which studio light is a better purchase ??

I'm a graphic design student who loves fashion photography, so after thinking long and hard, i decided to invest in a studio lighting. thankfully my lounge is quite spacious and the walls are all white without furnitures so its perfect for me to fiddle around and really experiment ...

anyways
i'm quite clueless about lighting equipment but jessops is having a massive sale on some studio equipments so i have narrowed down to two

Portaflash AC Studio Flash 336VM - 60 pounds
Compact, lightweight but powerful mains powered studio flash head. Guide No.36 at ISO 100 (100 joules). Built in modeling light (60w). Flash power control, full, half or quarter power. Fire by sync lead test button or slave. Sync lead included.

OR

Portaflash DL1000 Digi Light - 80 pounds
Maximum power 1,000 Watts switchable between 350, 650 and 1,000 Watts Colour Temperature 3000°K
Fan cooled

i'm not looking for something that is so brilliant that i can use for years and years ... and i take a lot of beauty portraits, and upper body shots, hardly full body shots and will mainly (probably only) be used in my lounge and my back garden

i'm going to buy one this sunday so i would really reaaalllyyyy appreciate any comments or advise

thanks !!!:o

Guide number of the first is 36, which is lower than a hotshoe flash. The other one are constant tungsten lights. Constant lights make people squint and sweat.

My vote is for neither, but if you have to get one, the first.

Do you need constant lighting? are you planning on shooting video?

If not, it's time to look at strobes (whether you buy a hotshoe flash or real studio strobes)

I looked at the first flash unit; the guide number of 36 is, I assume, in Metres. This type of low-cost flash has been sold for decades,and would probably be easier to use than a hot light. These would be okay I think for use with umbrellas; the biggest hassle a lot of these types of units have is that they are sometimes slave-only,lacking a PC synch socket.

I have seen similar units, except with a household lightbulb type threaded socket,with guide number of 90 in feet at ISO 100, for only about $20 US dollars per unit, such as those from Adorama in the USA.

I would rather have flash than continuous lighting for impromptu shoots.

The first one seems pretty fail, no mounting for a softbox and only getting full, 1/2 and 1/4 power settings.

Also keep in mind you'll need a light stand and sync cable and probably want an umbrella or softbox to control the softness of the light.

jessops are also having a sale on this Interfit EX150 Mark II - 2 Head Kit
http://www.jessops.com …0(INT182)-74367/Show.html

Not the best lights it the world but you get 2 more powerful lights and all the bits to get you started that you'd end up buying anyway.

"i'm not looking for something that is so brilliant that i can use for years and years" the interfit kit should at least get you started, hopefully you will still be using them in years

Next step is to bowens or elinchrom, but i'd probably be doubling your budget again