What does everyone think of this for starters?

Stopped by a local store yesterday looking at lights.
The salesman said this would be a good start for doing portraits.
What do you guys think?
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …uper_Cool_lite_​5_Two.html

I am sure they are fine
May the power is not that much enough for most shooting, and maybe the brand is not that heavy duty or durability enough, but i always prefer studio lighting, and this will serve you for a while until you can afford better, but what is your budget? why can recommend better if we know what are you shooting and your budget.

But i prefer if you choose a monolight and not continuous lights.

spend time here and choose something

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …Units_Monolight​_Kits.html

Tareq wrote in post #4735562
I am sure they are fine
May the power is not that much enough for most shooting, and maybe the brand is not that heavy duty or durability enough, but i always prefer studio lighting, and this will serve you for a while until you can afford better, but what is your budget? why can recommend better if we know what are you shooting and your budget.

Thanks for the quick reply.
I guess I would like to get a background and lights for less than $1000.
I will be shooting mostly portraits of kids, Senior pictures and such.

and with filter i choose lights with up to $500 and here is the link

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …&basicSubmit=Su​bmit+Query

I hope you have enough budget to buy something good enough for long term.

sorry, the link is not correct, use this instead [Up to $400]

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …&basicSubmit=Su​bmit+Query

If at all possible, stick with strobes instead of continuous lights. Here are some strobe lighting packages that are avaialbe from B&H:

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …251&cmpsrch=&cl​tp=&clsgr=

And here are some packages from Alien Bees:

http://alienbees.com/p​ackages.html

I'm sure you'll be able to find a good startup kit within your price range in there. Good luck.

Clark wrote in post #4735574
Thanks for the quick reply.
I guess I would like to get a background and lights for less than $1000.
I will be shooting mostly portraits of kids, Senior pictures and such.

Ah ok, then choose these in my opinion:

1. Light
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …ite2_2_Monoligh​t_Kit.html

2. Background stands
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …ound_Support_Sy​stems.html

3. Background materials
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …rounds_Paper_Sa​vage_.html

I posted for papers, if you want more than papers then give a look here
http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …_Materials_Equi​pment.html

Those continuous light soft boxes would only give you 480 watt hours of light. Even in a small/home studio setting, a few hundred watt seconds are going to be needed to give you decent results. This is only going to happen with strobes on a small scale setup.

There are kits out there from folks like RPS Studios that can get you 480 watt seconds, in a three light setup, for about the same budget. Lots of plastic and fairly lightweight stands, but enough to do some learning with. This would give you a key light, fill light and separation light. Most of these kits do not come with a softbox, but do come with a couple of shoot-through umbrellas. Power is variable on each flash head.

I have used a couple of these kits over the years, and would recommend you get sandbags for the light stands. They can be a little tippy at full height.

I'm sure there have been great strides in compact fluorescent lights recently but they are not the answer to photography or global warming in my opinion.....

elwood58 wrote in post #4736835
Those continuous light soft boxes would only give you 480 watt hours of light. .

what the heck are 'watt hours" and who uses that specification?!

The ad detail says there are 5- 24 Watt E26 Edison base fluorescent bulbs in each light, which need to be converted to 'tungsten output equivalence', which the descrption is "equivalent to 500 watts of tungsten lighting per head" .

Well, it looks like I've got more research ahead.
Thanks for all the replies.
I was thinking continuous lighting would help with seeing shadows.
And is also much cheaper.
The kit I linked to also allows strobes to be screwed into the heads and fired with an on camera flash.

Oh, and I do have a 580 and a 430, is there anyway I could use continuous lighting and incorporate the flashes?

Clark wrote in post #4741958
Well, it looks like I've got more research ahead.
Thanks for all the replies.
I was thinking continuous lighting would help with seeing shadows.
And is also much cheaper.
The kit I linked to also allows strobes to be screwed into the heads and fired with an on camera flash.

Oh, and I do have a 580 and a 430, is there anyway I could use continuous lighting and incorporate the flashes?

I have a strobe or monolight [which is not continuous] and it has modeling lamp that is a continuous light itself, so i combined both and it is bright enough to see highlights and shadows.

Clark; For a starter kit (something that will start and run a business for the first 5-10 years) You can't beat the following:

Lights: Photogenic StudioMax. Team them up with a background stand and neutral muslin like this and you're in business for just under a grand. And, these units have 'modeling lights' which allow you to see your lighting before you shoot.

Wilt wrote in post #4738585
what the heck are 'watt hours" and who uses that specification?!

Anyone want to place bets on how long it will take Paul Buff to start using the term Effective Watt Hours