Chimera Lighting

I don't know a lot about fancy lighting equipment yet...lots to learn.
I'm curious where Chimera lines up in the realm of photography lighting?

I've heard of some of the high end stuff like Profoto, Elinchrom, etc...where does Chimera stack up with those?

What would be considered...

budget (Starter) brands? Calumet Lights etc?

mid-level (some experience) brands? Alien Bees?

high end (expert) brands? Elinchrom, Profoto, Chimera etc?

ChrisMc73 wrote in post #14057512
I don't know a lot about fancy lighting equipment yet...lots to learn.
I'm curious where Chimera lines up in the realm of photography lighting?

I've heard of some of the high end stuff like Profoto, Elinchrom, etc...where does Chimera stack up with those?

What would be considered...

budget (Starter) brands? Calumet Lights etc?

mid-level (some experience) brands? Alien Bees?

high end (expert) brands? Elinchrom, Profoto, Chimera etc?

Chimera is the originator of the softbox and the standard of the industry. Their quality and designs have influenced every major brand in the industry. Gary Register formed the company in 1979 and was the chief designer until 1986 when he formed Plume.

http://www.plumeltd.co​m/bio.html

The Calumet Illuma line of softboxes are an economical version of the Plume. Gary licensed the design to Calumet.

I have a studio full of Profoto Pro lighting gear but I don't own a single PF softbox because they don't make them and they're not worth paying the PF premium for.

Elinchroms are great designs and offer some unique alternatives. Their latest deep octas are great modifiers and the Octabank is a standard for fashion, beauty and portraiture.

ABs ? I know there are lots of fans here. I'm not one of them.

Photoflex, all the others, just knock offs.

Thanks KC, so the Profoto lighting gear is good, you just suggest some other modifiers?

I use both Elinchrom and Photoflex.

The Elinchrom Rotolux system is great. Easy to set up and very light wieght, but few grid options.

Photoflex is well built and well priced with grid options. You have the option with some of the SBs to get them for use with strobe only to keep the weight down.

I am looking at the Chimera line, because the offer shallow depth modifiers. They also have grid options.

How much do you want to spend and what light system are you using/going to use? Lighting starts to add up really fast

Yeah windpig, I hear ya...been trying to figure out what I even really want to do with a lighting system. Or if I even have the space to use it. I guess I want a system that gives me another option to take portraits inside somewhere, instead of relying on natural light like I've done for the past two years.

So I really don't know what system to start with and grow with?

I have found that less is more when it comes to lighting. I also feel that buying quality pays. LIghting gets incredibly expensive, but you really can do a lot if you know how to use it.

To be honest, I'm looking at reworking my location lighting to a certain extent. I may do the following:
Sell one of my Elinchrom Ranger RX AS Speed pacs with S Head, Sell my 2 - 430EXIIs and buy an Elinchrom Quadra Pac when the Lithium battery is available.

That gives me the portable options of:
1) Ranger RX AS Speed pac with two A Heads.
2) Quadra Pac with a head
2) 580EXII

Option 1) can do pretty much anything because of the power range.
Option 2) can still knock down full sun enough to make it usable in that sort of ambient environment, plus it's a hell of a lot lighter weight than option one.
Option 3) very usable in open shade into a 60" white reflective umbrella shooting at ISO200 at F8, modifier 6 ft away, plus it would be my run and gun light.

I really like the 27" Elinchrom SB with or without grid and a reflector.

There is lots of info on POTN. Personally, if I wasn't an Elinchrom guy, I would maybe, and that's a big maybe, look at an Einstein set up with battery pack.

Studio lights give you the advantage of stronger modeling lights. Portable lights like the Elinchrom, have limited modeling light capability.

In summery, buy less items, but buy quality. How much do you want to spend?

BTW, I don't go anywhere without a meter.

ChrisMc73 wrote in post #14061206
Thanks KC, so the Profoto lighting gear is good, you just suggest some other modifiers?

I'm just saying their softboxes are over priced.

Manufacturers sell you lights for little profit so you'll commit to a system. Then as you expand and want their good modifiers you pay ridiculous prices for them. In the old days when you could make money, and photography was a viable profession, you could write the expense off.

For example a PF 50 degree 12" reflector is $400. The same thing from Elinchrom is $95.

But the quality of light from the PF head is vastly superior with the covered tube. That's where they get you.

windpig wrote in post #14061604
I really like the 27" Elinchrom SB with or without grid and a reflector.

It's one of the best out there. Easy to use on the end of pole on location and large enough to be useful in the studio.

windpig wrote in post #14061604
BTW, I don't go anywhere without a meter.

Taking an ambient reading can be done with a card through the camera but a handheld meter takes a fraction of the time and is always the best approach.

Thanks guys. I wished there was a place here in my home city where I could test drive them. I checked out the Profoto test drive plan but Dallas is the closets place that has them at a dealership. I'm going to study up some more and read around here about these systems, I don't mind buying the quality names at all. I'll keep bugging you all if you don't mind me posting questions?

So should one start with a single light setup, double, triple, quad? Etc? I guess it depends on the budget of course and the kind of shots you want to get? I need to look around and post some example shots of the looks I'm going for, cause its hard for me to say exactly the "kind" of shot I want. I'm not a fashion photographer, but I kind of want to do some of that dramatic looking stuff. I can't really explain it I just need to post an example to show you and maybe then you can help me decide what kind of lighting is being used...I'll try to find some today.

just get more lights if you have the cash!

the thing with having multiple lights is that you can just use one or two or all of them while when you only have 1 light - you are stuck with one light there's no option to use more =P

the harder question is which brand and strobes you are going to get and which side you'll join here on the forums

i'm on the ab side =D

Using a bunch of lights with no clue on how to use them looks like crap.

Relative to lighting your subject and not background, I would start with one good light, a couple of good modifiers, a good light stand and a white/silver reflector.

questionmarc wrote in post #14066446
just get more lights if you have the cash!

the thing with having multiple lights is that you can just use one or two or all of them while when you only have 1 light - you are stuck with one light there's no option to use more =P

the harder question is which brand and strobes you are going to get and which side you'll join here on the forums

i'm on the ab side =D

windpig wrote in post #14066672
Using a bunch of lights with no clue on how to use them looks like crap.

Relative to lighting your subject and not background, I would start with one good light, a couple of good modifiers, a good light stand and a white/silver reflector.

Ralph is right. Throwing a bunch of light at a subject will certainly make it BRIGHTER, but not doing it correctly is just going to give you a bright piece of @#$ (INVALID EMAIL). Start with a single light and a large reflector. Get a light meter so you can measure how much light you are placing on your subject. Use things you may already have at your disposal as flags, scrims, gobos, etc. to get a feel of how you can control the light.

Then, as you feel you have mastered what you can accomplish with a single light, add another and step up your game. When you rush to use too many light sources before knowing how to use them correctly, your images end up with competing shadows, awkward directionality, and lots of hot spots. It gets increasingly difficult to balance your lighting when you have too many lights pointed at your subject.

You mentioned earlier in this thread that you want to take portraits so I'll assume that's the determining factor in how many lights and which modifiers you need/want to use.

Study the classic portrait lighting techniques and you'll find your answers.

hey now i just said if you have the cash why not get everything?

you can start off with one light and when you are ready for more you dont have to wait to order them

i don't have the cash so i am doing the option of learning with one light while i save up for more

if i had both options i'd opt to buy everything necessary since it would be more convenient

questionmarc wrote in post #14067961
you can start off with one light and when you are ready for more you dont have to wait to order them

Been there, done that. I fully understand what you're saying, but I think you may find as get to understand how, when and where you're using your lighting, you may or may not want to go down a different path. B&H can get me gear 3 day UPS for a very reasonable price. I'm a slow learner, I consider my learning curve to really learn one light three modifiers with reflective fill to be at least 6 to 9 months at 16 solid hours a week. Like everything else, your mileage may very.