Bright Lights or No Lights?

[CaseyScofield]

Being a newb, here is a newb question.

I am starting a photography studio and have no studio lighting. I will be purchasing the 20D and have enough to buy the following lighting http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=Recommend&A=getItemDetail&Q=&sku=298604&is=REG

My question is…is this lighting worth buying? Should I instead buy a 2GB flash card for the 20D, forgo the cheap lighting, and save for the next 4-6 months for some serious, well worth it, Novatron/Soeedotrib lighting?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[Avalonthas]

Id say yes you should go for those lights for the time being as they are only 200 bucks, where a novatron set can reach up to 10 times high, and up. Ive seen sets at 1900+ that are descent. f you are willing to pay thousands for a good lighting system then whats 200 bucks to get u started right. Atleast this way your studio will look professional, especially if u have models or other clientell in the studio when u shoot, because they will atleast know ur serious. IF u just have regular lights for 4-6 months, people may think ur just an ametuer even though u got a nice 20D.

As for ur flash, I would recommend several 512's or 1gigs rather then one 2gig. Although CF cards are very durable and safe, there will come a day when one wants to fail or a one file goes corrupt, ruining the entire disk. Its better to ruin one of four CF's, and lsoe 1/4 of ur images as opposed to an enitre 2 gig worth of pics. Right now I carry 3 "Lexar 1 gig 80x CF cards" which are really good. I had 4 but 3 weeks ago one of them somehow got corrupted and since i could get the pics off, i just smashed it with a hammer in friustration lol. Also I have used my uncles 20D before for a school hockey game, and i brought along four or five 512meg cards and one of them went whack on me, so i only came out with 4/5 cards at the end of the game. Of course i may just be having bad luck since some long time digital camera users have only had this problem once or none in there career but it has happened to me twice in a two month period so take my advice for what its worth.

[Longwatcher]

When looking for studio lights don't forget to check out the alien bees.
www.alienbees.com

Excellent low cost strobes made by the same guy that makes White Lightnings. Except for Elinchrom or maybe Novatron? I think they beat everything else in the value department.

Just my opinion.

And if you need some lighting to hold you over. I still recommend Home Depot/Lowes/etc.. work lights. Very low cost, with only real disadvantages are they get hot and they can't be put in a softbox. Just be sure to take off the grill in front of the lights first. They work great with reflectors and if you have a lightstand you can get an umbrella in there safely.

[KevC]

Don't forget your glass! Be sure to pick up the 50mm f/1.4 or at least the f/1.8. 70-200mm f/4L is also another beautiful lens.