Lastolite Hilite Background or Traditional?

Hi guys,

I am hoping to get some advice as I am finally venturing in buying some lighting equipment to setup a small studio in my house.

I was intially going to get the traditional type backdrop with seamless paper and white tile boards for the ground to give a nice shining finish and then I came across Lastolite Hilite. It is pretty much triple the cost, however it can be used as a softbox too and requires less lighting gear as it creates no shadows at all. one of the best features is that it is very portable once you have mastered the folding technique.

At the moment I am a little confused and I do not think many people do use it, but I am hoping someone can chime in who is or have used it and what is their opinion?

My work will mainly be portraits and group shots of no more than 4-5 people and also will include taking lots of pictures of kids and pets.

Thank you for any comments and suggestions you may have and I look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers,
Karim.

I have both. The hardest part is doing full length PP with the hilite. The train is useless. I dont recommend buying it. The hilite comes into its own for portability and the ability to do 3/4 and up in a minimum of space. I use it mainly for events these days as I have a full studio setup.

Cheers

Shane

Except for full length where the Hilite is not the best to use, I'm using it more often for 3/4 and head shots than my regular background. Also sometime I'm using it as a huge softbox.

Unless you are doing events, I wouldn't buy it new as the price/use ratio seems too high. However, if you can find a good deal on a used one, that's a tool that I would suggest in your tool box.

I use the smaller Megalite (for head-shots) which also double as a 4x6 softbox.

Very easy to setup and well built.

Y.

I find the 6'x7' HiLite very useful in a small studio setup, and I agree that it's best for 3/4 and headshots. It is possible to use it for full-length. I use white tile board with it and do some fixups in post. I also use the HiLite as a background stand! I'll unfold a 6'x7' collapsible muslin background and clip it to the HiLite. I have the green chroma key bottletop for it that I use for "green screen" work. You can also gel the lights inside the HiLite to create different solid background colors. I find it pretty versatile in a small studio setting, and it's really easy to setup and tear down for location work once you get the hang of it!

Thank you all for your input. For right now, since I do not do any events where portability will become an issue, I think I will be going traditional style with an otion to hold at least more than 3 different colour of paper. Maybe if I see the price come down in the near future I may consider it.

Karim.