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Position:Home>Visual Arts> Studio Equimpent opinions PLEASE :D?Question: Studio Equimpent opinions PLEASE :D!? I got offered 3 umbrella lights that are not strobe they are constant lighting, 2 small back lights, a dimmer for the lights, a background stand and 3 muslins one blue, grey, and green!. the blue is very large and the others are slightly smaller!. They offred me this for $500!. They said its about 3 years old and like brand new!. Is this a good deal!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: The backgrounds alone might cost that much new, but offer them $300 and then negotiate from there Hot lights are an excellent way to get into "studio" photography!. They are relatively inexpensive and you can "see" what the light is doing to your subject !.!.!. the one reason photo schools start their students out using them!. I still use them after many years out of school!. I spend over $500 a year just maintaining my studio strobes!. A good 750 watt Lowel Tota-light with stand and umbrella costs just over $170 !.!.!. each!. The stand with no backgrounds $115 minimum!. If I hadn't just spent over $7,000 on a D3 and D300, I would go for it myself!.Www@QuestionHome@Com I prefer constant lighting, you can see exactly what you're going to get!. Colour cast aren't a problem as every DSLR I know can calibrate the colour!. Just photograph a white card or piece of paper use that to calibrate your camera and perfect colour, even if you have mixed light sources!. Don't forget to reset the colour balance when you take the camera outside! I just use enclosed industrial Tungsten Halogen 500W lights available from any Electrical Factor for a few pounds each, stand about ￡20!.00 each, much cheaper than photographic equipment, they use them on building sites, but does exactly the same job, for a 1/10th of the price!. I have muslin pulled tight on a frame, I put this between the lamps and subject if I need diffuse lighting!. Most lighting designed for photographic uses talk alot about correct colour balance in their blurb, and that was an issue with film, it's not a problem with digital!. ChrisWww@QuestionHome@Com To give some comparison let me tell you about some of the stuff I've gotten!. I got a 3 light kit (2 500s and 1 250) with stands and umbrellas for $300 from a local camera store!. I got a really nice background support system for 200, I've seen Savage stands online for 100!. I can get muslins on ebay for anywhere from 50-100 depending on size and dealer!. Now, the lights I got were a Smith Victor kit, and there are better lights out there!. Are these of a higher quality!? The support system is a JTL and pretty heavy duty, so are you looking at a lower end system!? A couple of things about 'constant lighting'!. There's a reason they call them 'hot lights', they get hot!. This could be a bonus if you're shooting in the winter in Wisconsin, but sucks in the Texas summer!. Typical constant lights are tungsten, so don't forget to set your white balance, they get a really nasty yellow cast to them, which I personally don't care for!. To be honest I switched to strobes and never looked back!. Sorry I didn't "answer" your question!. hopefully I gave you enough info to make a decision!.Www@QuestionHome@Com It's hard to tell, without brand-names or specs!. If you have the specs & brands, look them up online, B&H should be a good resource for pricing!. Hot lights are great for still-life/product, not so great for people!. That sounds like a really good deal, if the equipment is decent, and way too much money to spend on junk!. One of my personal philosophies is "an inexpensive piece of crap, is still a piece of crap"Www@QuestionHome@Com |