build a dummy yet another strobist kit.

[carpenter]

I know you guys here get this a lot and are asked to build kits, but it's crunch time for me. Time to get things going. I am tired of not having a "studio" to get nice portraits indoors. I am looking to get a setup for about $800. Pretend (which isn't too far off) that I know nothing about a studio setup. What should I be looking at. For the record I am very new to off camera flash, not so new to photography though. I have done some research and my assumption is that a good setup to start would consist of 3 light sources. Main, Fill and a backlight. A silver umbrella, a shoot through and possibly a large softbox? Possibly a gold/silver reflector? At this point if it saves money I wouldn't need wireless triggers. That I guess would be a luxuary item since it doesn't help make the pictures look any better.

so with all that said.. what would you recommend in that price range? I guess I am looking for pretty much a list that would get me everything I need to get going. (muslin drops and stands I can purchase seperately)

[scot079]

I used these Interfit lights when I started...I've still got them and they've never failed, well except when I put 220V to them overseas! There's a bunch of accessories available for them too.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/500486-REG/Interfit_INT146_Stellar_300_3_Monolight.html

I've heard that Alien Bees and Elinchrom D-Lites are good too, maybe a tad more expensive than Interfit.

[Technician X]

My first recommendation are Alienbees. You can pick up 3 B400, a medium softbox and 2 32" umbrellas for about $815. Alienbees equipment hold their value. If you ever need to upgrade you can sell them on eBay or FM and get 80% or more of your money back.

My second recommendation would be the Calumet Genesis kits. Either http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/CF0502K1/ or
http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/CF0514K1/

These lights have been getting some great reviews. I recently got to play with a set that a fellow photographer here in town just picked and I really feel that they are worth the money. If your studio will be in a small room I beleive you can get aways with 3 200s That will run you around $490 leaving you over $300 to get a decent softbox and speedring. I also recommend you not forget to get a good light meter. The Sekonic L-358 is decent.

[RPCrowe]

Alienbees are excellent units which will hold their value.

One point though, you don't need all of your lights to be of the same power. I often use hair and background light that are less powerful than my main and fill lights.

Additionally, depending on the size of your shooting area, you may very well be able to make do very well with a lower power set of lights.

Adorama and B&H have lines of lights which I might consider if I needed a relatively low price but, still viable studio setup. Adorama's housebrand is Flashpoint and B&H carries Impact lights. Both of these companies distribute Sunpak Platinum series lights. Sunpak is mostly known for their great portable flash units 120J, 511 and 283. However, I have been using an older Sunpak 800WS studio flash with a Chimera 36"x48" (medium) softbox for years. It has proven to be an excellent and reliable unit and one which can cover a large area with light.

[carpenter]

I used these Interfit lights when I started...I've still got them and they've never failed, well except when I put 220V to them overseas! There's a bunch of accessories available for them too.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/500486-REG/Interfit_INT146_Stellar_300_3_Monolight.html

I've heard that Alien Bees and Elinchrom D-Lites are good too, maybe a tad more expensive than Interfit.

With a set like this (or any set) do they have to run off AC power, or do the flash units charge and can run off an internal battery pack?

[carpenter]

and I will just go ahead and ask and really show my noobness to this, but here goes. How exactly do you meter when you get your lights set up? Is it a lot of trial an error?

[scot079]

With a set like this (or any set) do they have to run off AC power, or do the flash units charge and can run off an internal battery pack?

They run off AC but after speaking w/ the friendly folks @ Alien Bees, I found out that they will work with the Vagabond II portable power supply. So for extra money you can have portability.

and I will just go ahead and ask and really show my noobness to this, but here goes. How exactly do you meter when you get your lights set up? Is it a lot of trial an error?

You can get a light/flash meter like the Sekonic L-358 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/221078-REG/Sekonic_401358_L_358_Flash_Master_Meter.html) or you can use trial and error using the histogram on your DSLR. I suggest the latter because you can save money. Learn to use the histogram though, it's a really nice tool

[RPCrowe]

and I will just go ahead and ask and really show my noobness to this, but here goes. How exactly do you meter when you get your lights set up? Is it a lot of trial an error?

A strobe meter is a great addition, however you can also do a trial and error setup. Shoot a series of exposures at various f/stops at say 10 feet. Choose the best exposure (histograms are O.K. but, I prefer to use my computer monitor). Shutter speed will not matter, usually for studio work I keep my shutter speed around 1/60 second and shoot in manual exposure.

Multiply the best f/stop number by 10 and that will give you the correct guide number for that light - set up with that light modifier such as softbox or umbrella. Guide numbers were the way photographers calculated flash exposures before the advent of through the lens flash metering or thyristor flash metering.

Say that the best exposure for your light and light modifier is f/11, the guide number for that light will be 110 (10 x 11 = 110). You can then determine the exposure for other distances by dividing the guide number by the distance in feet. As an example at 5 feet the exposure would be f/22 (110 divided by 5 = 22). This works at just about any distance up to the maximum range of your flash.

That's how us old codgers determined our exposures manually using flash. Of course, we soon cut corners and learned the exposure for head and shoulders, 3/4 length and full length portraits and also the exposure for groups of two people (since you were usually at the same distances whenever you shot these images.

When you have gotten used to using your flash units, you should be able to guestimate the exposure pretty closely. Additionally, since you will have variable modeling lights on your studio strobes, you can eyeball the lighting ratio.

After you use your lights for a while, exposure will be second nature but, it is always wise to take a couple of test shots. A always have my notebook computer in my studio when I am shooting to check exposures.

There are however, some relatively inexpensive flash exposure meters. I use an older Sekonic L408 Flash meter which I have had for almost ten years. It works just great. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a more modern meter but, it runs less than $100 used on eBay when you can find one. This meter also works as an incident light and reflected light meter for continuous light sources and has a spot meter attachment.

[carpenter]

A strobe meter is a great addition, however you can also do a trial and error setup. Shoot a series of exposures at various f/stops at say 10 feet. Choose the best exposure (histograms are O.K. but, I prefer to use my computer monitor). Shutter speed will not matter, usually for studio work I keep my shutter speed around 1/60 second and shoot in manual exposure.

Multiply the best f/stop number by 10 and that will give you the correct guide number for that light - set up with that light modifier such as softbox or umbrella. Guide numbers were the way photographers calculated flash exposures before the advent of through the lens flash metering or thyristor flash metering.

Say that the best exposure for your light and light modifier is f/11, the guide number for that light will be 110 (10 x 11 = 110). You can then determine the exposure for other distances by dividing the guide number by the distance in feet. As an example at 5 feet the exposure would be f/22 (110 divided by 5 = 22). This works at just about any distance up to the maximum range of your flash.

That's how us old codgers determined our exposures manually using flash. Of course, we soon cut corners and learned the exposure for head and shoulders, 3/4 length and full length portraits and also the exposure for groups of two people (since you were usually at the same distances whenever you shot these images.

When you have gotten used to using your flash units, you should be able to guestimate the exposure pretty closely. Additionally, since you will have variable modeling lights on your studio strobes, you can eyeball the lighting ratio.

After you use your lights for a while, exposure will be second nature but, it is always wise to take a couple of test shots. A always have my notebook computer in my studio when I am shooting to check exposures.

There are however, some relatively inexpensive flash exposure meters. I use an older Sekonic L408 Flash meter which I have had for almost ten years. It works just great. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a more modern meter but, it runs less than $100 used on eBay when you can find one. This meter also works as an incident light and reflected light meter for continuous light sources and has a spot meter attachment.

great info in here thanks. This may sound dumb to some of you experienced guy, but I have to ask so I learn here. When using the strobes are you setting the camera settings based off the power of the flash to get correct exposure, or does it work like an ETTL flash where the strobes only output enough power to properly expose based off the cameras settings?

That doesn't sound very clear I don't think and being new I am not sure how best to describe the question..lol so let me dumb it down a bit.

if you have the strobes set up and synced to the camera does the camera send out the signal to the strobes to say "this is the power needed to expose properly. The strobe then takes that info and if one is set to 1/2 power it cuts that signal in half?
Or does it work the other way where a 160ws strobe fires 160ws if it's on full no matter what?

I apologize for sounding so green to this, I am reading links and stuff from the strobist and other places to better familiarize myself.

[RPCrowe]

"When using the strobes are you setting the camera settings based off the power of the flash to get correct exposure, or does it work like an ETTL flash where the strobes only output enough power to properly expose based off the cameras settings?

That doesn't sound very clear I don't think and being new I am not sure how best to describe the question..lol so let me dumb it down a bit.

if you have the strobes set up and synced to the camera does the camera send out the signal to the strobes to say "this is the power needed to expose properly. The strobe then takes that info and if one is set to 1/2 power it cuts that signal in half?"

Or does it work the other way where a 160ws strobe fires 160ws if it's on full no matter what?"

ANSWER:

You control the studio strobe power setting and the camera's f/stop. If you set the strobe at full power, you will get full power. If you set it at 1/16 power, that is what you will get. It doesn't matter what exposure you need, the strobe doesn't know if it is exposing correctly or not and doesn't care.

The studio strobe will fire at the power you tell it to. All studio strobes are equipped with variable power settings. Some have a large range of power settings such from 1/16 or less to full power, some have fewer settings like 1/4; 1/2 and full power. You decide the power that is needed depending on:

1. The ISO value you are using

2. The f/stop you desire to use - whether you want a large depth of field or a narrow depth of field to isolate the subject or parts of the subject. For a larger depth of field you want more power so you can use a smaller f/stop

3. The distance between strobe and subject

4. Any light modifier such as umbrella or softbox

5. The subject itself - darker subjects need more light than lighter subjects

You then decide and dial in the f/stop based on the light provided by the unit. You will be using your camera in manual exposure mode.

The only thing that usually stays stable is shutter speed since shutter speed, as long as it is within the sync capability of the camera, has no impact on exposure at all.

You control all parameters of the lighting. Nothing is controlled automatically. It may seem a bit difficult at first but, is the very best way to shoot because of the control the photographer has over all aspacts of lighting and exposure.

[carpenter]

"When using the strobes are you setting the camera settings based off the power of the flash to get correct exposure, or does it work like an ETTL flash where the strobes only output enough power to properly expose based off the cameras settings?

That doesn't sound very clear I don't think and being new I am not sure how best to describe the question..lol so let me dumb it down a bit.

if you have the strobes set up and synced to the camera does the camera send out the signal to the strobes to say "this is the power needed to expose properly. The strobe then takes that info and if one is set to 1/2 power it cuts that signal in half?"

Or does it work the other way where a 160ws strobe fires 160ws if it's on full no matter what?"

ANSWER:

You control the studio strobe power setting and the camera's f/stop. If you set the strobe at full power, you will get full power. If you set it at 1/16 power, that is what you will get. It doesn't matter what exposure you need, the strobe doesn't know if it is exposing correctly or not and doesn't care.

The studio strobe will fire at the power you tell it to. All studio strobes are equipped with variable power settings. Some have a large range of power settings such from 1/16 or less to full power, some have fewer settings like 1/4; 1/2 and full power. You decide the power that is needed depending on:

1. The ISO value you are using

2. The f/stop you desire to use - whether you want a large depth of field or a narrow depth of field to isolate the subject or parts of the subject. For a larger depth of field you want more power so you can use a smaller f/stop

3. The distance between strobe and subject

4. Any light modifier such as umbrella or softbox

5. The subject itself - darker subjects need more light than lighter subjects

You then decide and dial in the f/stop based on the light provided by the unit. You will be using your camera in manual exposure mode.

The only thing that usually stays stable is shutter speed since shutter speed, as long as it is within the sync capability of the camera, has no impact on exposure at all.

You control all parameters of the lighting. Nothing is controlled automatically. It may seem a bit difficult at first but, is the very best way to shoot because of the control the photographer has over all aspacts of lighting and exposure.


exactly what I was looking for. thanks for the reply. I appreciate it. I hate sounding so new to this because I having been doing photography for sometime and shooting sports forever so I know photography in that sense, but the whole studio thing is all new.. thanks again.

[carpenter]

I used these Interfit lights when I started...I've still got them and they've never failed, well except when I put 220V to them overseas! There's a bunch of accessories available for them too.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/500486-REG/Interfit_INT146_Stellar_300_3_Monolight.html

I've heard that Alien Bees and Elinchrom D-Lites are good too, maybe a tad more expensive than Interfit.

Just wanted to say thanks for the heads up on this kit. This is what I ended up ordering.