Am I Crazy?

Hi everyone,

I've been wanting to do studio stuff for quite a while now.. Am I crazy that I just ordered this:

http://www.adorama.com​/EL103252.html

? I also ordered numerous modifiers.

It's a quality kit but it also has a LOT of power. So much power in fact that you may struggle to get usable apertures out of it.

Are you by any chance shooting ISO 25 slides or needing to light massive objects like cars from a distance?

What I really want is something that I can use for a very long time and light whatever I need to.

What do you need to light? products, people, buildings?

First off, congratulations. You must be single and not a teacher. That's alot of power.

Photon Phil wrote in post #8675815
First off, congratulations. You must be single and not a teacher. That's alot of power.

Yes I am single and addicted to spending tons of money on camera equip. o_O I am trying to light everything from people to buildings.

In short - yes - you are. Explanation is below. Red marks mean optional reading

Please excuse me for all the harshness - I hope you can take it. If not - find out where I live and start a fight lol

I have seen your posts. Prepare to be REALLY intimidated by the kit you got. I'll share my personal story with you and you will draw conclusions out later.

I haven't started photography a long time ago, I have been doing it in fact for less than a year and a half. Started with a Rebel with a kit lens which was my first ever camera. Soon I realized that I just can't take photos with this amazing quality like those BIG guys. Started to get really crazy about the gear. First it was a 5D. then a bunch of L lenses. Oh buy, did my crappy shots look sharp and colorful!
Before I go on:
I must admit, that I have fine arts backgound that developed into a job as a concept art for video games (quit it since it was underpaid like all of them in this area) Learnign composition didn't take long. My learning curve in photography was a vertical line.

Then I realized - of course - it is all about the light! Just like you I don't settle for the old, not top quality stuff. In Russia people say - if you decide to steal - steal a million. If you decede to screw - then screw a blue blooded queen. I got a Speedotron kit with 4 lights and 3200WS of power. As my first flash kit. Crazy huh? I took some shots with it. They TOTALLY sucked. I got frustrated. I didn't want it any more. I just coun't get it - I have all the gear - why do I suck so bad then? And then I decided to bite the bullet and sell all the equipment I had. Leave just the bare essentials. I left my 5D and two lenses + 2 580EX II. Paid my rent 2 years in advance anyway...

When stripped of all my gear I started to use it all all the time. I had to creatively think everytime without hoping that a 5D mark II or an 85 1.2 will save my every shot with this crazy bokeh and awesome 21 megapixel capabilities. I'll be honest and please excuse me - Having lots of gear without knowing how to use it is stupid. It is a shopping obsession of a toy addict or a shoes maniac.


I just went on this photography group meetup for the first time ever. Man... all people are over 45, doctors, lawers, single, rich, sporting L lenses. Majority have been shooting for longer than I am alive. 99% of them are absolutely terrible. Just an observation. Not trying to realate this to your case - I haven met you.

As of now I have one 5d and 70-200 2.8 IS, 17-40 and a 50 1.4. and an Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed. To some this is lots of gear and it is expensive for some. To me - this is a minimum of what I really use all the time.

Anyway... I hope you get the point.

here's my advice finally and I hope it helps you down the road.

If you have money do this:

1.Get rid of your Mark III. You already have a 5D II which is better in IQ. get a g11 instead - you will take more photos and get better while packing it light.

2. Get ONE good light and ONE good light mod. I recommend to go for something that will really last you a long time. I mean forever and ever. Get profoto or Broncolor. Or just get Broncolor. It will never brake. It is expensive as HELL. But you WILL use it and then you will add another light. DOn't get a 1200Ws light. You will never need it in a studio. Unless you hit it big and your studio will be up for shooting airplanes. You don't need f 20 in a studio. EVER.
Like Elinchrom? - I do too. Get Elinchrom... Gosh.. get an Alienbee and practice and then give it away at a garage sale. Just don't be another one who makes this huge mistake and decides that gear makes them a better shooter. It doesn't. 70% of gear exists ONLY because it is a marketing trick to lure you in.

Again, please don't take this close to heart. But... if I were you I would cancel the order asap.

For the average user, I'd say you went a hair overboard. Especially power wise.

I have 2 x 600RX and a 400BX which I use in an "average" spare bedroom and I sometimes have to shoot by modeling light only if I need very shallow DOF.

Otherwise I'm often at f/8 or f/11 which I find is terrific for product shots.

Get rid of your Mark III. You already have a 5D II which is better in IQ (WRONG)

I bought a D-Lite 2000ws kit and I'm finding that I have too much power for my small studio space. All my shots are at f9 - f20. I will keep the kit, as it works great outdoors or in larger areas, but if you don't have a large studio, you simply won't be able to do some things because you will have too much light.

I'm getting ready to pick up some Bees and a power pack to go mobile anyway, so I probably won't be using these as much in the future.

Good luck with the system. I'm sure it will come in handy at some point.

"(WRONG)" or ERROR ERROR BEEP BEEP 00011010101001
honestly - don't give a damn. You missed the point. You are just a machine...

That's way crazy. I just started a small studio in my garage and even my hot shoe flashes turn out to be too much light at times.

korrektor wrote in post #8679274
In short - yes - you are. Explanation is below. Red marks mean optional reading

Please excuse me for all the harshness - I hope you can take it. If not - find out where I live and start a fight lol

I have seen your posts. Prepare to be REALLY intimidated by the kit you got. I'll share my personal story with you and you will draw conclusions out later.

I haven't started photography a long time ago, I have been doing it in fact for less than a year and a half. Started with a Rebel with a kit lens which was my first ever camera. Soon I realized that I just can't take photos with this amazing quality like those BIG guys. Started to get really crazy about the gear. First it was a 5D. then a bunch of L lenses. Oh buy, did my crappy shots look sharp and colorful!
Before I go on:
I must admit, that I have fine arts backgound that developed into a job as a concept art for video games (quit it since it was underpaid like all of them in this area) Learnign composition didn't take long. My learning curve in photography was a vertical line.

Then I realized - of course - it is all about the light! Just like you I don't settle for the old, not top quality stuff. In Russia people say - if you decide to steal - steal a million. If you decede to screw - then screw a blue blooded queen. I got a Speedotron kit with 4 lights and 3200WS of power. As my first flash kit. Crazy huh? I took some shots with it. They TOTALLY sucked. I got frustrated. I didn't want it any more. I just coun't get it - I have all the gear - why do I suck so bad then? And then I decided to bite the bullet and sell all the equipment I had. Leave just the bare essentials. I left my 5D and two lenses + 2 580EX II. Paid my rent 2 years in advance anyway...

When stripped of all my gear I started to use it all all the time. I had to creatively think everytime without hoping that a 5D mark II or an 85 1.2 will save my every shot with this crazy bokeh and awesome 21 megapixel capabilities. I'll be honest and please excuse me - Having lots of gear without knowing how to use it is stupid. It is a shopping obsession of a toy addict or a shoes maniac.

I just went on this photography group meetup for the first time ever. Man... all people are over 45, doctors, lawers, single, rich, sporting L lenses. Majority have been shooting for longer than I am alive. 99% of them are absolutely terrible. Just an observation. Not trying to realate this to your case - I haven met you.

As of now I have one 5d and 70-200 2.8 IS, 17-40 and a 50 1.4. and an Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed. To some this is lots of gear and it is expensive for some. To me - this is a minimum of what I really use all the time.

Anyway... I hope you get the point.

here's my advice finally and I hope it helps you down the road.

If you have money do this:

1.Get rid of your Mark III. You already have a 5D II which is better in IQ. get a g11 instead - you will take more photos and get better while packing it light.

2. Get ONE good light and ONE good light mod. I recommend to go for something that will really last you a long time. I mean forever and ever. Get profoto or Broncolor. Or just get Broncolor. It will never brake. It is expensive as HELL. But you WILL use it and then you will add another light. DOn't get a 1200Ws light. You will never need it in a studio. Unless you hit it big and your studio will be up for shooting airplanes. You don't need f 20 in a studio. EVER.
Like Elinchrom? - I do too. Get Elinchrom... Gosh.. get an Alienbee and practice and then give it away at a garage sale. Just don't be another one who makes this huge mistake and decides that gear makes them a better shooter. It doesn't. 70% of gear exists ONLY because it is a marketing trick to lure you in.

Again, please don't take this close to heart. But... if I were you I would cancel the order asap.

I really enjoyed reading this..... I will take your suggestions and run with them however i think that you are crazy when you suggest that the 5d2 produces better images than the 1ds3. In fact, I will prove it if you give me a few hours....

Also, the 17-40 is a fine lens. I have the 16-35L and cannot visually tell a difference between the two.

JustinTEleven wrote in post #8680659
Also, the 17-40 is a fine lens. I have the 16-35L and cannot visually tell a difference between the two.

And i reckon you still have one of the better lenses Canon make... the ef-s 10-22 , that is an absolute cracker!