Small Home Studio
 

Hi all I need some advice on setting up a small home studio, I have a Canon 5DMKII 580EXII flash, and other small bits, I want to get a small lighting set up for a small home studio, I have seen various lighting sets etc in magazines but wonder if anyone can steer me in the right direction.
Im looking at Portraits and Modelling shoots and want to spend up to about £500
Any ideas? Any help/advice appreciated..:)

Hi there, apart from lights which are a matter of personal choice, others may advise you there, do not forget the backdrops, and seating. Cloth thrown over a home made stand is fine and I'm sure your local market can supply black, white and possibly ivory cloth that is suitable. Other colours may follow depending upon you and clients. You could also choose rolls of coloured paper.

Cheers matey, got the backdrops covered just need advice on lighting now ... Im confused dot com

What to you will depend on what room you have and what look you're trying to acheive, the Elinchrom D-Lites seem like a decent, cheapish way into studio flash. This kit from WHE would be a decent starting point, and it's just in budget - http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-...a-kit/p1029456

I'll second that.

Don

The setup that I'd be tempted with is this one:
http://www.photodeals.co.uk/product....7&cat=5&page=1
or this one:
http://www.photodeals.co.uk/product....6&cat=5&page=1

Made by Bowens, but without the Bowens badge or price tag.

The Elinchrome looks a good cost compromise with one 400W head and a second head at 200W for filling in, but I'd say go for one brolly and one softbox to give you some flexibility on the lighting effects.

Having recently used a cheap Interfit setup I'd definitely say "avoid". Very unreliable triggering on radio, IR or even on a PC socket synch cable. Was very disappointed by how poor it was. As we were shooting medium format film on the day, it would have been very expensive if we didn't have access to D&P facilities on the same day.

Duncan

I'd be put off the first set by the slow recycle time (2-3 seconds), the D-Lites recycle in ~1 sec and sometimes that's not fast enough. If you have to wait 3 seconds between shots I think you'll miss a lot of opportunities. If you are paying a bit more it's worth looking at the D-Lite 4 kit - 2x 400W heads both with soft boxes.

Hadn't spotted the slow recycle time of the larger power kit, good point Pete.
The auto dump facility of the Elinchromes is a very useful feature too.

Just out of interest, having a look at the reviews on WHE of the D-Lite 4 kit, I notice the comment in one review:
"My main issue with them is that they are very powerful and i'd liked to have had the option of reducing the output down another few stops - if your space is small the 200 / 400 combo might be worth a look."

Hadn't thought of that. Having 2x 400W might be too much in a small space, given that there's a minimum power level they can be set to.

I've got a set of D-Lite 4s and can't see this being much of an issue, I find that at ~3/5ths power I can shot at ISO100, f11, 1/160th which seems fine to me. Surely if they were over powering you can just adjust camera settings to get the exposure right. A flash meter does make setting them up very easy so it would be worth getting one if your budget allows (though they can be set up without one).

Well I am surprised unless the guy wants to shoot wide open in a small space.
Just checked the specs and the 200 adjustment range is 12-200w/s and the 400 25-400w/s, so only one stop in it.

As you know I have a Multiblitz 200w/s and that is often underpowered for what I want even using it in the limited space of the workshop. When used as the master I always have it on full bore from max 3ft away to get f11 at ISO100. Maybe I do loose more power firing into a giant Apollo rather than straight though as in those softboxes, but I bet its not more than 1 Stop.

Maybe I should see if I can find my flash meter and measure it.

Anyway a really cheap solution to that if its an occasional problem, is garden fleece draped over the front panel. 2 layers will cut light by around a stop I guess.
( you can tell I fly by wire - never use a flashmeter :D ). Double that for -2 stops etc, etc.

Don

A softbox is a must with a grid fitted as its more directional than one without and definitely so with a brolly. Also depending on what you are doing you will need grids/flags as you have to control the light even more. A W/B card is a must as you will no doubt get colour cast.
Radio triggers are the best route to go down. You don't have to go down the PW route as you can purchase cheaper triggers like this.http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Speedlight-str...item2ea9a020fa
and they also work great with off camera flashes. They are good as i have and still use them. The main difference between them is that the PW have a better working distance.
Safety is a must as people easily trip over the wires and stands getting knocked and the light smashing your model in the head. I know :)
You don't have to go mad with the lighting at first you can get good second hand gear like Bowen or something like the D-lite kit. The light modifiers are not cheap and again you can get second hand or cheaper versions, but they are a must.
With some things you can make your own modifiers.

Look forward to seeing some images.

Thanks all.. it's sooooo confusing but what does anyone think of this? get a reasonable write up in Practical Photography


http://www.studio-flash.com/professi...8l263bb0ekft11

I saw that issue of PP and bought a copy specifically for the "small home studio" feature. As Peter said in post #7, a 3 second recycle time may be rather limiting. From my own experience in a studio, I'd say 3 seconds is an eternity. It depends if you're going to use them at full power in a small setting.

The feature in PP seems to have given them a lot of publicity, they've sold out until next delivery 6th March. Not sure if this kit is significantly better than the one I pointed to in my 1st reply to this post, or any of the similar kits you'll find on ebay.

Duncan

Best option (I feel) would be one 500WS head and one small head.
I believe in working with as less lights as possible.

Hi, I'm working photographer and being using Elinchrom Style RX 1200 flash heads for my studio and mobile studio portraits. It's very powerful at 1200w/s and has 5 stops range with digital display. The RX1200 is the top of range if you have the budget, but if you are tight on budget you can get the Elinchrom D-Lite-It-2 or D-Lite-It-4. I've done some research for you and come up with.

1. D-Lite-It-2 (200w/s power output) To Go Kit $720USD
2. D-Lite-It-4 (400w/s power output) To Go Kit $850USD

Another idea would be buying some kind of stand with umbrella or softbox attachement, but some times it can be more expensive than just buying a studio flash heads kit?