Lighting kit and Flash Metre Purchase ?

whiz

Hi Guys , I am thinking about buying Elinchrom lights kit and a interfit flash metre in order to do some portraits and group shots. I am wondering would the Elinchrom kit be okay for lighting up family shots ? Plus I would like to know what people think of the Elinchrom lights kit (D-lite 2 To Go Set and interfit flash metre ? ( see links below), I would be using these with a canon 350d. All reponses appreciated.


http://www.pixels.ie/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=248&products_id=666 :Lighting Kit link

http://www.morrisphoto.co.uk/ProductDetails~productID~4252~categoryid~173.html :Meter link

ValueInIreland

You can't go far wrong with the Elinchrom D-Lite kits as they are well made, fan cooled, take virtually all the Elinchrom accessories, have full control of power in 1/10th f-stops etc.
If your budget allows go for the D-Lite 4's and they have one extra f-stop of power per head. We (Barker Photographic) can also supply the Interfit meter from stock, see:
http://www.barkerphotographic.ie/studio-equipment.htm

melekalikimaka

light meters are slight overkill IMO, I have one, hardly ever use it

Placebo

consider strobes?

DaireQuinlan

melekalikimaka wrote: »

light meters are slight overkill IMO, I have one, hardly ever use it

Yeah, i'd agree. Invaluable for film, I have a sekonic flash meter I use when I'm not using the ttl on my nikon film bodies, but for digital I reckon it'd probably be faster with experience just to bracket some test shots and chimp the results.

Borderfox

I have the d-lite 4 kit and it never fails, easy to set-up and take down. I use a light meter the odd time especially when I visit a church before a wedding.

whiz

Borderfox what type of light metre would you use ?

Borderfox

Polaris, does exactly what it says on the tin.

rymus

Borderfox wrote: »

I have the d-lite 4 kit and it never fails, easy to set-up and take down. I use a light meter the odd time especially when I visit a church before a wedding.

+1 to what that man said. Have had a pair of d-lites for the last couple of years and used them at a good few events and whatnot and they've (rarely) failed on me. Did find early on that I needed to invest in wireless triggers as house lights and people with compact cameras confused my poor lights. Since I got the pair of elinchrom triggers it's been all good though.

whiz

Borderfox on church light are using the metre to measure the amblient light ? so you have an idea of what iso and apareture to use, if you are not using flash

Fajitas!

Polaris and Sektonic both have budget level meter's - Tbh, even with digital, they're very very handy - If you know your light setup, they make shoots so much faster.

Bam, meter, reading, perfect exposure, job done.

whiz

Rymus
On the d-lites is there any way you can use these on battery power ( ie make them portable without using plugs) ?

Borderfox

whiz wrote: »

Borderfox on church light are using the metre to measure the amblient light ? so you have an idea of what iso and apareture to use, if you are not using flash

They measure incindent light, different to the cameras method. Yeah they are very handy and I wouldnt be using flash in a church and even if I am its still handy to know the readings.

Borderfox

I use the Calumet wireless triggers on the dlite kit

whiz

Borderfox wrote: »

I use the Calumet wireless triggers on the dlite kit

Does that ensure that you can use the D Lites on a portable basis ( mayb battery power) ?

rymus

whiz wrote: »

Rymus
On the d-lites is there any way you can use these on battery power ( ie make them portable without using plugs) ?

Absolutely.. but you'll need to buy a battery pack. Don't know if you can get a generic one. Think the elinchrom one is mucho pricey. If you go down that route, you'll possibly also be wanting at least one assistant to carry all the kit around

ValueInIreland

whiz wrote: »

Does that ensure that you can use the D Lites on a portable basis ( mayb battery power) ?

The Wireless trigger only applies to triggering the lights without a Sync cord. Barker Photographic supply two brands of portable power supply that will power most (but not all!) lights including D-Lites. The cheaper version of the power supply will set you back only €370 and will even allow limited use of the modelling lights. Contact Barker Photographic at: info@barkerphotographic.ie

whiz

Hi Guys thanks for your replies, my only worry is the Soft boxes in Elinchrom D-Lite 4's and the Elinchrom D-Lite 2's Kits will not be big enough to do family portraits, has anybody experienced this with these Kits or is this not the case ? If this is the case, can this be overcome by buying bigger Soft boxes or should I be looking at a different lighting system for Family Portraits ?

ValueInIreland

Hi Whiz, They are smallish but will do family groups OK. You can put softboxes up to about a Metre square on the D-Lite, but if you want of go bigger you should look at either the BX or BX-Ri heads / kits.