Hi all. New to the forum. I have been looking through the forums for a couple weeks and have found there is a wealth of knowledge here!
First off, my status is an armature. I have only been into photography for the past year and make NO money doing so. Eventually I would like to make it a legit small part-time business for some extra coin when my child starts college (I have almost 18 years for that). I have WAY too much more to learn and practice before I would ever think about being paid to take photographs.
My experience up to this point is portraiture and this is what I am most passionate/interested about. This past November I took my son\'s Christmas picture using a friends fluorescent studio lights with umbrellas. After using this setup, I am convinced that continuous lighting is not for me and would much rather a flash system.
Since its tax time, I have a little bit of money I was thinking about spending towards some studio lighting. What I would like to accomplish in the long run is enough light to photograph one to eventually 6 people. I absolutely need to be able to photograph one to three subjects for now. I realize that I would need more light sources for six subjects.
My current gear is as follows:
D700
D5000
24-70mm f2.8 AF-S
50mm f1.8G
18-55mm f3.5-5.6G ED II DX
55-200mm f4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR
Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod Legs
Manfrotto 496RC2 Ball Head
48\" Reflector
I am guessing around 85% of the use will be indoors. I will need to keep my budget around $500-800. The setups I was thinking about are not necessarily apples to apples, so I would appreciate your opinions/suggestions.
Setup 1 (Speedlights)
The setup I was thinking about was a SB-700 or SB-910, stand, umbrella and a cheap wireless trigger/receiver set. I am not sure how much more light I would get stepping from an SB-700 to the SB-910, but I believe I could purchase two SB-700s and stay within my budget. This route would give me the flexibility of adding fill flash outdoors which would be nice.
Setup 2
AB800 package that includes one head, stand, umbrella, storage. PCB CyberSync transmitter and one CyberSync plus receiver (just in case I decide to upgrade to a commander later). From what I have read, the Alien Bee line is a good value providing a good start to lighting and also has good customer service. They also seem to retain their value pretty well if I later decided to upgrade/sell. I have thought about two AB400s but am nervous about having buyers remorse for not going to a more powerful head later.
Setup 3
Flashpoint II 620A kit. This has two 300ws heads, stands, umbrellas and a case. I would probably purchase a cheap wireless transmitter/receiver set or the CyberSyncs. This seems like a fair deal, but since it is a house brand head, there are not many reviews out there for them. I did read somewhere that the maintenance cost (lamps) is higher than Alien Bees and I am not sure that they would retain much of their value as compared to other manufacturers. http://www.adorama.com/FP620AK.html
Setup 4
Elinchrom D-Lite 4 IT kit. It includes two 400ws heads, stands, two 25x25 softboxes, reflector, Skyport wireless trigger and a case. This is obviously at the far end of my budget. I have read a good review here on FM about this package and the person seemed to like it. With the name, I would imagine they would retain their value fairly well, but am slightly nervous about it having the proprietary triggering system. I am not sure if it has the optical trigger or not. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/674263-REG/Elinchrom_EL_20815KIT_D_Lite_IT_400Ws_2_Light.html
Again, I know these are not apple to apple packages. I kind of like the speedlight route due to the flexibility they provide, but am nervous about not having enough light output to properly expose 3 subjects.
Hi all. New to the forum. I have been looking through the forums for a couple weeks and have found there is a wealth of knowledge here!
First off, my status is an armature. I have only been into photography for the past year and make NO money doing so. Eventually I would like to make it a legit small part-time business for some extra coin when my child starts college (I have almost 18 years for that). I have WAY too much more to learn and practice before I would ever think about being paid to take photographs.
My experience up to this point is portraiture and this is what I am most passionate/interested about. This past November I took my son\'s Christmas picture using a friends fluorescent studio lights with umbrellas. After using this setup, I am convinced that continuous lighting is not for me and would much rather a flash system.
Since its tax time, I have a little bit of money I was thinking about spending towards some studio lighting. What I would like to accomplish in the long run is enough light to photograph one to eventually 6 people. I absolutely need to be able to photograph one to three subjects for now. I realize that I would need more light sources for six subjects.
My current gear is as follows:
D700
D5000
24-70mm f2.8 AF-S
50mm f1.8G
18-55mm f3.5-5.6G ED II DX
55-200mm f4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR
Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod Legs
Manfrotto 496RC2 Ball Head
I am guessing around 85% of the use will be indoors. I will need to keep my budget around $500-800. The setups I was thinking about are not necessarily apples to apples, so I would appreciate your opinions/suggestions.
Setup 1 (Speedlights)
The setup I was thinking about was a SB-700 or SB-910, stand, umbrella and a cheap wireless trigger/receiver set. I am not sure how much more light I would get stepping from an SB-700 to the SB-910, but I believe I could purchase two SB-700s and stay within my budget. This route would give me the flexibility of adding fill flash outdoors which would be nice.
Setup 2
AB800 package that includes one head, stand, umbrella, storage. PCB CyberSync transmitter and one CyberSync plus receiver (just in case I decide to upgrade to a commander later). From what I have read, the Alien Bee line is a good value providing a good start to lighting and also has good customer service. They also seem to retain their value pretty well if I later decided to upgrade/sell. I have thought about two AB400s but am nervous about having buyers remorse for not going to a more powerful head later.
Setup 3
Flashpoint II 620A kit. This has two 300ws heads, stands, umbrellas and a case. I would probably purchase a cheap wireless transmitter/receiver set or the CyberSyncs. This seems like a fair deal, but since it is a house brand head, there are not many reviews out there for them. I did read somewhere that the maintenance cost (lamps) is higher than Alien Bees and I am not sure that they would retain much of their value as compared to other manufacturers. http://www.adorama.com/FP620AK.html
Setup 4
Elinchrom D-Lite 4 IT kit. It includes two 400ws heads, stands, two 25x25 softboxes, reflector, Skyport wireless trigger and a case. This is obviously at the far end of my budget. I have read a good review here on FM about this package and the person seemed to like it. With the name, I would imagine they would retain their value fairly well, but am slightly nervous about it having the proprietary triggering system. I am not sure if it has the optical trigger or not. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/674263-REG/Elinchrom_EL_20815KIT_D_Lite_IT_400Ws_2_Light.html
Again, I know these are not apple to apple packages. I kind of like the speedlight route due to the flexibility they provide, but am nervous about not having enough light output to properly expose 3 subjects.
Thanks for any opinions you may have!
Jan 23, 2012 at 01:28 PM
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