Help in chosing studio lighting!

Hello,

I'm looking at getting some studio lighting for future portrait and wedding photography. So far it seems that B&H's SP-Systems Excalibur kits are the best value, but I'm having trouble picking out which kit. I want to get something good enough that I won't feel extremely limited or like I need to upgrade, but I don't want to spend money on something I'll never use; such as getting a super powerful light, only to use it stopped down every time.

I'm looking at getting two lights (I'm not sure I'd need 3), with the case, but the main thing I'm wondering is how many total watt/seconds should I be aiming for? I'd like to spend around $500 but will go up to around $1000 if there is a good value for the extra cost. Right now I'm looking at this: http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …EG&addedTroughT​ype=search

Let me know what you think!

Thanks,
Robert

/edit I can't believe I misspelled the thread title. I'm looking for help choosing some studio lights

You should also check out the Alien Bee units at:

http://www.alienbees.c​om/

They provide a very good value.

Enjoy! Lon

For just about $800, you could get two B800's, two 10' stands, a large softbox, and a 60" silver/white umbrella. There's a good kit.

www.alienbees.com as noted above.

The digibee package looks very nice when I upgrade to two B800's. Do you think this would be enough light or should I upgrade one to a B1600? Because I'm going to be on the go most of the time, I'll probably stick to umbrellas instead of soft boxes.

Thanks,
Robert

Reptile Bob wrote in post #2665541
The digibee package looks very nice when I upgrade to two B800's. Do you think this would be enough light or should I upgrade one to a B1600? Because I'm going to be on the go most of the time, I'll probably stick to umbrellas instead of soft boxes.

Thanks,
Robert

If you are on the go the Alien Bee units are likely to be slightly more accomidating, as I think they are significantly lighter than most any other studio flash gear due to a unique power supply circuit that eliminates heavy power transformers.

Umbrellas will be significantly easier to set up and tead down, but the light is slightly less soft (than a softbox), but still very usable.

Enjoy! Lon

Reptile.....

From what I here the 800's have more power then you think. I have heard people giving back AB1600 for AB800 the power was to much for what they did. I here the AB1600 is good if you have a large softboxes of that nature. I mayself am ordering 2 AB800s today and a AB400. You can always return an AB800 and upgrade to AB1600 with the price difference. They give you 60 day tryout time. If you have a big studio AB1600 might work, for small and close shooting AB800 and AB400 are great.

boywonder27 wrote in post #2665737
Reptile.....

From what I here the 800's have more power then you think. I have heard people giving back AB1600 for AB800 the power was to much for what they did. I here the AB1600 is good if you have a large softboxes of that nature. I mayself am ordering 2 AB800s today and a AB400. You can always return an AB800 and upgrade to AB1600 with the price difference. They give you 60 day tryout time. If you have a big studio AB1600 might work, for small and close shooting AB800 and AB400 are great.

Hi boywonder,

You really should stick with one type of strobe and not mix and match. This really helps when it comes to balanced strobes and using your modeling lights to actually see what you're going to get. I say get 3 of either the B400 or B800.