Inexpensive studio lighting kit

[MasterOfRoc]

I totally understand that you get what you pay for, and all that sort of stuff, but I am in the market for a bit of a kit that I can use as a starter

Was looking through various websites, eBay and the likes, and I saw this.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=141455614729&globalID=EBAY-AU

Has anyone got any thoughts, or can someone point me in another direction, similar price etc.

The main use would be profile pictures, and the likes for our football club, as well as a bit of portraiture

Cheers

[mikew09]

I have bought a number of items off ebay from very cheap off shore providers from umbrella to flash stands and soft boxes along with remote triggers and such. It is a bit hit and miss really and is obviously of a little lesser quality but not rubbish either. I think at the price it is worth a try but personally I would expect the gear to be OK but not perform as well as more brand up market kit.
My buddy bought a very similar kit from eBay and although it works well it does lack the power and control of the more expensive units but still works well enough - having said that, when you are saving maybe 5 or 600 dollars it is hard not to consider.
The umbrella's look a bit small to me for that type of lighting. Maybe consider the individual items tht work best and buy them individual off eBay - big umbrellas, soft box etc.
My decision was to buy the cheap ebay kit to see how it suites me and then when time to replace and I do have the need for it I buy good gear replacements.
Its a hard call to be honest.

[I @ M]

Yep, it is very inexpensive.
I have no idea about that particular package, only to say that it looks like many many similar products on the market.
Some work within their design brief to a satisfactory level, some simply don't. I feel that buying that one would be a bit of a lottery, you never know, you might be lucky. The hard part is not being able to see or asses the quality of all the components prior to purchase and even though they say the stands are "professional quality" I have seen stands labelled similarly and quite frankly I wouldn't trust them support a speedlight let alone a heavier strobe head. Likewise, umbrellas just aren't all created equally and usually at the bottom end of the market they can be relied on to work ---- once.
I can't think of a similar package around that price point that I could recommend but at the price of that one it is a cheap way of learning a bit about lighting subjects. You could easily spend double that amount on similar products with no real quality improvement so if you are up for a gamble, go for it.

[MasterOfRoc]

Will add, I am far from professional and I'm not pretending to be...

[I @ M]

Will add, I am far from professional and I'm not pretending to be...

Doesn't enter into the equation at all as far as I am concerned, I have seen extremely good photographers produce excellent results from bargain basement gear in the same vein as I have seen "amateur photographers" fail to produce a worthwhile image with massively expensive gear.

The deciding factor is whether you want the gear to produce worthwhile images from just one session or three or more sessions ----

[geoffsta]

I have a cheap set of E-bay about 4-5 years ago (Not long after I met I @ M actually) They have never given me any dramas, a bit slow at times, but they do the job...
But I do know that now days many professionals unless doing magazine, modelling, babies or detailed work, don't use studios.
A lot family portrait stuff is done outside, on a location were a battery portable system is required. Reflectors and creative use of natural sunlight, plus the use of speedlights often is all you need.

[yummymummy]

I totally understand that you get what you pay for, and all that sort of stuff, but I am in the market for a bit of a kit that I can use as a starter

Was looking through various websites, eBay and the likes, and I saw this.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=141455614729&globalID=EBAY-AU



Has anyone got any thoughts, or can someone point me in another direction, similar price etc.

The main use would be profile pictures, and the likes for our football club, as well as a bit of portraiture

Cheers


I actually own this kit, swap out the brollies for a couple of nice soft boxes and it works well for a beginner. :) I say go for it.
failing that, I also own a flash stand set, so take the strobes out, and replace them with speedlights, works REALLY well, and more portable, can use them outdoors without having to have extension leads, or battery packs.

[mortalitas]

i would also recommend the speedlight option. it gives you the option to shoot outdoors and be far more portable. get some bowens (or insert other mount here) speedlight adapters, and you can pretty much use any modifier.

[antony]

I would recommend speedlite option as mortalitas mentioned above.

I started with 3 speedlites and a few Lastolite soft boxes. I then got some cheap stands from eBay. After a while, I learned cheap stands won't last well for long, then upgraded to name brand version. (I know I can get p*ssed off easily with crappy stuff.)
Currently, my lighting is Elinchrom Style RX 1200/1200 and BRX 500/500 if you are curious.

Looking at the price of the linked eBay item, the power is lower than my liking, however, the price is simply too good to miss out.

Once you are into studio flash, there are a lot to purchase.


I have seen extremely good photographers produce excellent results from bargain basement gear in the same vein as I have seen "amateur photographers" fail to produce a worthwhile image with massively expensive gear.I know I belong to the latter just don't have the massively expensive gear.