What is best watt output, make, equipment, etc :)

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magicmonkey75

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Hello everyone,

First time in a forum, first post, first studio, first everything really so I am hoping to get some advice. (I have gone through some of the threads but am overwhelmed by the amount of them and apologise in advance if these questions have already been answered.)

I am setting up a studio in my apartment with 11' high ceilings, and a space of around 7' x 11'. I will be doing mostly portrait, with some still life photography and have been researching lighting sets and have a couple of questions:

1) What is the ideal wattage for lights that will be taking portraits, still and fashion? I have read in a few places that if I want to do portraits, 800 watts would be ideal since soft boxes would cut the output in half. Is this true or can I get something lower?

2) In addition to studio portraits, I am dabbling in fashion photography and would ideally like to take the lights with me on location (mostly a friends workshop which is much bigger than my own studio). Would I need a different set of lights or bulbs for this or could I use the same ones?

3) Does anyone have any recommendations on whether it is worth it to buy new lights or would a used kit suffice. I live in Switzerland and the costs here are quite high. As I travel to London once in a while, I am more than happy to get something over there if anyone can recommend any good second hand places in London or Kent (or is ebay the way to go?).

4) Any suggestions on the make of lights? It would be great to have something that is fairly easy to transport and use both indoors and out. Would anyone suggest getting a continuous light as well as two strobe lights or would two strobe lights suffice?

I think that is it for now and I thank you all in advance for any advice you can give.

Cheers! :)
 
I'm sure Garry will be along soon with two very useful links that you should find rather helpful.

BTW, for #4 I can say strobes = :), continuous = :(

Edit:
You don't mention your budget at all... any idea what the bank manager/wife/husband/significant other will allow?
 
Watts is an expression of power consumption with continuous lighting, not flash. Flash is expressed in Joules or Watt Seconds (W/s) - same thing. Don't want to nitpick but it helps to avoid confusion by using the right terminology.

Output in Joules is nothing more than the amount of energy stored in the capacitors, it means something but not a lot. 2 different makes with the same amount of stored energy might produce very different actual power, one might be twice that of the other.

Softboxes (and other light shaping tools don't actually reduce power, they just spread it around. Much the same thing really but it makes a big difference in the way you use them. A softbox placed say 2 feet from the subject may 'lose' 1/2 stop, the same softbox at 10' from the subject may 'lose' 3 stops.

All studio flash units are portable if you have strong arms. You will of course need battery powered ones if you want to shoot your fashion on a beach or the middle of a wood... More expensive.

Second hand? Maybe, but lights have improved tremendously in the last 2-3 years, older second hand ones are likely to have far less adjustment for power - and if they've had pro use they may have little life left.

Make? Horses for courses. Bear in mind that some makes are much more expensive in terms of accessories than others, and some of the lesser known makes have a very limited range of accessories. I'm not going to recommend any single make simply because I'm the techie for a manufacturer, some people may think I can't be objective... I'm sure other TP members will make their own recommendations.

Please see my brief intro to choosing studio lights
 
Thanks so much for the responses!

The information is really useful and I am about to read the intro to choosing studio lights. Thanks so much!!

My budget for the lights is about 1500 CHF, which is probably about 800 - 900 £ (not sure with the exchange rate nowadays). Thankfully my boyfriend (unfortunately not a doctor) is very gracious with my desires to go more professional so no complaints from me!

I managed to find a good lighting kit (I think) that is on sale here in Switzerland, from a company called Elinchrom based here in Geneva. This is the actual kit is called BX 400 to go and has 2 lights at 400 watts each http://www.amazon.com/Elinchrom-EL-400BXKIT-Style-Complete/dp/B0007NA6AO (btw thanks for explanation on joules and watts, can u tell I am still a newbie?) I have read some good things about this brand and am thinking that maybe for now 400 watts is enough? In total, the kit comes to 1300 CHF which is on sale from 1700 CHF and even leaves me some leftover to buy a trigger. Your thoughts or opinions on the brand and setup (dont worry, I wont find you biased) would be great and again thanks for the replies, they really help :)

Cheers

(ps any other articles on studio lighting or just using lights in general would be much appreciated as well!)
 
Elinca is a reputable Company and the Elinchrom BX is a good product - good, consistent power output and colour temperature. The build quality isn't brilliant but as long as you treat it gently it should last for years
 
Hello again!

Just wanted to share with you that I ended up buying the elinchrom at an amazing price and could not be happier. So far so good! Thanks again for your answers :)
 
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