on a tight budget.

Muss

Muss

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Dan
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Yep another one of these threads.

I have got about £300 at the moment to buy a set of studio lights to help me progress further. I already have speedlite setups but want to add some studio lights to the arsenal.

Im currently keeping tabs on a lencarta 3 light setup and i understand il be buying second hand which i have no problems with at all.


Anyone have any ideas?

Kind regards.
 
Good choice to buy second hand, you'll get much better lights with that budget second hand.

To give you an idea, I just sold an Elinchrom 300 Style S head on ebay for £130 delivered, that's a previous generation top of the range Elinchrom head. It's analogue rather than digital, but lightening quick recycling and flash duration, and built to last.

In my opinion used Elinchrom stuff is a safe bet, they're a great manufacturer and have a great reputation for build quality and consisitency.

Ones to look out for in a similar price range;

Style
Style S
BX
FX
 
Will keep an eye out for those Danny. Ive missed out on a couple of auctions of dlite 2 kits.

My friend has them and i was impressed.
 
Unless you find a second hand bargain I'd suggest fewer lights to save money. 2 usually cost less than 3 and it's surprising what you can do with one light and a decent softbox. If you have £300 and aren't buying a kit then I'd suggest £200 max on the lights and £100 on modifiers.

All those lights Danny lists are good. The D-Lites aren't built to the same quality but they are still pretty nice and relatively inexpensive. If you fund you hate them then you'll get a good chunk of your money back selling them on. Far more than you would buying a cheaper no-name brand.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Unless you find a second hand bargain I'd suggest fewer lights to save money. 2 usually cost less than 3 and it's surprising what you can do with one light and a decent softbox. If you have £300 and aren't buying a kit then I'd suggest £200 max on the lights and £100 on modifiers.

All those lights Danny lists are good. The D-Lites aren't built to the same quality but they are still pretty nice and relatively inexpensive. If you fund you hate them then you'll get a good chunk of your money back selling them on. Far more than you would buying a cheaper no-name brand.
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Totally agree, £300 on 2x good lights is infinitely better than £300 on 3x shocking lights
 
so would the Lencarta 3 light setup not be worth the hassle? its currently everything i need (softbox x2 umbrella x2 snoot and gels and 3 stands) Plus i have copious amounts of modifiers from my strobist gear.

I understand what everyone is saying though... i wont just go buy anything, i always do my research first. Found a few adverts in local paper aswell which il pursue further.
 
Muss said:
so would the Lencarta 3 light setup not be worth the hassle? its currently everything i need (softbox x2 umbrella x2 snoot and gels and 3 stands)
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Not sure which kit you mean - do you have a link?
 
Muss said:
so would the Lencarta 3 light setup not be worth the hassle? its currently everything i need (softbox x2 umbrella x2 snoot and gels and 3 stands) Plus i have copious amounts of modifiers from my strobist gear.

I understand what everyone is saying though... i wont just go buy anything, i always do my research first. Found a few adverts in local paper aswell which il pursue further.
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In my own opinion (which contradicts the opinion of most on here admittedly), Lencarta build quality isn't particularly good. I owned EP300 heads, the "professional" ones, and the smart flash is the budget offering.

You can't compare previous generation top of the range Elinchrom stuff with used budget offerings from Lencarta IMHO, different league
 
As mentioned I would go for a decent two light set-up.I just bought the Bowens 400/400 kit and am learning with just one and a reflector and then will add the other one at a later date when I understand and have learnt enough with just the one.
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
You can't compare previous generation top of the range Elinchrom stuff with used budget offerings from Lencarta IMHO, different league
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That's true. But if you're talking build quality you can't compare modern Elinchrom D-Lites with the proper Elys ;) Although excellent lights the housings are extremely flimsy. Even the Styles aren't as well built as the old metal ones but then they don't smell of fire when you use them so I suppose that's progress.

I've not yet managed to damage any of my Lencartas beyond use yet ;)
 
Ive used some lencarta stuff before and it seems to be pretty good gear.
The kit im looking at is a smartflash setup and for the price i can afford im not expecting top of the range gear. Just something to keep me going and get started.

Obviously if i can see a two head kit from Bowens or Elinchrom i would be stupid to not go for them.
 
Dan, I've had a single Smartflash for just over a week. I obviously can't speak of it's longevity but I can recommend it as a good starting point. I can't even compare it to other studio lights as I haven't owned any. I can say that I find it a definate improvement over my speedlites though for helping me get the results somewhere near what I want.

That's just me though. I'm sure others will say otherwise.
 
Thanks Pete,
Its good to know anyones opinion.
Unfortunately ive been let down on the Kit i was talking about but im sure something will turn up.
 
Don't feel you need to dive straight in with 2 lights. You can get fantastic results with one light.then add a reflector, then add a second light later.

For you scott i would definately suggest buying one decent light, rather than 2 or 3 naff ones that will have colour temp all over the place etc.

I know some GREAT studio guys who just use speed lights.
 
Sko77y said:
my budget is a mere £150-£200 which is a lot less than yours, problems with being newly graduated and on the job hunt :(
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I'd strongly advise one decent light and a nice modifier over 2, um, not so good ones.

People have got decent results with worse kit than you link to - but it's far easier to use better kit. If I was starting out again I'd buy one light and one modifier and work from there. As it is, a lot of my favourite pics were taken with one light.

Here are a couple....

http://peoplebyryan.com/photoblog/spanish-connection
http://www.lencarta.com/studio-lighting-blog/09/flower-girl-location-lighting
http://peoplebyryan.com/photoblog/trash-the-everything

There's no real reason why I couldn't have done any of those with £200 worth of lights. Except that the last one was shot about half a mile from the closest working power socket.
 
Sorry Dan for jumping in on your thread firstly I can start a new one if you'd rather, cheers for the info Cris and Jonathon.

I've had a look through other similar threads in this section and 3 brands seem to pop up the most:Elinchrom, Lencarta and Bowen. Only Lencarta seems to be within my budget:

http://www.lencarta.com/lighting-store/flash-heads/flash-heads-1/smartflash-200-compact-flash-head

Leaving me with about £45-£95 left for kit (reflector £10, Light Stand £20, 60x60 Softbox £45, anything else thats needed).

would this be the sort of 1 light kit you'd suggest? I've no real idea about using studio lights so have no concept of colour temp.
 
Sko77y said:
I've no real idea about using studio lights so have no concept of colour temp.
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Colour temperature is not just for the studio ;) If you want to represent colours accurately, you need to understand the "temperature" of the incident light. For example, normal light bulbs are quite "warm" in colour - they have a lot of light in the red/yellow part of the spectrum. When this light bounces off objects, you get a mix of light back at the sensor which will have more red/yellow components. Knowing the colour temperature means you can compensate for this to get the true colour.

Consistency from flash heads is important as once you have the colour balance set up correctly in the camera, you can just use those settings however you place the heads and whatever power you use. If the heads aren't consistent colour temperature (either because of variations between units or because it changes as the flash head power is reduced) objects will look different from picture to picture. Skin tones will change etc...

I find the most confusing thing (although I understand why!) about colour temperature is that "warm" light has a lower value for temperature than "cool" light.
 
That will get you going.

I was going to suggest a 70X100 softbox instead as I find rectangular ones more versatile than square but the price difference will push you over budget. If you always plan to use the softbox (until you buy something else) then you don't need the reflector.

You'll also need some way to make it go flash when you want. I believe there's a cable with the light - depending on your camera you may need an adapter. If you can stretch to it you'll have more fun using a radio trigger - either 40 quid for the Lencarta ones or I like the RF-602s on eBay for 25ish.

Should let you do stuff like this...

blog_041.jpg


[That was shot tethered on a Lencarta training course so it's SOOC. I can't honestly remember if it was a Smartflash or EP300 turned down low but a Smartflash would have worked. There's also a bit of fill from a homemade reflector. Hint: they cost exactly a pound....]
 
arad85 said:
Colour temperature is not just for the studio ;) If you want to represent colours accurately, you need to understand the "temperature" of the incident light. For example, normal light bulbs are quite "warm" in colour - they have a lot of light in the red/yellow part of the spectrum. When this light bounces off objects, you get a mix of light back at the sensor which will have more red/yellow components. Knowing the colour temperature means you can compensate for this to get the true colour.

Consistency from flash heads is important as once you have the colour balance set up correctly in the camera, you can just use those settings however you place the heads and whatever power you use. If the heads aren't consistent colour temperature (either because of variations between units or because it changes as the flash head power is reduced) objects will look different from picture to picture. Skin tones will change etc...

I find the most confusing thing (although I understand why!) about colour temperature is that "warm" light has a lower value for temperature than "cool" light.
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Cheers Andy, so it allows for a consistant white balance,think I'm with you now.

JonathanRyan said:
That will get you going.

I was going to suggest a 70X100 softbox instead as I find rectangular ones more versatile than square but the price difference will push you over budget. If you always plan to use the softbox (until you buy something else) then you don't need the reflector.

You'll also need some way to make it go flash when you want. I believe there's a cable with the light - depending on your camera you may need an adapter. If you can stretch to it you'll have more fun using a radio trigger - either 40 quid for the Lencarta ones or I like the RF-602s on eBay for 25ish.

Should let you do stuff like this...

blog_041.jpg


[That was shot tethered on a Lencarta training course so it's SOOC. I can't honestly remember if it was a Smartflash or EP300 turned down low but a Smartflash would have worked. There's also a bit of fill from a homemade reflector. Hint: they cost exactly a pound....]
Click to expand...


Excellent shot, exactly the sort of thing I would be after. I've got a set of Cactus V4 Wireless triggers already (would these work?), so could proabably stretch to the larger softbox. Is the difference between an octobox and softbox how the light is diffused?

Again thankyou for the help
 
Sko77y said:
I've got a set of Cactus V4 Wireless triggers already (would these work?), so could proabably stretch to the larger softbox. Is the difference between an octobox and softbox how the light is diffused?

Again thankyou for the help
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Yep - Cactus should work fine. You'll need the lead with the 3.5mm jack on it.

Difference between octabox and rectangular box is the shape ;) The diffusion is the same. Octas will give you circular-ish catchlights and are generally bigger than rectangulars (because they are kind of round). Rectangular are cheaper and generally smaller but you can use them vertically or horizontally for different effects.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Yep - Cactus should work fine. You'll need the lead with the 3.5mm jack on it.

Difference between octabox and rectangular box is the shape ;) The diffusion is the same. Octas will give you circular-ish catchlights and are generally bigger than rectangulars (because they are kind of round). Rectangular are cheaper and generally smaller but you can use them vertically or horizontally for different effects.
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Awesome, thanks Jonathon, Gonna spend a while trying to spec up some of the kit within my budget :thankyou:
 
Cant believe you hijacked my thread Scott!!!!! Its all cool though! both in the same situation with slightly different budgets.
Everything everyone has said is great info for both of us.

Im tempted with just a single light but to be honest, ive been using 3 and 4 speedlites on location shoots and want to try and replicate similar lighting in studio conditions so i think 3 lights is best for me!!

This will be interesting to see how we get on with our budgets so maybe keep this thread alive by keeping the updates and options going.
 
you can t go wrong with lencarta. all mear is from them and I love it ;)
 
Agree with Jonathan about one good light. And just as a comment, I hardly ever use two! It's either just the one (mostly) and a white/silver reflector, or three - main key/subject light, second hair/effect light, and a third background light. Also, if you want the pure white blown background look, you need three.

If budget is tight, I'd get a Lencarta Smartflash (£107) and that 70x100cm Profold softbox (£110) that Jonners mentions. I've got one here and it's a serious weapon - versatile for portraits and small groups, controllable, as easy to put up as an umbrella :thumbs:

Then a stand, reflector and trigger - £300 the lot. For a bit of simple variety, get a silver umbrella - they're really cheap and give a harder more defined light with stronger shadows :)

If you're just starting and have more than one light, the temptation will be to use them and probably make things worse. Add extra lights (hot shoe guns play well with studio heads) as and when.

Edit: if budget is really, really tight, swap the softbox for umbrellas, like 100cm-ish. A white one (similar effect to softbox), silver (similar but harder), and shoot-through translucent - similar again, but spreads the light to the sides and 50% reflected straight out of the back, which in a normal room bounces around and adds instant auto-fill, good for soft shadow portraits and groups.
 
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HoppyUK said:
If budget is tight, I'd get a Lencarta Smartflash (£107) and that 70x100cm Profold softbox (£110) that Jonners mentions. I've got one here and it's a serious weapon - versatile for portraits and small groups, controllable, as easy to put up as an umbrella :thumbs:
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I'll second this suggestion. That's exactly what I've just bought and it's an ideal starting point. You won't be disappointed with this combo I guarantee :thumbs:
 
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