 Candice Hughes |
Is this too good to be true? I'm wanting to buy some studio lights. I have no idea what I need but I want to be able to take it on site with me as well to do sports teams and dance recitals. I've found a package on ebay. I'm wondering is someone could tell me what kind of lighting I need and if this would be a good deal. here is the link http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3828658167 Would someone please look at this and tell me if this is what I need or not and if it's a good deal?
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
I've never heard of YINYAN lights. The price for all that is good, since you're getting 2 softboxes, stands, 3 lights, etc. That's assuming YINYAN has reasonable quality. 135ws isn't very strong, and that 3rd 35ws light isn't good for very much else besides maybe a hair light, extra light for the background. If all of that stuff is in good working condition, you could use for sports teams. The dance recitals for stuff off to the side for couples to pose together. I've got some lights that are 150ws, they're usable as far as power is concerned. Your call as to buying something on ebay.
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Steve McCroskey |
Hi Candice! I would visit a local camera store - Wolf Camera and ask what would be a good way to set up a lighting system! If you have an idea of what you want let them know and see what they say! Check out www.bhphotovideo.com they offer new and used equipment!
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John A. Lind |
Candice, I also saw that on ePrey and wasn't horribly impressed for many lighting applications. That said, I'm accustomed to using professional grade lighting, backdrops and backdrop stands. The power level of even the 135 Joule lights is hideously low with rated GN of 118 at full dump, and directly aimed at the subject without light modifiers. This is about the same power level as a Vivitar 283/285HV or Sunpak 383. Expect to lose a minimum of about half the lighting power from absorption, shoot/bleed-through and scattering as soon as you use an [efficient] brollie or softbox (divide GN by 1.414, the square root of two). Two of the bigger lights at same distance from subject and full dump with modifiers gets you back to a total GN=118 . . . maybe. I've found modeling lights essential for studio work . . . many standard lighting methods have a "sweet spot" spanning a lighting angle range that isn't all that wide. 50 Watt modeling lights are woefully low power unless the entire rest of the studio is very dark. Pro grade lights have 250 Watt quartz halogen modeling lights . . . that can be set to track a continuously adjustable power strobe power level . . . that helps overcome ambient room lighting and can give a good idea about what the ratio of key to fill lighting will create. The backdrops are too small to be useful for much . . . standard studio backgrounds are 10 feet wide and 20 feet long to allow them to be mounted high and pulled across the floor under the subjects. The extra size is needed to keep you from running out of seamless background as you move to different camera angles without having to move everything else! The slave system uses a low-power IR flash . . . which is really a low-power straight flash with a deep red filter over the flash tube. Standard flashes put out significant IR in addition to visible light. The slaves on the lights are optical . . . triggered by visible light flash . . . but they are also highly sensitive to IR as well. That's how it works. They're not encoded IR recievers, so anyone setting off a regular flash will trigger the lights. This IR slaving method works OK in confined spaces that contain and bounce the IR around, and when nobody else is present with a camera/flash to set off the lights. In larger spaces such as churches that don't contain the IR, and typically have high continuous IR sources from spotlights in the ceiling, they don't work . . . not enough of the IR flash is contained and what does get to the slave isn't enough of a pulse above the ambient IR present to set off the slaves on the lights. A system like this could be useful for small subject photography that allows close lighting . . . table-top studio type work. In terms of portraiture, you'd have to have the lights up fairly close and limit yourself to tight 1/3rd or less (bust or head/shoulders, or less) portraiture. In terms of on-location prom, family reunion or especially wedding work, it's severely lacking in a number of criteria. -- John Lind
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John A. Lind |
A few more comments about studio lighting in general: Light distance is important when doing full length portraiture, working with groupings of people, or when using props (very common with senior portraiture). Light falls off with the inverse square of the distance. Double the light power and for the same lens aperture, you can move the lights about 1.4 times the distance. The extra distance allows spreading the light out over a larger area . . . important for larger groupings. It also reduces the falloff between the front row and back row of people to keep from blowing out the front row and still having a dimly lit back row. Using ISO 160 portrait film, f/5.6 lens aperture to maintain reasonable depth of field, and a pair of 500 Joule lights with efficient 45" umbrellas allows placing them about 14-15 feet from the grouping in a large space (that doesn't contain the light well). There are times with large groupings that have had to be stacked three deep just to fit everyone in that I've wished for 1000 Joule lights that could be moved farther back (about 20 feet) to allow spreading the group a little more and reducing the falloff between the first and third row of people. I wouldn't do on-location work with anything less than a pair of 500 Joule lights with 250-300 Watt halogen modeling lights. It would require faster film speed that doesn't allow as much enlargement, too much lighting unevenness from closer lighting distances, and very great difficulty in assessing the lighting from modeling lamps with significantly less power than the ambient lighting. -- John Lind
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Candice Hughes |
Thanks so much for all of the good answers! I am going to be shooting wrestling pictures in just a few months. So I will be in a gym and have to to groups of up to 20-30 and individuals as well. What kind of lighting equipment do I need to purchase and where would be a good place to do so inexpensivly?
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Steve McCroskey |
Hi Candice! Try www.bhphotovideo.com,they offer lighting equipment at a reasonable price and they offer a used equipment department! See if there are any local camera stores in your area that sell lighting equipment,let them know what you want to do and see what they suggest!
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John A. Lind |
Also check out KEH Camera Brokers in Atlanta, GA . . . www.keh.com You mention groupings of 20-30 and individual "portraits" but from your posting I'm suspecting you might be shooting some of the wrestling matches as well? Is that true? In a gym for portraiture . . . two 500 Joule (W/S) lights on top of 7.5 - 9 foot stands with 45" silvered umbrellas should work . . . keep groupings very tight, flat (straight rows) and no more than three rows deep. Use f/5.6 for lens aperture and run the lights full dump. Adjust light distance until the flash meter give an f/5.6 reading. The Photogenic 1250 is one of the more popular monolights but there are others equally as good. I use Hensel Integra lights that sell for about the same price (German made and popular in Europe but parts/accessories are more difficult to find in U.S. compared to Photogenic). The most efficient medium umbrella for on-location work I've found is the Photoflex UM-ADH45; they're also reasonably priced. Bogen's (a.k.a. Manfrotto) basic 9' light stands are also among the most popular, and least expensive for a sturdy pro grade stand with decent footprint. You can get a used Gossen LunaPro F flash meter for very good price. Older model used Sekonic FlashMeters also have decent prices. Budget about $1000 for new lights and a bag to haul them in . . . about $750 for a pair of used ones in excellent condition. Budget another $100 for a pair of light stands (new), $50 for a pair of decent umbrellas (new), and about $125-150 for a used flash meter. Be cautious about used light stands . . . ensure they're in excellent condition and haven't been thoroughly thrashed. I don't recommend used brollies . . . haven't seen a used one yet that wasn't very thoroughly thrashed . . . good ones on the used market are rare. New flash meters of decent quality are very expensive, but for some reason older ones in excellent condition go for comparatively very reasonble prices. If you get the lights used, you'll need a trigger cord . . . about $25 . . . and you can optically slave the second light from the first one (nearly all current lights have built-in slaves). Radio slaves are expensive . . . even used ones. IR slaves won't work reliably in a large gymnasium. Last, but certainly not least, you'll need something to hook a trigger cord to your camera if it doesn't have a PC socket. Figure about another $20-25 for a hot shoe to female PC adapater. The Nikon AS-15 is an excellent one, but Nikon only makes them in batches and *everyone* is out of stock right now. Hama also has a decent one that's a dual adapter (hot shoe to female PC and female PC to hot shoe). Both are under $20 new if you can find one (B&H or KEH pricing)! Because of the shortage, used Nikon AS-15's in new or nearly new condition have been going for $30+ on ePrey! I have AS-15's and a Hama . . . both are equal quality, but the Hama is slightly higher profile in the shoe as its actually two adapters stacked into one. Even if your camera has a PC socket, I recommend not using it very long and getting an adapter. Plugging a cord in and unplugging it frequently can be hard on a PC socket . . . much easier and significantly less costly to replace an adapter than to have a camera's PC socket repaired (minimum cost of the simplest camera repairs is about $100). -- John Lind
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John A. Lind |
Candice, I should add . . . Finding decent lights in excellent condition used requires some patience and very frequent scanning of the used market, then siezing it when you find one. They're in relatively high demand and don't stay up for sale long . . . a few days max. Same thing with good Bogen light stands in excellent conditions. -- John Lind
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Candice Hughes |
John, You are talking about strobe lights aren't you, not continuous? And also you think I need to have 1000 watts of light? I'm terribly unfamilar with some of this lingo and I'm trying to make sure that 500 Joule lights means 500 watts. Have you looked at any of the kits at other online stores? I've seen seveal that are 1000 watt for much less (maybe around $300-500) in various brands. What are some other good off-brand names? Thanks again for all your help!
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Cathy B. Sylvester |
John & Candice, I am looking for similiar information and wanted to just insert my questions here into this thread. I shoot with a Canon 1V and have only done to this point environmental portraits. I want to begin doing studio work. I have many photographer "friends" but as you might know, it's hard to get information out of people, especially when it comes to giving information to someone who may become a competitor one day. My question is, the Photogenic lights I've heard mentioned and used before by others. The wattage on these is adjustable, correct? What kind of set up do you recommend for backdrops? I plan to try to have a "portable" setup and have no idea about the backdrops either. I want to have it as simple as possible. Do you recommend me just watching B&H for used equipment and purchasing it if/when I see it become available? Or, putting it on my "wish list" at B&H. They will notify me when/if the item comes into stock. Also, my camera does have a PC socket and you mentioned getting a hot shoe to female adapter instead. Since I use Canon products, this would still hold true and I would just find an adapter for Canon cameras, correct? I know these are really elementary questions but I get good answers and information here. That's why I'm asking here. Any help you can give me in steering me in the right direction will be greatly appreciated and may also answer any other questions Candice may have as well. Thanks - Cathy
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