Does the softbox do the trick

AdanClinton

AdanClinton

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Adan
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Morning all

Have been a lurker for several months and I really have learnt a lot. To start my photo study, first step is to grab some decent equipments. What kind of light modifier should I use? An umbrella or an softbox? What factors should I focus on when I buy them? I stumbled across one of these softbox, called excelvan, do them do the trick?

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How to figure it out?　Thanks for any thoughts from masses!
 
That kit is junk.
Start from the top.
What do you need to achieve?
What is your budget?
What experience do you have?
What kit do you already own?
 
Phil V said:
That kit is junk.
Start from the top.
What do you need to achieve?
What is your budget?
What experience do you have?
What kit do you already own?
Click to expand...

What Phil said...
 
Phil V said:
That kit is junk.
Start from the top.
What do you need to achieve?
What is your budget?
What experience do you have?
What kit do you already own?
Click to expand...

Thanks for your inputs.
Personally, I'm partial to just using a big softbox for fill. But I shoot primarily small children, where I just want the fill light to look uniform and soft.
I have already got some cube kits and right now need to grab a modifier tool.
Budget is not really a issue actually. A good photo always needs the help of good tools. Does this softbox really a crap? Can you take a minute to look up this softbox? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Excelvan®-P...=sr_1_3?s=photo&ie=UTF8&qid=1457519782&sr=1-3
Or can you recommend some other softbox? Thanks anyway.
 
Cheap Continuous lighting is not the right tool for photographing people.
You'll get more bang for your buck with flash, and if you're serious you should start with the right tools.

A starter kit from any of the known flash brands will do the job, but IMHO Lencarta probably offer the best bang for your buck. Look at a Smartflash starter kit, you can build from there.
 
As phil mentions above, continuous lights are not an ideal solution for people photography - especially kids.
A good quality single studio strobe with a nice big modifier as your key light and big reflector as your fill will yield far better results than the continuous kit you are linking to on Amazon.
 
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surely a speedlight with a shoot through umbrella would do the trick? And be the cheapest way in if you have a speedlight already?

That kit Phil V has suggested does look good though
 
Philx1979 said:
surely a speedlight with a shoot through umbrella would do the trick? And be the cheapest way in if you have a speedlight already?

That kit Phil V has suggested does look good though
Click to expand...

Shoot-through Umbrella's are better than no modifier, but they do just chuck light everywhere, your control is very limited, especially indoors (as I recently found out)
 
Philx1979 said:
surely a speedlight with a shoot through umbrella would do the trick? And be the cheapest way in if you have a speedlight already?

That kit Phil V has suggested does look good though
Click to expand...
A speedlight is cheap and easy if you already have one, but if you don't, then even a cheap speedlight and manual triggers is expensive compared with a proper studio flash (in a bang for buck comparison):

YN560 £45
dumb triggers £20
flash bracket £10
decent stand £25
brolly £5
total of close to £100

softbox and bracket instead of brolly and bracket add £10
ETTL speedlight and triggers that'll control power settings add £100

The above will give you slow flash recycling, no modelling light (shouldn't be underestimated for learning) and a reliance on batteries (add £30 for some decent rechargeables and a charger)

For comparable money you can have a single studio light kit that'll outlast even the most sophisticated speedlight

The thing is for most of us, we already had a speedlight, we bought a crap lightstand that we soon replaced, then some decent triggers, then increasingly better modifiers, and it never seemed like we'd spent a lot, but the reality when seen in black and white is that we've wasted* a lot of money while we were learning.

*especially those early adopters of ETTL triggers, we spent as much on them as a Godox AD360II costs today (add inflation and it'd make you cry)
 
Phil V said:
The thing is for most of us, we already had a speedlight, we bought a crap lightstand that we soon replaced, then some decent triggers, then increasingly better modifiers, and it never seemed like we'd spent a lot, but the reality when seen in black and white is that we've wasted* a lot of money while we were learning.
Click to expand...

Sounds an awful lot like my purchase history.
 
Phil V said:
A speedlight is cheap and easy if you already have one, but if you don't, then even a cheap speedlight and manual triggers is expensive compared with a proper studio flash (in a bang for buck comparison):

YN560 £45
dumb triggers £20
flash bracket £10
decent stand £25
brolly £5
total of close to £100

softbox and bracket instead of brolly and bracket add £10
ETTL speedlight and triggers that'll control power settings add £100

The above will give you slow flash recycling, no modelling light (shouldn't be underestimated for learning) and a reliance on batteries (add £30 for some decent rechargeables and a charger)

For comparable money you can have a single studio light kit that'll outlast even the most sophisticated speedlight

The thing is for most of us, we already had a speedlight, we bought a crap lightstand that we soon replaced, then some decent triggers, then increasingly better modifiers, and it never seemed like we'd spent a lot, but the reality when seen in black and white is that we've wasted* a lot of money while we were learning.

*especially those early adopters of ETTL triggers, we spent as much on them as a Godox AD360II costs today (add inflation and it'd make you cry)
Click to expand...

The main difference is that a speed light gives you 'other' options than (most) studio lights...

Portability, size, weight, are 3 that spring to mind instantly...

How many times do you take your studio lights to a wedding....?

That's the point of the godox / safari type lights they are a crossover type light.
 
Ẁe've all been here (well most of us), Adan. Phil knows his stuff and speaks from what is clearly direct experience.

I think it comes down to whether you want to spend a set amount of money in small stages, or can get away with spending slightly less but all in one go - and getting a better (for studio) setup?

You mentioned a big softbox - bear in mind speedlights, even doubled-up won't be able to fill really big softboxes with enough even light. Like @juggler , I bought speedlights plus cheap (umbrella) modifiers first before getting a bit more into wanting to control my lighting more carefully. It actually ended up working for me - I still use my speedlights both for occasional setups and on camera, but having bought two mains powered heads, the difference is night and day (and more night when you knock one of them over because you're using a cheap stand!)

Think about what you want out of your kit, your planned / possible upgrade path and whether you're investing in kit which will become redundant. And ask for more advice as you go :)
 
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Diving Pete said:
The main difference is that a speed light gives you 'other' options than (most) studio lights...

Portability, size, weight, are 3 that spring to mind instantly...

How many times do you take your studio lights to a wedding....?

That's the point of the godox / safari type lights they are a crossover type light.
Click to expand...
I usually take the safari, and the Godox, and half a dozen speedlights.

But the OP is looking for a studio setup if I'm reading it correctly
 
There are no right or wrong answers (except for continuous light kits, which are very much the wrong answer)
As other people have said, cheap hotshoe flashguns are perfect for carrying around with you and using in ad hoc situations, that's what they're designed for.
Some people also use them as studio lights, and up to a point that's OK if the objective is just to add enough light to take the shot, but they aren't suited for actually creating and controlling light, for a number of reasons
1. Limited power
2. Very slow recycling
3 No modelling lamp
4. Only work sort of adequately in small softboxes, not suited for large sofboxes and other modifiers because they have built in reflectors that stop them working efficiently.

So, if your emphasis is on studio work it's always better to buy a lighting kit designed for the purpose, and personally I recommend our SmartFlash kit with 1 umbrella and 1 softbox. There's nothing to stop you using a cheap hotshoe flash at the same time, if you want to use another light on an occasional basis.
I represent Lencarta, there are of course other makes available from other firms too.
 
The real advantage of speedlites is small size and battery power. But once you go off-camera and add a stand and softbox etc, the size advantage disappears and with mains power to hand, proper studio heads win every which way.

Edit: there is lots of good kit around, and pretty much all of it will do a good job. A couple of recommendations - Lencarta Smartflash-2 is excellent and great value, just the right amount of power for most home studio work, nice and compact/light. One thing I particularly like about Lencarta is their outfit swap-out-upgrade option, meaning you can upgrade to say Profold softboxes and only pay the extra, while retaining the kit discount. The Elinchrom D-Lite range is a favourite, too.
 
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