Honest Opinons needed- be gentle!

http://cgi.ebay.com …&ssPageName=STR​K:MEWAX:IT

I am intersted in purchasing a starter lighting set up to learn/experiment with some portraits. For example, helping some family out with some High School pictures they are dissatisfied with.

This kit looks like I can get my feet wet without going bankrupt or feeling guilty if it is not my forte.

Understanding that it clearly beginner grade and probably cheaper import grade, is there any good reason not to try it for my purposes?? i did look at Alien Bees and a basic setup would run triple this amount!

Thanks in advance! I am hoping the comments will contain some detail and technical explanation- Not just "It's junk", etc.

That stuff is complete junk. If you decided it wasn't your forte you wouldn't be able to get 1/10th of what you paid for it. Why don't you get this instead:

Genesis 200 Kit

You'll be so much happier in the long run.

I will not buy that setup, (even no one here would recomend you). It said it have only two options, full power or half power. Thats enough for me not to buy that strobe.

How much you are willing to spend by the way?

Nobody is going to encourage you to buy that setup. Maybe you could post your budget and the folks here can give you some better options.

Personally, I'd rather have a single speedlite OCF setup than that. You can learn a lot with just one light and get some impressive results.

It's Junk

Check the last post by someone asking if they should buy one of these numerous clone kits for the details & explanation as to why they're junk.

https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=757707

The Genesis kit linked to above is really quite incredible value. If you were to buy the kit you linked to, the lack of control might be enough to frustrate you into abandoning portraiture altogether.

Go with the Genesis, they're only slightly more $ than the one you linked to from Ebay. Short Genesis review here:
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=741886

Although it may be a little more work putting together, why not go Stobist until you see if you like it. For the occasional portrait, you can put together a very adequate set up cheap. I actually got a kick out of putting mine together. Although you can see in my sig that I did a few of the pricier accessories (2 580EXII's for instance), if I had it to do all over again I might just get the YN-460's for about $40 each.

Don't have time to do all the links etc but here would be my recommendation for a starter amateur (I'm never going pro) studio.

Flash: YN-460's 2 or 3 at $40ea (e-bay)
Triggers: Ctr-301ps receiver and triggers for <$40
Lightstands $20 - $30 ea
Softbox Umbrellas - don't remember cost but not too bad
Muslin backgrounds or Savage seamless paper
Background stands etc.

I bet you could put together a very adequate beginner portrait studio for around $300 and maintain portability to boot.

Wow. Thanks for all the comments. there is a lot of info to digest. Let me do all the reading and respond. $300 was ideal but I would spend up to $500 to get started.
I'll read the Genesis info and other threads and then reply more intelligently.
I had missed the lack of variable power. Great point!

Again, THANKS!!

If you have up to $500 to spend, I wouldn't touch any of that ebay junk. There are a lot of options in that price range for good quality stuff. Genesis being one of them. Alien Bees are another option.

A lot of experts recommend starting with one light and learning to use it properly before jumping into multiple light setups. The Genesis 200/400 kit with a few different modifiers might be a good place to start. Add a good size reflector for fill light and you're on your way.

I have this exact same set-up A friend of mine got this as a gift a while back from someone and brought it over to the house for me to tinker around with because he never used it. Long story short....it's crap, stay away

OK, I have read everything and appreciate all the suggestions. At this point I think my question is:

Would you buy one two-piece 200 Genesis kit or one 400 Genesis 1 light kit? It sounds like the recommendation would be one 400.

I wavered all last week on genesis 200 vs. 400. i got them tuesday, and the 200's a blinding me in my make shift bedroom studio. I didn't realize how much light they put out the the speedlites. i also didn't realize they were going on sale. calumet is offering 10% off the genesis 200 kits.

Apollo.11 wrote in post #8831000
I wavered all last week on genesis 200 vs. 400. i got them tuesday, and the 200's a blinding me in my make shift bedroom studio. I didn't realize how much light they put out the the speedlites. i also didn't realize they were going on sale. calumet is offering 10% off the genesis 200 kits.

So, you are saying the 200s are plenty of light?

unless you're shooting outside or in a large venue, they're plenty. hey, their on sale! pick them up and use the extra money to buy all the other goodies you need. just because you have $500 doesn't mean you have to spend it all at one time. I spent sooo much time reading about the equipment that i finally made myself pull the trigger so i could start taking pictures. i'm brand new to lighting and the genesis are pretty well thought of on this sight. it'll be years before i out grow them.

If you have $500 in your budget you should have enough to get the Genesis kit or your choice and a good basic light meter. Allot of people may tell you you don't need a light meter but if you want to really learn what your doing and be able to repeat your results a light meter is a must I much prefer to set my lights up with my meter and now what I am going to get before I ever click off a single frame.