Using 2 x 580EXII with unbrella's?

Ok...probabally a stupid question...but im just starting to learn about studio lighting.

While we wait for our studio to be built in our new house (about 6 months away)...is using our 580EXII with the ST-E2 remote to fire them...mounted on stands firing into reflector unbrellor's a cheap solution to start with?

We are looking at eventually getting one of the Bowens kits here in Australia...which cost from about $1500+. I have found this...http://www.dragonimage​.com.au/product.asp?id​=1414 for $198.

Am i wasting my money?

That seems to be awfully expensive in US money , not sure what the difference in prices between au and us is.
The kit you are referring to is most probably is not of the best quality judging bu the very short lightstands. Check e-bay first, almmost all my lightstands are from there and so far I have no complains.
Umrellas are very cheap to buy separately either.

Your wasting your money on the Bowons Kit. Buy an Elinchrom kit or Profoto.

vadim_c wrote in post #8340684
That seems to be awfully expensive in US money , not sure what the difference in prices between au and us is.
The kit you are referring to is most probably is not of the best quality judging bu the very short lightstands. Check e-bay first, almmost all my lightstands are from there and so far I have no complains.
Umrellas are very cheap to buy separately either.

Were a bit limited here...especially in Western Australia...just got off the phone with a supplier here...unbrella's $40 each, Light stands $175 each, Brackest $55 each....so all up $540 for the same as what Dragon are charging $198....so im going to go with that...just going to swap the light stands with 2.8m ones instead of 1.8m...also making sure i can later use the stands with their Flashpro lights. I did check out ebay....but the $198 from Dragon seems to be the best price for the whole kit from one place...and they offer a 3 yr warrenty....

Roger767...thanks for the advise...anagin ive now decided against the Bowens and going with the stuff from dragon...seems to be a lot cheaper...has a good warrenty...and ive read a few good comments about them...if they turn out to be crap...then its not much of a problem to replace the lights as they dont cost much to start with....

Does the taxes and customs duty high in Australia?
you can buy a kit much cheaper than that, but from USA online store.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …Flash_Umbrella_​Mount.html

Forget the ST-E2. Run a PC cord to one flash, and put an optical slave on the other. Use the money you save (plus a little extra) for a flash meter.

Curtis N wrote in post #8350333
Forget the ST-E2. Run a PC cord to one flash, and put an optical slave on the other. Use the money you save (plus a little extra) for a flash meter.

I already have the ST-E2 and the 2 x 580EXII's....just looking to use these a bit better till we get the studio ...when we'll get proper lighting...

Tareq wrote in post #8349953
Does the taxes and customs duty high in Australia?
you can buy a kit much cheaper than that, but from USA online store.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …Flash_Umbrella_​Mount.html

This is $98.95...shipping to Australia is $106.10...total $205.05...with the exchange rate = $249 Aus.

blackjacknz - id probably find out how big the brollies are from that website
http://www.dragonimage​.com.au/product.asp?id​=1414

anyway im in a similar position as you and i looked around in oz and to get studio equipment in australia its really hard not much of a variety at all. I just ordered two light stands, two brollies, two umbrella holders from B&H and they came in two working days from NYC to Sydney. 4 days if you include the weekend. Yeah it cost abit more but i could choose whatever i wanted, the variety from B&H is amazing you cant get it in oz, or ebay, cause all the sh*t on ebay is nasty

verty wrote in post #8355094
blackjacknz - id probably find out how big the brollies are from that website
http://www.dragonimage​.com.au/product.asp?id​=1414

anyway im in a similar position as you and i looked around in oz and to get studio equipment in australia its really hard not much of a variety at all. I just ordered two light stands, two brollies, two umbrella holders from B&H and they came in two working days from NYC to Sydney. 4 days if you include the weekend. Yeah it cost abit more but i could choose whatever i wanted, the variety from B&H is amazing you cant get it in oz, or ebay, cause all the sh*t on ebay is nasty

Thanks for the info verty...i think im going to go with the B & H ones...will just order some other stuff at the same time to make the postage better per item...might stock up on some CF cards etc.

Cheers
Steve

blackjacknz wrote in post #8355316
Thanks for the info verty...i think im going to go with the B & H ones...will just order some other stuff at the same time to make the postage better per item...might stock up on some CF cards etc.

Cheers
Steve

Exactly, I don't order one item so sometimes the shipping is higher than the item itself, but i try to include more items so the shipping then is not being much higher and get more items in better price, i think more items inexpensive will help to reduce the shipping a bit.

blackjacknz wrote in post #8340225
Ok...probabally a stupid question...but im just starting to learn about studio lighting.

While we wait for our studio to be built in our new house (about 6 months away)...is using our 580EXII with the ST-E2 remote to fire them...mounted on stands firing into reflector unbrellor's a cheap solution to start with?

We are looking at eventually getting one of the Bowens kits here in Australia...which cost from about $1500+. I have found this...http://www.dragonimage​.com.au/product.asp?id​=1414 for $198.

Am i wasting my money?

Actually its not a cheap setup. You can get a couple Calumet Genesis or Alien Bees monolights for cheaper than two 580EXII's. The obvious advantage of the 580's is that they can also be used as portable lights on the camera and are more convenient if you're doing quick on-location shoots that don't require a ton of strobe power and aren't easily accessable to AC power. But, if you're looking for good and reasonably priced fixed studio lighting the above mentioned monolights are a much better investment. In addition to that you get the advantages of a lot more power, modeling lights, and much quicker recycle times to name a few.

I guess if you have a use for the portable speedlites in the future then you're not really wasting your money, depends on your needs.

DennisW1 wrote in post #8355432
Actually its not a cheap setup. You can get a couple Calumet Genesis or Alien Bees monolights for cheaper than two 580EXII's. The obvious advantage of the 580's is that they can also be used as portable lights on the camera and are more convenient if you're doing quick on-location shoots that don't require a ton of strobe power and aren't easily accessable to AC power. But, if you're looking for good and reasonably priced fixed studio lighting the above mentioned monolights are a much better investment. In addition to that you get the advantages of a lot more power, modeling lights, and much quicker recycle times to name a few.

I guess if you have a use for the portable speedlites in the future then you're not really wasting your money, depends on your needs.

As i said before i already have the 2 x 580EXII's and the ST-E2....im wanting to use them while we wait for the studio to be built...then we'll but some proper lighting.

Okay I have a different take on this, get a pair of the Kaesr umbrella softboxes, mine were around $40 for the pair and I love them with my 580EXII's, yes on a PC cable if you can't afford Skyports or some other radio system and if close I also use the extended range optical flash plug in designed just for 580EXII's but then still don't seem to work very far away unless it's my bigger strobes doing the triggering. They are available from Flashzebra.

I have a flash meter but to be honest often don't use it, I can easily work without one but am very familiar with my camera's playback screen, when doing table top, I never use the flash meter. When doing portraits I do use it to cut down on setup time especially when I go to their place to shoot.

I love those umbrella softboxes, I'm looking for the link and will post it back here. They are very inexpensive and very well made but mostly I love how they work with the light.

http://www.skaeser.com …SOFTBOX-REFLECTIVE/Detail

http://flashzebra.com/​opticalslaves/0100.sht​ml (if anyone knows of a better optical flash unit pleas let us know)

Tareq wrote in post #8349953
Does the taxes and customs duty high in Australia?
you can buy a kit much cheaper than that, but from USA online store.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …Flash_Umbrella_​Mount.html

Thanks once again Tareq....ordered these yesterday...added a couple of other things to make the postage look better...

Should get them early next week...got a shoot book in a church next friday so will be just in time!