setup?

[davo_robbo]

well,
i've been wanting to get a little strobist setup for a while now and my dads just told me that he'll pay for one if i reshoot a bunch of his larger furniture items (sideboards, chairs ect) we've already got a big 3m roll of paper and a few other rolls of smaller stuff. the actual sideboards are quite large and from my estimation would take 3 lights to do it effectively..

my question is, what is the most bang for buck setup i can get??
sunpak 383's are out of stock pretty much everywhere and i dont really have a lot of time to wait for them to stock up..

so this is a little list i've thrown together (3 light setup (1x580exII & 2 vivitar 285's))

2 x vivitar 285's ($180)

3 x wescott white umbrella (43") ($75)

3 x impact Umbrella Bracket with Swivel Mount and Flash Shoe ($45)

3 x impact lightstands 10' aircushioned ($140)

elinchrom skyport setup ( transmitter and 3 recievers)



only problems is that this setup is over $1,000 (in AUD with shipping).. and theres no way my dads going to pay that much :p


i dont really have a huge amount of flexibility with the skyports.. ebay triggers would be inconsistent and i need a set anyway lol

is 3 flashes excessive? taking a flash out would cost about $690..

sideboard is the largest object and is 2-2.5 metres by my estimation..

will i need a wider spread of light? and will i need the extra light??

dave

[davo_robbo]

well seems i can get a 3 flash setup using the above with using cyber sincs for about $800ish..might be the most feasible option..

[DAdeGroot]

2 x vivitar 285's ($180)

3 x wescott white umbrella (43") ($75)

3 x impact Umbrella Bracket with Swivel Mount and Flash Shoe ($45)

3 x impact lightstands 10' aircushioned ($140)

elinchrom skyport setup ( transmitter and 3 recievers)
i dont really have a huge amount of flexibility with the skyports.. ebay triggers would be inconsistent and i need a set anyway lol

What about AlienBee Cybersyncs ? Cheaper than Skyports and supposedly just as good.



is 3 flashes excessive? taking a flash out would cost about $690..

Three flashes is a good starting point (well actually 1 is a good starting point, but you'll need at least two for this job).


sideboard is the largest object and is 2-2.5 metres by my estimation..

will i need a wider spread of light? and will i need the extra light??


You may indeed need more light if you want the background to be nice and white.

[coalcliff]

For furniture, you may even want to consider getting two or three double tubed fluorescent light boxes with daylight temperature tubes, from your local hardware that just plug into your power points. they cast a very even light and the four foot lengths should do the job you need. Just hang vertically and position to suit.

Ann they act great as a poor man's portrait studio too!

look here http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=eik8iWX97pc

its a smart solution for less than a hundred bucks!

But I know you just wanna get the strobist set up anyway!

[davo_robbo]

yeah i 'need' the strobist setup :) heheh

[coalcliff]

Ok, dont show dad my post then tee hee

[davo_robbo]

i wont :P
ill say all the gear is reccomended by professionals ;)

[doidinho]

How about the Alien Bees Digibee? You could even throw in some extras and after you get a feel for what the max budget is?

http://www.alienbees.com/digi.html

The AB's have optical slaves, so with one Cybersing transmitter, two recievers, and the digibee you have four lights (including your flash units); $810 USD.

[davo_robbo]

wouldnt mixing the light sources kinda stuff it up?

[doidinho]

I don't have a definite answer; however, I would think not. People use light sources with different color temperatures all the time and even gel light sources of the same temperature so that so that they can be different.

I can say fairly confidently that you could use the two AB's as main and fill for the furniture and then use the two flashes as background and/or accent lights w/o any problems.