Studio Lights on Ebay

irish147

I am looking for a basic studio set up for a few images, maybe I'll only use the lights/studio 2-4 times a year.

Is this setup any good?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/900w-Flash-kit-Photography-Studio-Strobe-light-3-x-300w-/120715020297?pt=UK_Photography_StudioEquipment_RL&hash=item1c1b2d0809

Thanks

Micheal

ValueInIreland

You will certainly struggle to get anything else for that kind of money, but they may just drive you mad!
The first alarm bell (for me) is that there is no brand name.
Cheap heads like these also suffer from two other big problems:
1) Recycling times (to full power)tend to be in excess of 4-5 seconds* - an eternity if you are shooting people, products are no problem.
2) The other problem is that cheap lights ofter have big problems with the power output changing from shot to shot, so you could do a perfect test shot, then find the one exposure with the perfect expression is wrongly exposed.
If you just want them for something like a college project on still life, they may be fine, but don't think that they will be suitable for any sort of commercial use.

* A typical Elinchrom or Bowens head will recycle to full power in 1 - 1.5 seconds and have more power.

irish147

what is a good light for for basic studio work... for low light images?


thanks for your time...

ValueInIreland wrote: »

You will certainly struggle to get anything else for that kind of money, but they may just drive you mad!
The first alarm bell (for me) is that there is no brand name.
Cheap heads like these also suffer from two other big problems:
1) Recycling times (to full power)tend to be in excess of 4-5 seconds* - an eternity if you are shooting people, products are no problem.
2) The other problem is that cheap lights ofter have big problems with the power output changing from shot to shot, so you could do a perfect test shot, then find the one exposure with the perfect expression is wrongly exposed.
If you just want them for something like a college project on still life, they may be fine, but don't think that they will be suitable for any sort of commercial use.

* A typical Elinchrom or Bowens head will recycle to full power in 1 - 1.5 seconds and have more power.

Borderfox

Elinchrom D-lite 200 or the Bowens equivalent would suit well

challengemaster

The other problem with no-name lights that can occur (and it's a big one) is the lights having a different white balance.

TBH that seems like way too much stuff for the money, so there's something wrong somewhere. You shouldn't be able to get 1/3 of that for that price...

The other question is - how long will they actually last? If you get them and 2 lights die within 1 month of use, you're fairly screwed.

aidanic

challengemaster wrote: »

The other question is - how long will they actually last? If you get them and 2 lights die within 1 month of use, you're fairly screwed.

I'm looking at these as well, mostly to play with, a hobby kind of thing. Definitly not commercial work.

There are some comments above:

White balance: What about replacing the "cheap bulbs" with "pro bulbs" when they die.

Equipment death: Are you thinking about the bulbs, which I believe can be replaced, or are you talking about the charging units themselves?

To get that kind of setup for under £200 is quite appealing (for the hobbiest), and even if you have to "mind it", and upgrade bulbs, triggers and charging units over a few years, you might be OK.

I'm watching a second hand Jobo Colour processing tank system on eBay at the same time, and it's about the same price!

Aidan

stcstc

a lot of the cheaper lights, the flash tubes are not user replaceable, and will use some odd tube, which u may not be able to get easilly etc

guangjie

Maybe this is a good choice.
http://s8.hk/5zzj

ValueInIreland

Priced in Dollars watch out for the voltage as well as all the issues mentioned in earlier posts.

liangkuai

To start a photography studio?

ValueInIreland

liangkuai wrote: »

To start a photography studio?

Ideally you would spend about €1,000 per set of two lights. Many people start with just two lights and can get by, but you will struggle to do High Key effects (pure white backdrop). So, if you don't want to spend hours in Photoshop get 4 lights at the start. €1,000 on a lighting kit will get you a "Professional" set of Elinchrom or Bowens (The Mercedes and BMW of lights). €600 - €700 will get you a quality set of "Pro-Sumer" lights like D-Lites, which are designed for Enthusiasts and occassional Pro use. Don't forget: Backgrounds, supports, Larger Softboxes, Props etc.