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I have been looking into studio lighting, and am finding it so confusing., Bowens, Elinchrom, Lencarta, Elemental, Proline, Interfit, Portaflash to name but a few. 150W, 200W, 300W, 400W? Umbrealla, Softboxes? So with a very wide range of photographers with different skills and requirements on this site, and in the hope that I can better understand what to look for, my question is:
“Which Lighting System did you decide to purchase, and why?”
“What basic characteristics should you look for in a studio lighting system?”
My budget is around £500, and my requirement would initially be for a Home Studio with Occasional outside Location shooting, but I didn’t and the ability to grow into. I didn’t want that to be a restricting factor in answering the question.
I started off with a set of Elinchrom D-Lite 400's because at the time they gave a good balance between cost and lighting power, and came as a complete kit with soft boxes. I soon found having 2 lights a little restricting, so decided to buy more, and as I already the D-lites it made sense to stick with Elinchrom, so bought a set of BX's ... which are a little hardier but have the same basic advantages such as user changeable tubes. I now seem to have several assorted brollies, several assorted softboxes, snoots, barn doors, reflectors, beauty dishes, gels, booms etc etc etc ... 
I think if I were looking today my criteria would be:
At least 400 W per light with power adjustment.
Cooling Fans built in.
User changeable tubes and bulbs.
I guess it's like everything else in photography ... there is no end to the things that you think you "need"!
Hello Miptog how are you?
£500 wont bet you much except for perhaps a set of dlites or one good strobe and stand etc. The dlites are fine but not heavy duty and not the best as you want to use outside you will need some power. If I was starting over again I would go with one strobe probably a Bowens 500 or 1000 - best I could afford, good solid stand and a resonable size softbox, You can do a lot with one light and a reflector. From there I would add more equipment as you go.
hope that helps abit?
Neal
More or less exactly the same as Miles....
Quote: with Occasional outside Location shooting
However if you have some idea that you might use them outside...!
You might need to look at something that can, If required, Be used without a mains supply.....!
These type of units are not the cheapest, Even if you buy them without the relevant power packs, But they will offer future potential, Should the need arise....
Yes, there's a confusing choice of brands and the claims made for them can be confusing too.
Basically it comes down to manufacturing quality, which IMO rules out the cheaper brands, which economise on the things that really matter - build quality, colour consistency and output consistency. Life for anyone, and especially a beginner, becomes much more difficult if the equipment produces different powered and different coloured light every time you press the button!
Power is less of an issue. Power BTW is expressed in Joules or Watt Seconds (Ws) not watts, which is only relevant to continuous lighting (although from adverts its clear that not everyone who sells flash knows that). The power in Ws doesn't mean much anyway, because so much depends on the effeciency of the unit and on the modifiers used. What really matters is the guide number, which is a practical measurement of actual power output. Too much power can be a disadvantage because you need to reduce it A LOT sometimes. Too little is generally less of a problem because you can always 'increase' it if needed by increasing your ISO setting.
See this article on choosing studio flash.
As for 'occasional outside use' there are some brands that offer accessory battery packs. To be honest they're not ideal, very heavy and a very limited number of flashes from what are, in effect, just car batteries. Dedicated portable lighting solutions are also available but not cheap.
Thanks you for the very useful information and with so much to absorb, and at a substantial outlay, I am still looking at options. Two light kits are often sold with different power options, so instead of 2 lights at 500watts you can get one at 500 and one at 250. Apart from the price difference, I don't fully understand why anyone should do this as opposed to getting the more powerful 2 x 500. Can anyone explain please?
Quote: At least 400 W per light with power adjustment.
Cooling Fans built in.
User changeable tubes and bulbs
For most cases I find 300 watts are more than adequate, and for location stuff I much prefer to use a pair of FL50R`s.
Top of your list should be the type of bayonet used to add extra`s, barn doors, snoots and the like, so look out for the standard S-Type bayonet fitting heads.
I use the original stellars and can`t fault them, the newer Stellar X kits are very good.
Quote:
User changeable tubes and bulbsFor most cases I find 300 watts are more than adequate, and for location stuff I much prefer to use a pair of FL50R`s.
Top of your list should be the type of bayonet used to add extra`s, barn doors, snoots and the like, so look out for the standard S-Type bayonet fitting heads.
I agree, S-fit light shaping tools is a good choice and 300 Joules of power is more than adequate for most people/most needs.
My guess is that sellers offer 200/400 and similar combinations just for marketing purposes, i.e. to make a small range of products look bigger by offering more options
So why would anyone choose two lights of different power (e.g 500 and 250 for example) over two lights of the same power. I just don't understand the logic?
I am also getting confused by what should be an adequate power level for most general purpose situations, some state 200 others 500.
My requirement would mostly be home studio work.
Quote: So why would anyone choose two lights of different power (e.g 500 and 250 for example) over two lights of the same power. I just don't understand the logic?
I am also getting confused by what should be an adequate power level for most general purpose situations, some state 200 others 500.
My requirement would mostly be home studio work.
I can't think of any good reason for choosing 1 x 200 and 1 x 400 light, as I said earlier I suspect that these kits are offered just to make the range look bigger.
You'll never get agreement on the level of power needed, because different people have different needs and different levels of experience, but as I pointed out in the article I linked to earlier, I feel that 300J is about right for most people, most of the time. If it isn't enough you can always increase the ISO. Coping with too much power is a bigger problem.
Have you looked at Lastolite Lumen8s? I have a three head kit (400W) and am extremely happy with it. It came with 3 reflectors, 1 brolly, 1 softbox, 3 leads, 3 synch cables, one travel bag on wheels. It was a bit above your stated budget at £650 but you can get a 2 head kit for around £400 (comes with 2 brollies rather than a softbox and a brolly). The choice was made on the basis of having used D Lites and found them a bit plasticky and flimsy-feeling, wanting Bowens or something with similar solidity and a recommendation from a friend who'd had a set for a few months. I just finished a three day studio shoot with them and they were brilliant for the space (a large studio usually used for TV/filming - so plenty of room to move things back/around). In my home studio (room about 15 x 15 feet) I have them turned right down as I can't get them very far away from the subject. If I were just shooting in my home studio (head shots or table top) then I'd probably be happy with the 200 heads to be honest, but I like having the extra power for those occasions when 200W wouldn't be enough (e.g. large studio and large subject to light e.g. a group shot or room set etc). Oh and I almost forgot to mention that they take S (Bowens) fit light modifyers.
Come to any conclusions yet?
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