Strobist Gearing Arriving!!

I'm not big into meters, but for my work I don't need to be. Once I get to purchase stuff like that, then yes, I would get one. Good links by the way and yeah, it can be hard to explain.

But please post a price. I'm curious and hope to get something going in a couple of years. I say that because I might move at the end of next year so it won't be till '09. One can hope.

Any pics of that Avenger C1000 Ceiling Scissor Clamp in action? Might want to add a super clamp or 2 to the arsenal as well.

Okay, the next image includes a couple of basic Impact Shoe Mount Umbrella/Flash brackets. They are good quality, inexpensive and similar in build as the Photoflex one I bought last year from Calumet. They even come with a 5/8" reversible stud to screw on to a tripod or light stand. Definitely worth $14.00 each.

On top of the brown box is a Bogen/Manfrotto Super Clamp (without stud). It is very sturdy but surprisingly light. It is made out of cast alloy and comes with a lifetime warranty. It can be used with several attachments (including the umbrella mounts or even a ballhead) to mount flashes, lights or even your camera to such things as pipes, chair backs, edge of a table or bookshelf, onto a fence, etc... I have two different attachements for it right now (one is the Avenger 5/8 snap-in pin, the other is reversible with two different sized screws).

On top of the white box is a Smith-Victor Wide Mini-Slave. It has a built in optical slave, takes two AA batteries and is very light and small. It can be used to add "mood" lighting and another dimension. Some photographers use them to add some light behind plants and such (for example). It is about half the price of the Morris version. It works great, gives off quite a bit of light and is not overly sensitive in regards to it's position to the main flash. The Morris version has custom, plastic filter covers but I'm not sure if they would fit this one. If I find out they will, I will probably invest in them as well. The unit doesn't open easily to fit a piece of gel filter over it but I'm sure there is a way to do that.

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This next picture isn't of anything too exciting or high tech.

Obviously there is a roll of black gaffer's tape. I also have wider gray and thinner red rolls of gaffers tape, depending on what I'm using them for. I don't carry the whole roll with me. I have some in my camera bag around a regular pencil and some will also go in my light bag either around a pencil or a piece of 1" pvc pipe ) for example.

The other items are: 1 - Delta 8" Flexgrip With 2 clamps and 2 - Delta 6" Flexgrip with SS Clip and A clamp. If you can find the parts and have the time, these would be easy to make yourself. (I'll post some up-close pics for anyone interested in doing that). I know some dollar stores will carry the regular A clamps. Then you need a piece of flexible metal that can be bent and slightly twisted, some bolts with nuts that have the plastic lock washer built in, and then the smaller clamps (not sure off hand but probably a hardware store carries them).

These clamps, and others like them, can hold gobos, filters/gels, etc. to a number of objects (lightstands, tables, etc...). Just gives you a little flexibility especially when you're on location and you're not sure how much space there's going to be or what you're going to have to use to set up the shot.

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Here are the close-ups of the parts for the clamps.

BTW, feel free to ask for close-ups of any the gear.

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And the clip...

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photosytes wrote in post #4196239
Okay, here's the next installment. I received all my gear from B&H yesterday!! Yipee. It's Christmas. I still have a few other things that I ordered to go with all this but this is the mother load. (Will post the other things as they arrive, of course.)
I'm going to add several posts so that it's easier for me to explain what's in each picture and what my initial impressions were in regards to quality and whether I love it or wish I had purchased something else. Hopefully it will help someone else who is or will be going through the research and trying to make up their minds. I find it especially difficult since I don't have access to a good photography shop in my area to either buy from or at least get to see and handle the equipment before I invest in it. I did make a few purchases that I'm not overly impressed with and would have either bought something else, a different brand, or a more expensive version. Overall, I'm pretty excited though.

The first item is the Elinchrom Universal Skyports. For anyone who doesn't know, these are an alternative to the Pocket Wizards. They are quite a bit less expensive and, from what I've heard, quite a bit smaller. I've included a standard business card in the picture to give you an idea of their size.

I went with 1 kit, which includes one transmitter and one receiver, plus two more receivers that are bought separately. That means that I'll have 3 wireless flashes available to me ( I with my 580ex, and 2 with the used nikon SB-80s I just purchased). The transmitter uses a large watch type battery (supplied) while the receiver have built in recharagable batteries. Elinchrom even sends an extra battery drawer in case it gets broken or lost. They are very small and light. If you're hard on your gear, the antennae might be too flimsy for you, but that's not a problem for me. It came with the case which will hold all four units quite nicely and will protect them in my bag. They offer 8 channels and 4 groups.

I haven't used them yet, since I haven't received the cables from flashzebra yet, but I did charge them up (which took maybe two hours max). I'll post more when I can actually experiment with them.

Hi!

Does the case have a serial number or something? Because i bought the same set, but didn't get the case..

In2Photos wrote in post #4196645
It would be nice to know the entire amount for everything needed to shoot, except camera and lens. So any stands, brackets, umbrellas, would be great.

As soon as I have time to round up everything I will give you an estimate of what it cost.

In2Photos wrote in post #4196355
When you get all your gear could you add up your total cost and take a pic of all the gear?

Will do!! Still waiting on a few things and I have got some but am slowing posting the pics with some information as I go.

JustinL wrote in post #4211449
Any pics of that Avenger C1000 Ceiling Scissor Clamp in action? Might want to add a super clamp or 2 to the arsenal as well.

I'll try to do that tomorrow for you!

Okay, here's my next installment:

First, as many already have them, are the Westcott 43" Umbrellas. One is Soft Silver with the Black back and the other is an optical white satin. Collapse down nice and small, taking up little space. I also have a 36" Calumet umbrella that's white with a removeable black/silver lined backing.

The Westcott light stand I purchased (8') is cheap and doesn't open all that easily. I wouldn't recommend it and definitely wouldn't have purchased it if I had tried it out first (disadvantage of living in an area that doesn't have a specialty camera shop that sells these things). Luckily it isn't the only lightstand I own. I will definitely replace it with a higher end one in the near future.

The Impact 3' Back Light Stand comes with two pieces. The bottom is quite heavy, so it won't tip easily. They have a stud that can screw right into that if you want to mount a flash (or something else) quite low to the ground. Otherwise, it also comes with the 3' pole. (The backlight stand is therefore adjustable from less than 6" from the ground (without the pole) and with the pole it goes from about 23" to 37"). It could have been a bit lighter, but overall it will do what it needs to do with some flexiblity.

The SP Systems lighting bag is also shown. I deliberated for quite a long time over bags. I'm getting quite the collection. There just isn't one bag that works for every situation. I went back and forth between purchasing a separate bag for stands and then another for the flashes, umbrellas, etc... but I had a certain budget in mind. It would be so easy to blow hundreds of dollars on a bag. I finally couldn't stand it anymore and I went with this one.

As you can see from the second picture it has three zippered and meshed compartments on the top inside of the flap. There is a "lightstand tray" which really isn't a tray at all. (Don't these people know how to use a dictionary?) It's a divider that lays on top of the divided sections below to protect your gear. The bag was suppose to come with 5 dividers but mine only came with 4. Now, here's the biggest pet peeve with this bag... oh, maybe I should start with the positive. It's a good size. Will fit everything and still leave me room to grow. Seems to be put together well, seams wise. Now the pet peeve.... the dividers are suppose to stick to the front and back walls of the bag. They don't, or at least not very well. Usually with velcro, in all of my other bags, you have to fight to move it and be careful when you're putting it in because it sticks so well. They didn't use the right material on the walls. So, I'll probably go to Walmart and pick up some self-sticking velcro and add a couple of strips to each side. Not that difficult of a solution but I really shouldn't have to "fix" a new bag. I also added some white foam core to 1. make it easier to see what's inside and 2. to give the walls of the bag some rigidity. Again, I had this at home and it wasn't that big of a deal.

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SooK wrote in post #4217697
Hi!

Does the case have a serial number or something? Because i bought the same set, but didn't get the case..

Sorry to ask again, but you skipped my question

SooK wrote in post #4221604
Sorry to ask again, but you skipped my question

I didn't get one either with my skyport set.

SooK wrote in post #4217697
Hi!

Does the case have a serial number or something? Because i bought the same set, but didn't get the case..

What color is the retail box your Skyports were sent in? Does it look like the one in the photo I posted? Or was it more of a thinner box that was blue? Also, when did you order/receive yours and from who?

It could be that the case is either a new thing they add or an old thing they don't include anymore. I have both boxes and only received the case in the white box that I photographed. To me, the white retail box looks like the newer version of their packaging.

I hate to say it but the case is quite nice. I can fit one transmitter and 3 receivers in it (although the one receiver doesn't fit in the spandex style holder, I simply loop the cord through it so it doesn't fall on the floor when I open the case.) It's a nice, compact, yet durable way to store your units in your lighting bag.

BTW, I didn't skip your question, I just hadn't gotten around to answering it yet! Still playing with everything and it's taking up lots of time. You know how new toys are.

I am still waiting on my cords, gels and some books. Plus there are a few more pics and information from gear I have already received. I also will be posting a list of all the gear that I consider to be my "strobist gear" and an approximate cost for all of it, as requested. I can also include a picture of the gear in my lighting bag once I get it all packed the way I want it.

The next item that I purchased is the Photek PeoplePopper 6x7 Velour Backdrop with their Neat Seat Posing Bench. The backdrop is called Stormy Gray on one side (hand painted, "old masters" effect) and the reverse side is solid gray. The whole kit, minus the bench, fits into one bag and weighs less than 4 lbs. On their website it says that because the backdrop isn't completely opaque, it should respond well to additive colors using gels. The backdrops come in 6x7 and 8x10 sizes and several different colors.

The kit includes a light stand used as a backdrop holder with three poles snapped together, feed through a loop in the fabric and then balanced on the top pole through a whole in the tubing. The bottom loop also gets a 3 piece pole and hangs from the bottom. The top poles do droop a bit and it probably would have been a better design to have it one telescoping pole but it isn't too bad. The light stand is pretty heavy duty and could easily be used for other purposes if needed.

I have several pictures to illustrate this product. The first includes the main bag plus the two other bags, which fit in the bottom of the main bag. One of the smaller bags hold the tripod, the other the poles (see the second picture).

The third picture shows how the backdrop stand is setup. Very light, very portable and easy to store. Wouldn't use it for a permanent setup and might not be stable enough outdoors in the wind.

The last picture shows the bench, the color of the backdrop and how wrinkled it isn't when it is pulled directly out of the bag. Right now it doesn't hand quite as good as it could since my ceiling isn't quite high enough to get the bottom pole/end off of the ground. Also, the lighting for the picture was direct and flat.

Once I find a model I will shoot some shots with the whole setup.

Overall I'm pleased with the product. I don't have studio space that I can dedicate in my home and plan on doing a large majority of my portraits outdoors or on location. The backdrop was bought for practice and for times when people wish to have more formal shots taken. This is definitely not a high end muslim or top of the line product but it does come across as being fairly professional and is definitely as portable as I had hoped.

I have a set of gels coming that I hope will give this background some variety.

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