The simplest of "Strobist 101" home kit advice please

Zarch

Zarch

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Mick
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I have been reading the strobist.com blog with interest and fancy having a pop with my Nikon D3100 and SB-700 to see if I can get some better snaps of the family going off-camera.
Whilst I don't want some eBay tripe, i'd like to do this on a tight budget but at the same time getting some sturdy kit . (ahhhh, the Holy Grail)

I think I've decided on Yongnuo RF-602 for my triggers, so they are £32 off eBay for 1 x trigger and 2 x receivers.

But that leaves me with the physical kit to procure.

I like the way that "Midwest Photo Exchange" in the US do "strobist 101 kits" for less than 100 bucks. Is there a UK retailer that does similar kits at similar prices?

Or do I have to go find each of the elements myself? I see that the Lumo Pro kit that Strobist recommends isn't really available over here.

With triggers sorted, I suppose I just need the following:

Do these look sensible options for £50 total? Or any other recommendations?

Then once I get that the gear, I need to learn how to use the flash in manual and start experimenting. :)

I have a copy of Bryan Peterson's "understanding flash photography" book and whilst I enjoyed and found his "understanding exposure" book very helpful, his flash one just isn't doing it for me. It goes on about configuring your flash to the correct aperture for the shot, but my SB-700 doesn't show this, so I think I need to look elsewhere for another approach.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.
 
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FWIW, I have the triggers and stands that you are looking at and they are very good bits of kit, great VFM.

I bought 33" shoot through brollies though and cheaper umbrella adapters, but they too seem very good for the money. If I remember correctly, the umbrella's were £7 for a pair and the adapters were £4 each.

As far as technique goes, I haven't got that far yet as time hasn't allowed me to "play" properly so I can't help there.

Hope this helps some.
 
I think you've picked a great balance of value and quality. Go for it and start working through the exercises, it's staggering the difference getting the flash off the camera does to the quality of the pictures.
 
The stand is a half decent one to start with, and will come in useful later as well.

Umbrellas an umbrella. Take your pick off Ebay for very little. I personally like the double fold reflective, which make them very compact, but with your stand that will not be such a consideration.

Swivel - That one is very expensive. This one is excellent for the price. I'm happy to hang a 580exII off a YN622 on top of it.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/220925748283?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

602s are excellent, if a little slow. I would honestly think about waiting for the yn622 Nikon versions which are forthcoming, apparently.
 
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Kris said:
602s are excellent, if a little slow. I would honestly think about waiting for the yn622 Nikon versions which are forthcoming, apparently.
Click to expand...

I've seen that the YN622 for Nikon are coming out, but the release date seems an ever moving target, so might just plump for the 602's for now to have a play.

But I think I've changed my mind on the Light Stand and Bracket as I've seen a couple of decent items on eBay from Cotswold Photo.

By revised list would be:


The changes only increase the total price by a quid or so, but the quality looks better and from the reviews I've seen suggest that is the case.

Thoughts?

And any other suggested reading material in addition to Strobist 101?
 
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Reading material..............I've just bought "The Hot Shoe Diaries" and think it's very good.
 
I'd go with the rf 603s rather than 602s, you only need AAAs with the 603s.
 
^

603s make an external light meter use awkward as they require being placed on a camera to be in transmitter mode via a special channel.

Plus they are slower.
 
Bluetooth said:
I'd go with the rf 603s rather than 602s, you only need AAAs with the 603s.
Click to expand...

Kris said:
^

603s make an external light meter use awkward as they require being placed on a camera to be in transmitter mode via a special channel.

Plus they are slower.
Click to expand...

Already bought the 602's now...... the smaller transmitter looks better on my svelte D3100 body. ;)
 
The 602s have done me fine for several years.

If they are as good as the Canon 622s, wait till you try the Nikon 622s. {swoon}

I think they may have saved me upwards of £1500. I was about to replace all my 580exIIs with 600ex and STE3, but don't feel the need now.
 
you can also use any old tripod as light stand. I'm using my old Hama star tripod as light stand.

using 622c myself, excellent piece of kit. have already gotten quite a few fantastic portrait shots using the simple trigger and tripod setup. But lighting is very harsh.

instead of umbrella, I've gone for a softbox. less portable, but looks better quality with less wasted light.

interested in what kind of results you get. I have also been reading strobist and want to get into this field of photography.
 
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Umbrellas and softboxes are very different beasts, and both should be used appropriately.

Sometimes, you might want wider light scatter to automatically fill from an umbrella, esp a white shoot through. I wouldn't regard that as a 'waste light'.
 
Hello.
Thanks Zarch for starting this thread i was going to start something similar.

I have just finished watching The OneLight Workshop by Zack Arias for the umteenth time.

Which IMO is the best lighting dvd i have ever seen and explaines how to use a one light setup that anyone can understand.

So was iching to have a go but did not have loads of money to throw at it, so was nice to see this thread and to see it could be done quite cheaply.

I can't afford say a sb700 like you have so am looking to buy one that Zack Arias recommended in his dvd a vivitar 285 they can be picked up on evil bay for around £60-70

Hope you have lots of fun.

regards Paul.
 
285s are probably not to be recommended nowadays, as they had quality control problems later on and earlier ones are known to have high trigger voltages.

I started out many moons ago with a few 283s and VP1s, and they served me well but are now out of date also.

I'd get one of the Yongnuo flashes to be honest, either manual single pin only or one of the ttl ones such as the 568. Newer designs, one year warranty etc etc for not much more than a decent 285 off fleabay.

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/hkyongnuophotoequipment
 
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Thanks Kris.
Will take a look at them, thanks for the link.
 
Mick, let us know how you get on! I'm in the same situation as yourself. I have a Yonguno flash, triggers (603's) but no light stand and brolly yet (my next purchase along with hopefully new lens). Tried experimenting with it off camera but I could only bounce the light off the ceiling and walls, need to get a modifier to difuse the light.
 
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