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Further to Geoff's studio thread that I kind of hijacked, I ordered the studio light set from ebay on Friday and received it today!

Here is the basic set-up (still waiting on the background stand)...



And this is the first model (I didn't give any though to lighting, so no C&C required )



I am looking forward to playing with the set up when I have more time.

Thanks for this forum for helping me spend more money

P

Reschsmooth
A very hard lesson to learn concerning the use of studio lights....a very small change in lighting position can make a big difference in the lighting. Get them somewhere close to right and then shoot lots of tests whilst making very small corrections. Looking forward to seing some results. Preview on a computer monitor and not the LCD screen of the camera.

Have fun,

Can't wait for the Nudie shots

No animals please.

Mic

Thanks guys - Mrs Reschsmooth & I look forward to playing with the lights (with the potential of 4 light sources if we need them!) and posting some results, although don't hold our breath for the nudie shots!

P

Patrick,

Quick question: first impressions of this kit?

Quality, ease of use, etc.

I know you were concerned about how easy this would be to use, so I'm interested to hear this from you.

Gary, these are my very quick, initial comments:

1. The stands seem sturdy enough and the brollies don't seem flimsy.
2. The flash heads, including the modelling lights seem well constructed.
3. I initially tried the synch lead to the D200 - either the socket on the camera or the lead itself doesn't fit that well. Thereafter, everything was remote.
4. The clamps seem well enough constructed, although the fitting of one of them onto the stand is a little loose.
5. The flash heads have 3 or 4 power settings (didn't pay enough attention) - 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and full. The power lead for one of the heads doesn't have a very snug fit, but doesn't feel like it is going to fall out.

All up, the kit seems like very good value for money (pending I used it for about 15 minutes thus far), bearing in mind that it cost $300 (+ postage). I bought a photo mag recently which had a listing of a whole range of monoblocs which invariably cost well over $1000 per head.

YGWYPF, but, like I said, great value, and it looks really easy to use.

The brollies are a good size also.

Cheers

P

Patrick, looks like quite a bit there for your $300, will be interested to hear your thoughts after more use

Patrick,

Thank you. Sounds very promising.

Glen, the kit includes:

2 x stands
2 x flash heads and clamps (including synch leads, 2 bulbs for each head and a spare fuse each).
2 x brollies with white reflector
2 x brollies with silver reflector
1 x giraffe named Gerry

We hope to give it a bit of a test in a couple of weeks.

P

PICTURE OF THE WEEK!!!

Extremely exciting Pat - can u link us to the ebay store/deal?

Geoff wrote:Extremely exciting Pat - can u link us to the ebay store/deal?

Geoff, this is the link to the light kit - it's the same ebayer as I believe you bought the backdrop stand from.

Matty, thanks for the vote, although the background lets it down - that's why an 85 1.4 lens would be very very nice

P

Pat - thanks for that. I say bring your studio lights over to our place some time soon in the garage and we shall use that and the 85mm 1.4 together

I'm still needing to purchase some background material for the backdrop system, will do that soon, funds are a bit tight at the moment.

Geoff, sounds like a good idea - we are still awaiting our backdrop stand from the same place.

We were probably going to go to Spotlight or similar and get some material for a backdrop. Haven't looked at this stage.

P

Reschsmooth wrote:3. I initially tried the synch lead to the D200 - either the socket on the camera or the lead itself doesn't fit that well. Thereafter, everything was remote.

Did you try both leads Patrick - mine are the opposite - very tight fit

sirhc55 wrote:

Reschsmooth wrote:3. I initially tried the synch lead to the D200 - either the socket on the camera or the lead itself doesn't fit that well. Thereafter, everything was remote.

Did you try both leads Patrick - mine are the opposite - very tight fit

I only tried the one and it was a bit loose, which resulted in the head firing intermittently. But, I was, thus far, happy with the results of just using the onboard flash, at 1/128th power or the SB800 to fire the heads.

I will try to post a more thorough review in a few weeks which will include any potential problems about line of sight for remote firing and any other issues that may come up.

Cheers

P

Patrick - out of line of sight shooting works for me - in fact, I fired off a SB800 via a SU800, that was located totally out of sight

Reschsmooth wrote:Geoff, sounds like a good idea - we are still awaiting our backdrop stand from the same place.

We were probably going to go to Spotlight or similar and get some material for a backdrop. Haven't looked at this stage.

P

We had a look at Spotlight a few weeks ago, material ain't that cheap it would seem. I think going for a 'proper' background may not cost u a hell of a lot more than spotlight stuff. Food for thought.

The problem I have found with Spotlight fabric, is that it's never wide enough. You would need to sew it together giving you a nice seam in the middle of your backdrop.

I think for $$$ for results, the backdrops sold by Dragon Imaging were fantastic.

Cheers.

I haven't checked Dragon, but Borges sell 1.36 m seamless paper rolls for $91 and 2.72m for $151! (All rolls are 11m long and widths as above).

How much is the paper at Dragon?

Cheers

P

Reschsmooth wrote:I haven't checked Dragon, but Borges sell 1.36 m seamless paper rolls for $91 and 2.72m for $151! (All rolls are 11m long and widths as above).

How much is the paper at Dragon?

Cheers

P

I don't remember seeing paper at Dragon Pat, but I could be mistaken. I might be heading out there tomorrow, or Friday.

Nice, I too got the same setup but still waiting for some good use. Not enough room at my place...

Pat & Geoff interested in joing all the gears around for a 4 light setup

Geoff can probably confirm the prices.

They have velvet in 3 meter width ( black / white / blue / yellow / ??? ) I think it was about $45 a meter. Reusable / washable etc. Very nice stuff.

The also had a lighter muslin backdrop of the same width same sort of colours + some pattern stuff, eg like a marble effect. This was cheaper but not too sure on price.

They do sell paper backdrops also.

http://www.dragonimage.com.au/old/index.html

Wocka wrote:Geoff can probably confirm the prices.

They have velvet in 3 meter width ( black / white / blue / yellow / ??? ) I think it was about $45 a meter. Reusable / washable etc. Very nice stuff.

The also had a lighter muslin backdrop of the same width same sort of colours + some pattern stuff, eg like a marble effect. This was cheaper but not too sure on price.

They do sell paper backdrops also.

http://www.dragonimage.com.au/old/index.html

Thanks for that, Warwick. I would love some black velvet, but at $45/m with probably a need for at least 4+ meters in length, the cost can add up!

P

I don't know if it is handy or not but have a look under Studio Equipments here

Fab