Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Ok .. so I think I want to invest in some studio lighting for a small home studio... maybe 2 lights? abackground ?? Im not sure what I should look for .. Im willing to spend around 1000 dollars. Is there anything anyone can suggest??What about the alien bee kits on their site? Thanks again ahead of time.

highly depends on what you're planning on shooting, then if you intend on taking it with you somewhere.

At least you have a budget

Mostly home based not moving it around too much ... Portraits mainly...

$1000?

Look no further than the Elinchrom D-Lite 4 mkII kit from Vistek.

I had the first version and enjoyed it. MkII is much much much improved with construction quality....and fan cooled so it doesn't fry the circuit board like it did on me on site at a job.

I think this is the kit mentioned above, http://vistek.ca/store/ProPhotoLighting/236466/elinchrom-dlite-4-to-go-set-includes-fan-cooled-2x400ws-2x-softbo.aspx

but one thing is you'll need a backdrop as well, to do portraits. Those strobes in that kit will be amazing though. you could probably pick up a backdrop stand and muslin for fairly cheap... even vistek has backdrops for like $50-$100

Plus you will want a softbox,

i had a 2ft by 3ft Chimera and I loved it. LOVED it.

ya the kit that I linked came with 2 softboxes as well

its a good set for sure. You could easily adapt that to use for event photography as well.

mind you, I was going to drive down to the USofA and see about grabbing some stuff there cause there are a bunch of cheap kits down there with decent strobes in them.

do you guys not suggest alien bees or just like every other kit out there? .. Im looking to convert my basement .. with a backdrop .. and a fairly basic lighting kit that I can get creative with but wont break the bank

You will be paying a little bit more for AB stuff but they do make a very quality product.

Here is a comparison to the stuff in the US I was talking about...

http://www.cowboystudio.com/product/c04/p0402-01.php

I was debating on getting a set at some point because it includes quite a bit.

I have 2 AB 800s and 2 AB 400s. I love it. There are people in the Elinchrom camp, and there are people in the AB camp (think nikon/canon), both make good products

The plus with Elinchrom is if there's something wrong under warranty, just take it back to Vistek for repair. Turnaround time is fast and they do work on site.

With that budget, you can't go wrong with the AB's or Elinchrom D-lite kit as other pointed out. One thing to keep in mind is the amount of light modifiers that are available for it. For an average sized basement studio, you can get away with 200-250W monos. If you've got a lot or real estate, 400-600W units. If you want to take it outdoors and kick back the sun etc 600W plus.

As your needs grow and you acquire more stronger strobes, you can always put the smaller 200-250W units as hair or kicker lights.

+1 on the Elinchrom

Yeah, that's the drawback of getting AB's. You have to mail-order them. I thought there was a local authorized AB service center in the GTA? No?

There is a local AB repair shop:

KHB Photografix

335 Admiral Boulevard, #13 and 14
Mississauga, Ontario L5T 2N2
Phone: 905-670-5166
Fax: 905-670-3293

Website: www.khbphotografix.com

that's the border of B-town and Sauga...

Good to know for future

No kidding! Not a single Canadian distributor/reseller! If you got an account to resell here, you'd hold all of the Canadian market!

well, if there is a need, I'd look into it.. being that kinda reseller has advantages

Would we seriously be the only AB reseller/distributor in Canada?

that's kinda odd

Yeah. Well maybe Paul just wants to run it out of his single shop in the USofA?

AB is sold factory direct...meaning there are no stores besides theirs...

from a business standpoint they make a lot more money this way...instead of selling wholesale to a retailer why not just sell it yourself at retail prices and just ship it

oh btw if you do order AB, their light stands and some umbrellas you will have to pay DUTY because they are products of CHINA and not USA...i read that on some other forum while researching shipping costs

Yup, if any product is made in the USA or Mexico, then no duty. But it has to explicitly say, MADE IN THE USA or MEXICO, before it applies.

Its like this for any products. I've been screwed on this for paintball and computer products in the past.

me love my alien bees! But do put into your budget the shipping and customs cost too

I love my alienbee too

I'm a fan of the AlienBees products as well. If you don't have much room in your basement, including height ... then the ring flash with the moon modifier on a stand with a boom fits in a shallow depth.

They're customer service is pretty good, and I think with them fully distributing their product they help uphold that level of service. They really seem to be trying to come out with new products that are affordable. The ring flash is very reasonably priced compared to what else is out there. Today I just received my Parabolic Light Modifier, got the big one. I know it says its 86", but gee ... it sure looks huge indoors. LOL. I can't wait to try it out this weekend

I haven't had any problems with my lights, and I even bought a used AB800 of a member from here.

One thing I will suggest, that I underestimated its ease of use. When you get light stands, try and get the air cushioned. With the boom arm and light on the stand, I regret not getting ... after I almost pinched the skin in my palm because I wasn't holding the stand properly to let the light down.

Didn't think this thread was to old to dust off... apologies if so.

Mr.Walczak, did you end up picking up any lighting? What did you choose? Why?

I'm in your exact position and I'm curious what the outcome of your research was.

Thanks!

Just thought I'd share my experiences because I picked up an Aurora Camray c600 kit maybe 2 months ago.

I'm not super happy with it, but decided to suck it up and continue to work with it. It cost a little over $700 all in, and so I was on a slightly different budget than you. Came with standard stand and umbrella. I jumped in on impulse somewhat and didn't do my homework as much as I should have.

Problems:

- I get the feeling these are not very widely used and the accessories, at least for the low end Camray line, are proprietary. The more expensive lights from the same company are compatible with more well known accessories though, apparently. I dunno. I'm reluctant to spend more money on modifiers (barn doors, etc) lest I dig myself deeper into this brand.

- I ended up picking up a big softbox on CL anyways, and so the overall cost drives up closer to the Elinchrom kit which, for me on paper looks a lot more suited for what I like to play with (head/half body, occassional full body).

- It's way too much light for what I need (space being a limiting factor as I can't put it more than 7-10' away from the subject). The minimum setting is 1/4 power, and I've never brought it up past 1/3 power, shooting at f8 or f9, iso 100. I've had to slap on an ND8 filter onto my 50-1.4 in order to get more flexibility in DOF. In addition, I rigged an extra baffle onto the softbox to reign in some more of that power.

In total, I think I've spent just the same amount as I would've if I had gotten the Elinchrom kit, and it probably would've been a little easier to use up front and more flexible.

I dunno. I think I just need to learn how to take advantage of this kit more. My shots are slowly getting closer to what I want them to be, with a bit of tweaking...or maybe I'll give up and sell it off.

I hardly ever see any body mention the camrays. Does *anybody* else other than me use them??

I use Aurora Genesis 400ws monolights.

saw this on Visteks site today, looks pretty good for what you get.

http://vistek.ca/store/Printers/236466/elinchrom-dlite-4-to-go-set-includes-fan-cooled-2x400ws-2x-softbo.aspx

anyone have experience with these?

That's a great beginner's set. The Elinchrom lights are VERY colour stable and decent recycle times. These are the newer models with the cooling fans. The older D-Lites did not have a cooling fan and would constantly overheat and trip the thermal sensors.

Lots of light modifiers available for Elinchrom lights. The catch is that Vistek is the only Canadian distributor/repair center. If you decide to stick with studio work and upgrade to larger or faster strobes, these work great for kicker lights.

Hi

I'm also looking a better lighting setup. I'd like to get an opinion about the below Westcott strobe promos which Camera Dojo has been raving about.

http://www.fjwestcott.com/promos/strobe ... wheretobuy