I WANT TO GO STROBIST BUT HOW????

[blackwize]

I love all the gorgeous photos you pros put up on this site. I want to get some strobist lighting. Preferably if you could recommend a kit that will come with everything I need. I currently have a 430ex but I only use it on camera. I want to do off-camera. Can someone pls break it all down for me? I live in Ghana where we have no proper photography shops. That's why I'm interested in kits. Even better, is there someone (i have heard about Moishe of MPEX but I have no way to reach him) who owns or works at a Photo Shop you can directly recommend to me? If I'm able to get a good, customized kit that has EVERYTHING I need, then it will be easier for me to ship them all to Ghana. Pls help this brother.

[Curtis N]

Midwest Photo Exchange (MPEX) website:
http://www.mpex.com/index.htm

Their email address and phone numbers are at the top of the page.

They have some nice kits for the aspiring strobist. They aren't bargains, but they aren't overpriced either. Probably a good route for you if they ship to Ghana.

You will need to research carefully, especially the Strobist Lighting 101 articles, to determine which kit is best for you.

[Michael]

I also recommend MPEX. Good shipping prices and nice guys. They do ship internationally, so you should be ok.

[blackwize]

Thanks guys. I have been trying to get to the mpex site without success. I don't know if their system is down.

[blackwize]

I noticed am impact light stands and umbrella kit on B&H. I'm wondering... If I buy that and a 580exii. Won't I be good to go?

[Michael]

The impact kit is good. The MPEX site is up at the moment: http://www.mpex.com/index.htm.

[blackwize]

I guess there might be a problem browsing the MPEX site from my end. I just can't reach it.

[blackwize]

is there any other site you'd recommend?

[Curtis N]

http://bhphotovideo.com
http://adorama.com
http://calumetphoto.com
http://flashzebra.com

I don't know about shipping to Ghana.

[Jman13]

Weird... I didn't know that Midwest Photo Exchange had such a big following online! It's about a 15 minute drive from me, and I pop into the store every couple weeks. It's the one very nice camera store here in Columbus. I just wish the prices were as good as B&H, because I usually can't afford to buy lenses or cameras there, but I do buy a lot of accessories and stuff there.

[sapearl]

Another vote for MPEX - Jman, you're a bit closer than I am. My drive is about 150 miles so I don't get down there too often. Stu Applebaum is a very nice gentleman and I believe he is the owner. I'd purchased some of my used Hasselblad gear from them and never had any problems. It's a fascinating store to browse.

[Village_Idiot]

How much do you want to spend?

[blackwize]

around a thousand bucks

[Village_Idiot]

Originally Posted by blackwize

around a thousand bucks

Now that you have a price point to start at. PW's or Skyports are probably going to be good for you, providing you don't mind shooting in manual and don't mind using your 430EX as your on camera flash when you need it. $1k is good for a three light setup, which should be enough for just about anything you need.

Say Skyports to keep the cost down. They're still reliable and should provide a very good working unit. The only thing that may be a negative is that their battery is internal and it's rechargable, so you have to make sure you keep it charged. You can also use a car charger, but being stuck some where without a place to charge it can really kill a good day.

Skyports - $350-$400 for one transmitter and three receivers (I think that's about the right price)
2x Sunpak 383's $80 each $160 for the set
3x air cushioned stand - $105 for the set
3x umbrella adapter with hot shoe mount - $39 for the set
3x 43" white satin shoot through umbrellas - $60 for the set

That will probably be the main make up of your kit. You may not ever use 3 umbrellas at the same time, but they're $20 each and having a spare is not a bad thing. You'll need cables to connect the skyports to the flashes, that's probably going to run about $45 for the set. You can also purchase other small ticket items like gels etc... as well as some other small things I might have forgotten, like good rechargables. Sanyo Eneloops are great, don't settle for cheap rechargables if you can help it. My Eneloops are 100x's better than the CWA's that came with the strobist kit from mpex.

That setup = roughly $800.

If you wanted to go with the pocket wizards, you'd be looking at $1161 for four transceiver units with the previous "kit", replacing the skyports with the PWs. They have a bit more range, but a possible plus in your situation is that they take AA batteries. Then again, they're about double the price of the Skyports.

Then again, this setup is probably a little over board, but it will give you the lights you may eventually need, if ordering them is going to be such a hassle.

[TJH132]

After lots of reading here and on the Strobist blog, I cobbled together the following kit. Since I already had one flash (430EX), I didn't need to buy another immediately, though I'll probably add another Sunpak 383 + Elinchrom receiver in the future. Still, this is still way below your $1k budget:

From my B&H invoice:

2x Paramount Miniphone-Hot Shoe Female PMHSF1PW 71.90
1x Elinchrom EL-Skyport Universal Receiver GIMH1000652 118.00
1x Elinchrom EL-Skyport Universal Trigger Set ELELSTSU 184.95
1x Sunpak 383 Super Flash SU383S 79.95
2x SP-Systems Multi-Bracket SPB 27.90
2x Giottos #244 8' Air-cushioned Light Stand GILS8 99.90
1x F.64 Light Stand Bag F6LSB 35.95

From MPEX:

2x 43" Westcot umbrella WES1001 $52.00

For a grand total of $670.55 before shipping (which may be considerably higher in your case).

Travis