Lighting on a budget!

[Tony4Fingerz]

Hi guys I'm currently looking to get some lighting to use in a home studio. I am looking at the Elinchrom D-lite 4 to go set as a starting point. I was looking at getting a portable battery pack from Innovatronix to use them outdoors. Will this set up be ok as a starting point as I'm just an enthusiast :)

[Tony4Fingerz]

I forgot to mention I also already have 2 YN-560's and 2 YN 465's flashes.

[JM Tran]

yeah its a decent set up for both studio and location shoots for single to small group portraiture and fashion for under $1400 bucks:)

lighting modifiers is what really makes the photo dont forget!

[Tony4Fingerz]

By lighting modifiers you mean grids, beauty dishes etc? What sort of stuff would you recommend? Thanks for the feed back to :)

[JM Tran]

I use a lot of diff types for diff situations, but for close up shots of fashion and beauty u cannot look past a beauty dish - saw an Elinchrom beauty dish at around 55cm(?) size with white inner coating instead of silver polished for more diffused lighting at Total Photographics in Adelaide for only $250 - I thought thats not a bad price.

I used to use a 200cm Octabox for studio work for a very large wrap-around lighting and very diffused feel, but nowadays I use a 220cm parabolic umbrella with my Broncolor lighting since I moved over from Bowens this year. Its a different effect once again, very strong contrast and punchy colours, and excellent on the skin so it saves a lot of time on retouching later. A parabolic umbrella is ubiquitous with a lot of high end fashion shoots etc.

But you need to read up more on lighting methods and power etc, as the 400ws from the DLites are not that suitable for very large light modifiers, esp outdoors in the midday sun when they cannot overpower the sun or reach far enough etc.

Good luck, I get more of a kick these days buying new lighting gear than lenses and cameras:) Nothing more important in photography than lighting.

[Tony4Fingerz]

Thanks for that. I'll keep reading up on gear but will probably start with this set up and some modifiers until I get better and a bit more serious about things :)

[ricktas]

Agree, the D-lites are good but not that powerful, as JM says, if you want to do outdoor stuff, their power output means they sometimes cannot be effective. But if you intend on doing indoor stuff only, they are a good place to start. But like most photography equipment, if you save a bit more and get something 'bigger and better' it will serve you well for a long time. I reckon you will enjoy the d-lites but after a while be frustrated, if you really get into lighting, and crave something more powerful.

[Wayne]

Elinchrom gear is good gear. If you plan on doing location work with the D-lites, consider an Elinchrom Ranger kit. It comes in symmetrical or asymmetrical output, and it is 1100ws. You will rarely need more juice than that, so fighting the sun is no problem.

One of the issues with using 240v gear on location is a separate power source with inverter, and if it rains, or is anywhere near water, becomes a danger and you have to run a 240v cable across the ground for each light.
The Ranger is a little more expensive, but a mint used kit from the USA is excellent value, somewhere about $1900 landed here if you look around. The Ranger will take any Elinchrom modifier as well inc the beauty dishes JMT mentioned above.

[Tony4Fingerz]

Hmmm ok thanks guys I'll look into this further. The only real issue is budget at the moment but I'll look around at maybe some used gear as suggested :)