Hello,

I would like to buy myself a basic sort of equipment for making isolated shots. It should also be a little versatile for other purposes (portraits and such).

I read Zack Arias' tutorial - it is great!!!
Anyhow, as it is my first time I am dealing with studio lights, I have a lot of doubts. (If I am in the wrong forum, please just tell me).

1) I need three lights. I have one SB-900 up to now. What should I add for the other two? Are other two Nikon Speedlights enough power? (This solution seems however a bit expensive...) I read also about AlienBees... I am thinking of lighting the white background with the lights and use my flash for the foreground. What do you think?

2) What is the cheapest, and what a comfortable solution for these lights? (I'd like to save some money).

3) OK and now the most stupid question....are these units all flashes or continuous lights? When do I use what, what is better? (sorry the basic question).

4) How much will it cost me? (the lights plus their supports and the things i need for the lights; I already figured out a support for the white background roll)

Oh and I don't have so much space. I don't need a huge setup. It has to be small, thus maybe less power needed.

Thank you!
Simone

If you are primarily shooting in a studio the Alien Bees are a great flash for your $$. I haven't heard of the ones that elvinstar linked to, they look pretty cheap, but then again, they ARE cheap so you are really not out very much money.  They don't have much power, but they could be good for getting started and trying things out.

Strobes are nice because they plug into the wall so they won't run out of batteries, and they have tons of power (especially when compared to a shoe mount flash).... although those ones that elvinstar suggested won't have that much more power than the Nikon Speelight

If you end up using strobes you probably won't need your Nikon Speedlight.  In a pinch you could use one strobe to blast the background white, and the other to light the front of the object with a reflector to remove shadows.

wow, thanks for your fast answers. :-) seems it's affordable!  

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Strobe setup:
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the strobes look good to me, I wouldn't lose much trying them first. so you say 150 Ws is enough for such an application? (I have absolutely no idea...) the same power with the alien bees costs almost 4x as much!

Do I need a wireless controller or something like that?

I read I need two strobes for the background, but one is also ok you say?

It would be cool to have this portable with speedlights, but that's really expensive...
I also found that support for my SB-900 that can be used to attach a softbox for example.

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Lightbox:
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How much do I pay for a lightbox?
Do you guys use both? Or do you also put your still life objects into the big strobe setting?


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Thanks for your help!

Yes, I fire my strobes wirelessly with this trigger and those are the exact strobes that I use.

I hear people say that the cheap triggers misfire quite frequently, but mine fires at least 98% of the time.

Feel free to look at my portfolio to view results. My studio is set up in a spare bedroom, so if your space is that size or smaller, I know for a fact that you can make it work!

I use 2-800w Alien Bees and 1-400w Alien Bee for blowing out the background. These work fine for studio product photography, but if I were to do a lot of studio model work, I would buy the 1600w Alien Bees. I use the sync cord. The cords come with the Alien Bees (flash lights) and are plenty long enough for most applications.

I bought inexpensive lights at my last job and I got what I paid for. I was a little sorry I went the cheap route. They just didn't position well and were very cheesy. They weren't the same brand as elvinstar posted, I don't remember the brand, sorry. Typically when I purchase items, I never buy the cheapest and I can never afford to buy the most expensive so I pretty much stay middle of the road on price and it works out well most of the time.

I'm reading this from a beginner point of view.  I would like to offer a lesson learned, however.  If you are shooting macro, or very closeup, you will need the something strong enough to blow out the background at f22. 

Being the cheapest of all of us, I gave up and went back to natural light ... for most setups.  I did learn that you can use a lightbox with long exposure and multiple flashes from one flash unit (top and both sides) to achieve decent results.  You can do it with your SB-900.

There are lots of blog articles on building a lightbox.

I purchased old white lightning 10000 strobes off of ebay. They usually sell for about 100$. They don't look like much but they work great and have plenty of power for my needs. You do need plenty of space for full length people shots. If the background is too close you will get a lot of light spill onto the model. You do need a bit of power for the background to light it evenly using light modifiers. The disadvantage with these older strobes is that I can't fit them with a beauty dish. I will build a bracket for one as soon as I get a free minute.

I made my own backdrop stand out of PVC pipe for about $20 USD. I've bought quite a few things from ephotodiscounters and have always been pleased. I use 2 strobes to blow out my backdrop (one on either side).

That kit you linked looks okay for starters, particularly if you are shooting isolated objects or still portraits and don't mind doing some work with the dodge tool cleaning up the backgrounds.  Once you begin making money in micro you will probably want to upgrade to a better kit.

FWIW I use two 600ws strobes with barn doors on the background and two 300ws strobes with softboxes on the models, although you could easily get by with the one 300ws + softbox and a reflector.   Interfit strobes are very reasonably priced as kits.  This is the one I have: [url]http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/800664321-USE/Interfit_INT137_Stellar_300_2_Monolight_.html]http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/800664321-USE/Interfit_INT137_Stellar_300_2_Monolight_.html] [url]http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/800664321-USE/Interfit_INT137_Stellar_300_2_Monolight_.html [/url]

For background, I used a white king size sheet for a long time.  Works great and much easier to manage than a heavy muslin.

Whatever you do, do not waste your money on continuous lighting if you are doing isolations.  I did that for a couple of years and it was virtually impossible to blow out the background.  I had to spend many hours per shoot working with the dodge tool to get anything I could submit.

ETA:  Here's a good selection of the Interfit kits at a variety of prices:
http://www.owens-originals.com/interfit%20strobe/INTERFIT%20STROBE%20%20PHOTOGRAPHY%20LIGHTING%20KITS.html

Check this  out  http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/CF0502K1/

I think you would be wasting your money, go with what Leaf suggested.

You mean which of his suggestions? The Alien Bees?

Actually I was thinking to remove the backdrop (make it by myself), so I'd have only the following:
- 2 strobes 150Ws with sync chords
- 2 softboxes 16"
- 2 reflecting umbrellas
- 2 light stands 7"
- 5-in-1 reflector
- reflector stand

269 USD.

Alternative:
something like this plus some accessories:
http://www.alienbees.com/beginner.html

Man I am getting really confused...  

Thanks for all your suggestions!
Simone

I mean his suggestion on getting the Alien Bees.  If you can't afford the Bees wait a while and save your money.  For lights and supports stands look on EBay you should be able to find something that you can afford.  The lights your looking at come with a 16" softbox, what are you doing to do with it?  16" is to small to shot anything other than very small tabletop Items, I would bet the light stands are cheap junk too.

Lights are your most important piece gear invest in something that you'll be able to work with for years. 

Quote from: Eyedesign on November 19, 2009, 04:28

Lights are your most important piece gear invest in something that you'll be able to work with for years. 

Lights are a much better investment than the latest digital SLR. Also if you have a gut feeling you are going to shoot for years, you should think studio lights as a system. Buying gear with a well-known brand will secure that you can get more softboxes, reflectors and spare parts later on.

I also am interesting in lighting equipment.  So far, I am making do with HomeMade setups.  I am taking to heart all that is said about getting what you pay for.  I'll be saving until I can afford "The Right Stuff."   

Buy ONCE and save in the long run.