Which top-end kit do you use in your studio

CanonDad

CanonDad

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Hello all,
I used to do alot of studio work at a local place, but that was a year or so ago.
Im now in a position to open up my own studio but feel tbe kit i had isnt up to the job of daily use.

Ive looked at the Elinchrom RX but wondered what the general concensus is regarding top end lighting.

Needs to be durable as its going to be used daily and preferably bought as a kit with 3-4 heads, softboxes, ST umbrellas, wireless triggering.

Price isnt an option at this stage.

Cheers all

:thumbsup:
 
Price is no option, Profoto, henseil ?

If price is no option then just fill your boots with the most expesnive kit you can find surely ?

me personally if I had quite a generous budget lets say just purely from experience I would go for Bowens I've only owned 2 types of heads so far Lencarta & Bowens purely from experience with both the Bowens just feels so much more solid then the lencarta I would be far happier with them being bashed around all day every day then a set of lecnartas (not nocking them) its just metal is better then plastic but then I don't know what the Elit Pros are made from.
 
Thanks for that.
Yeah, price no object is slightly misleading. :)
Im not going out and buying a Hasselblad just because i can !!
Should have put a cap on a couple of grand give or take.

I was looking at the Bowens 1500. Funnily enough i had Lencarta as my first setup and got on really well with it, but did have its issues.
 
CanonDad said:
Thanks for that.
Yeah, price no object is slightly misleading. :)
Im not going out and buying a Hasselblad just because i can !!
Should have put a cap on a couple of grand give or take.

I was looking at the Bowens 1500. Funnily enough i had Lencarta as my first setup and got on really well with it, but did have its issues.
Click to expand...

I've got Bowens 500Rs they are like tanks :) and for my needs are spot on :) I think the flash duration is a bit pants after doing alot of reading the pro's would of been better but dang they are not cheap lol.
 
Price no object would for me mean broncolor! But you will be looking at more than a couple of grand!

For your budget any of the well established mid range brands would be suitable, you just need to decide what features are most important to you.

What will you be shooting and who is your Target Market?
 
procentre have got some good deals and (more) affordable profoto acute packs and heads second hand at the moment...they're the industry standard... expensive system to get into though...
 
Now im reading up on the Bowens, they look great. 3 head kit of 500 pros are about £1900.
Can you add a wireless trigger to the setup?
 
onform said:
Price no object would for me mean broncolor! But you will be looking at more than a couple of grand!

For your budget any of the well established mid range brands would be suitable, you just need to decide what features are most important to you.

What will you be shooting and who is your Target Market?
Click to expand...

Hi,

Im simply doing studio shoots for families, but havent ruled out more creative model shots.

What i dont want is the "buy cheap buy twice" syndrome. And by CHEAP i mean, something that wont handle daily work.

itsdavedotnet said:
procentre have got some good deals and (more) affordable profoto acute packs and heads second hand at the moment...they're the industry standard... expensive system to get into though...
Click to expand...

Cheers pal,
Off to look at it now.

Ive got a couple of months research first so might go out and about and test a few first. This will most likely end up in me keep changing my mind for a more exoensive system as seems to happen with me and new toys !!!
 
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If you thinking of getting 1500 bowens badys make sure you got a big room my 750 pros and over the top 90% of the time.
 
If you're using it solely in the studio then monoblocks aren't your only option, consider pack and head alternatives. A couple of Elinchrom 2400 RX packs and four heads will be great quality and pack a serious punch, or Classic packs, loads available and built extremely well.

Check out www.theflashcentre.co.uk
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
If you're using it solely in the studio then monoblocks aren't your only option, consider pack and head alternatives. A couple of Elinchrom 2400 RX packs and four heads will be great quality and pack a serious punch, or Classic packs, loads available and built extremely well.

Check out www.theflashcentre.co.uk
Click to expand...

Cheers.
Great site, why havent i been on it earlier?
So many choices, got more questions than answers.

Ta
 
CanonDad said:
Hello all,
I used to do alot of studio work at a local place, but that was a year or so ago.
Im now in a position to open up my own studio but feel tbe kit i had isnt up to the job of daily use.

Ive looked at the Elinchrom RX but wondered what the general concensus is regarding top end lighting.

Needs to be durable as its going to be used daily and preferably bought as a kit with 3-4 heads, softboxes, ST umbrellas, wireless triggering.

Price isnt an option at this stage.

Cheers all

:thumbsup:
Click to expand...

before deciding what you want, you want to decide what you are shooting and what you need
 
As already said, you need to look long and hard at exactly what you want from your system. I too use Bowens 500R heads for my studio work, but rather than use Travelpaks for my out of studio work I opt to hire Profoto gear for its recycle time and smaller head size. Flash duration is a consideration too. Monoblocks are often slower than portable units... if it's really a must to have short flash duration (depending on what you need) there are systems out there to deal with that. The Profoto Pro-B3 for example, but they are double your budget. For most in studio situations I can't think of anything that my Bowens 500R units can't cope with between the normal f/8-f/11 range they are more than powerful enough with modifiers fitted. And if you are a Pocket Wizard user you can fit a PW receiver card in them (or Pulsar) rather than connecting a PW via the sync socket. The remote is a nice touch too. I use the big brother of the remotes to switch channels and talk to grouped lights separately to key/fill/hair too... saves walking ;)

Edit:
Check out the sticky in this forum too of course
 
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Cheers for the help.
Im now looking at a 3 head Bowen 500pro as that will bo powerful enough for me in the size studio i want.
One thing is, im now not planning on modelling shots too much. Just the family portrait photos with hikey background, so no need for too much control as yet as it wil be point and click, but when i get more business i want to be abke to do it so want the lights to be able to do it.
 
I would recomend you look at the Elinchrom RX System.

600 RX's should cover your requirements. Very good Lights and an excellence range of modifiers avalible. Power level can be controlled from the camera position using the Skyport system.
 
Sylvester XxX said:
I would recomend you look at the Elinchrom RX System.

600 RX's should cover your requirements. Very good Lights and an excellence range of modifiers avalible. Power level can be controlled from the camera position using the Skyport system.
Click to expand...

+1 you can't go wrong
 
Bowens 500s are moret than powerful enough for your needs. If you go any more than this you may find your options limited at the wider end of your DOF. If shooting with DSLR with a smaller than full frame sensor you get masses of DOF. To throw backgrounds out of focus I shoot around f5.6. if your fill lights are a couple of stops lower than this
(f2.8 giving 1:4 ratios) larger more powerfiul monoblocs struggle to release such a low amount of light.

With portraiture, power isn't everything.
 
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