Help with choosing a studio setup

F

Ferengo

Messages
5
Edit My Images
No
Hi all.

This applies to a few sections but I guess it's mostly down to equipment, so here goes. I really need your help here. I'm a designer for a distribution company. We have lots of products and have been outsourcing a lot of the photography for promo shots. I've used the in house digital SLR (Nikon D40X). I know a little about how to use it and can get some nice results. The thing is my boss thinks it's time for me to step up and do it myself. So he's said get all the stuff I need to take professional looking product shots and portrait shots.

So a trip to the local camera store and I'm more confused than I ever was. We've agreed on the Canon 5D mk11 body. From what I;ve been told I need a 50mm lens for portrait and 60mm lens for macro product shots. So from that I think Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens & CANON EF 50mm f/1.8 II AF f1.8 50 mm MK2. Are these good lenses for the 5D? Is there better Canon Lenses I should be looking at?

Studio lighting is where I'm really lost. Was in Jessops and they suggested a Interfit EX150 Mark II - 2 Head Kit at £199. This includes: 2 x EX150 MKII heads, 2 x bulbs, 2 x stands, 1 x 60cm (24") Softbox, 1 x translucent umbrella, 1 x Educational DVD, 2 x Sync and power leads

For studio lighting should I be looking at something else? Separate parts? Suggestions? Also a good book on the subject would be good?

I know I'm asking a lot but I don't want to let my boss down by not doing my home work. It's for a medium sized room. Also my boss won't care about a budget as the company are spending £1000's on photos which they'd rather spend on getting it done it house.

Thanks for any help. G.
 
How exciting - shopping with someone else picking up the bill!

I'm new to studio lighting and am about to invest in a set up, although I've got to pay for it myself. I was looking at the Interfit kit you mentioned but after much deliberation have decided to go for a Lencarta 3 head kit. Lencarta get loads of good reviews on here and are reasonably priced. You get a wireless trigger included too.

What sort of backdrop are you planning to use for your portrait shots? Are they full length or head and shoulders? That will have implications for the number of lights you need.

I shoot Nikon so can't advise on Canon lenses but I found my 18-105mm kit lens much more useful for studio work than my 50mm (which I use all the time with natural light). The extra aperture isn't necessary when using studio lights. A longer focal length is also more flattering for portraits - 70mm+
 
Ferengo said:
....We've agreed on the Canon 5D mk11 body......

....So from that I think Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens
Click to expand...

The EF-S60 f/2.8 will not work on a 5DMkII....the lens is for crop sensor bodies. It produces a smaller image circle and the 5DMkII's mirror will hit the rear of the lens.

Look for an EF50 f/3.5 Compact Macro or an EF100 f/2.8 Macro.

Bob
 
Ferengo said:
Hi all.

So a trip to the local camera store and I'm more confused than I ever was. We've agreed on the Canon 5D mk11 body. From what I;ve been told I need a 50mm lens for portrait and 60mm lens for macro product shots. So from that I think Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens & CANON EF 50mm f/1.8 II AF f1.8 50 mm MK2. Are these good lenses for the 5D? Is there better Canon Lenses I should be looking at?

Studio lighting is where I'm really lost. Was in Jessops and they suggested a Interfit EX150 Mark II - 2 Head Kit at £199. This includes: 2 x EX150 MKII heads, 2 x bulbs, 2 x stands, 1 x 60cm (24") Softbox, 1 x translucent umbrella, 1 x Educational DVD, 2 x Sync and power leads

For studio lighting should I be looking at something else? Separate parts? Suggestions? Also a good book on the subject would be good?

I know I'm asking a lot but I don't want to let my boss down by not doing my home work. It's for a medium sized room. Also my boss won't care about a budget as the company are spending £1000's on photos which they'd rather spend on getting it done it house.

Thanks for any help. G.
Click to expand...

Nice:thumbs:

The 50mm is not really considered a 'portrait' lens as you can get distortion as often you need to get too close to the subject to fill the frame.The common thought is 85 to 100mm on a full frame but you can get away with a 50 on the smaller sensor of the APS-C bodies.

The 60mm macro is an excellent lens but as already said won't work with the 5D

For inhouse work I use my 5DMkII with the 28/105f4.0 L and Sigma 105 f2.8macro which can double as a portrait lens, I have also used my Canon 50f1.4 for natural light 'factory' shots. You don't need a fast lens if using a lighting kit as you will probably be using f8 or smaller most of the time in a smallish room.

I have the Elinchrom D-lite2 with two heads and soft boxes with a 40" reflector but am looking to buy a third head with standard reflector dish.

Hope this helps
 
Last edited:
aspidistra said:
How exciting - shopping with someone else picking up the bill!

I'm new to studio lighting and am about to invest in a set up, although I've got to pay for it myself. I was looking at the Interfit kit you mentioned but after much deliberation have decided to go for a Lencarta 3 head kit. Lencarta get loads of good reviews on here and are reasonably priced. You get a wireless trigger included too.

What sort of backdrop are you planning to use for your portrait shots? Are they full length or head and shoulders? That will have implications for the number of lights you need.

I shoot Nikon so can't advise on Canon lenses but I found my 18-105mm kit lens much more useful for studio work than my 50mm (which I use all the time with natural light). The extra aperture isn't necessary when using studio lights. A longer focal length is also more flattering for portraits - 70mm+
Click to expand...

Exciting but also stressful, lol. I'm pretty clueless as to a lot of things. So is the mm size the focal length? When I say I'm clueless I really am, I mean is a 18-105mm lens an 18mm to 105mm? If so what is the benefit of using that over a lens that's just a specific size?

I'll look into that kit you mentioned. We're looking to focus more on close up product shots. That's the main priority. We would like to do shots of people and by that I mean both head & shoulders and full body shots. So really a lighting rig/s to cover all those bases. How many lights, what types etc...

It's really confusing but also I'm excited to be doing it.
 
Ok. Well I'm glad I asked about the lenses as I called Jessops today and they said they would fit. Though the guy wasn't convincing. I'll look into those ones tomorrow (getting late for me now). But cheers for the info so far. I know I've come to the right place :thumbs:
 
Ferengo said:
Exciting but also stressful, lol. I'm pretty clueless as to a lot of things. So is the mm size the focal length? When I say I'm clueless I really am, I mean is a 18-105mm lens an 18mm to 105mm? If so what is the benefit of using that over a lens that's just a specific size?

Yes - you can zoom in and out with an 18-105 but with prime lenses have a fixed focal length. They will go to a wider aperture which gives you better low light performance and you can get a nice effect with a shallower depth of field but that may not be relevant to what you want.

I'll look into that kit you mentioned. We're looking to focus more on close up product shots. That's the main priority. We would like to do shots of people and by that I mean both head & shoulders and full body shots. So really a lighting rig/s to cover all those bases. How many lights, what types etc...

It's really confusing but also I'm excited to be doing it.


Would it be worth posting a few shots of the sort of thing you are expected to produce, maybe from the ones you've had done before? It's probably worth posting in the studio lighting section to get specific advice on that.
Click to expand...
 
Oh and although a lot of people who work at Jessops know their stuff, they don't all as you've already found out!
 
aspidistra said:
Oh and although a lot of people who work at Jessops know their stuff, they don't all as you've already found out!
Click to expand...

Cheers aspidistra. You're right, there's a guy in there who really knows his stuff but he's quite in demand by the customers. No idea who I spoke to on the phone but he had to go and ask. So I guess that makes 2 there to avoid.

I'll post up some links tomorrow and link/post in the studio lighting. They're all at work.
 
I've found it's best to hang around and see who seems knowledgeable and wait until they're free. I've found Jacobs a bit better, but again the staff vary.
 
Can you link us to some shots your trying to replicate and then we can advise from there.

With regards the lighting, you may get a better responce on the lighting thread.

I would also recommend you ask your boss to send yu on a lighting training course, or gets someone in to train you. I little spent on training will make the results much better, be good fun for you, and will help you sort out day to day problems that may crop up.

Don't forget you'll also need some photo editing software, memory cards, a good bag to keep it all in (cos you'll be practising with it at home ;)), a tripod, etc. etc.
 
Ferengo said:
Hi all.

Studio lighting is where I'm really lost. Was in Jessops and they suggested a Interfit EX150 Mark II - 2 Head Kit at £199. This includes: 2 x EX150 MKII heads, 2 x bulbs, 2 x stands, 1 x 60cm (24") Softbox, 1 x translucent umbrella, 1 x Educational DVD, 2 x Sync and power leads

For studio lighting should I be looking at something else? Separate parts? Suggestions? Also a good book on the subject would be good?

Thanks for any help. G.
Click to expand...

Ferengo, PM sent. :)

It's definitely better to ask lighting questions in the lighting & studio sub-forum.
 
I have the larger exd200 kit and i have been very pleased with it, excellent value for money. Only thing is the ex kits dont have s-type bayonet fitting so you will be stuck with interfit modifiers (softboxes and reflectors) but the kits come with everything you need to get started.

Good luck
 
milspec78 said:
..... Only thing is the ex kits dont have s-type bayonet fitting so you will be stuck with interfit modifiers (softboxes and reflectors) ......
Click to expand...

Doesn't the EX series utilise the same "Speedfit" as Elinchrom?

Bob
 
If this thread had been in the lighting forum I would have seen it earlier...

Retailers will typically recommend the kit they sell, you can't blame them for doing that but the advice isn't always good, because it isn't likely that a shop will have in depth knowledge of every kind of photography.

Lighting is actually pretty simple, once you understand the basics, and both I and other people on here can help you with the basics - but we need to know something about the type of products you need to shoot before we can give worthwhile advice - a link to your website, by PM to me if you like, would be a good starting point.

Meanwhile, you might want to look through the various articles in the Lencarta Learning Centre
 
Garry Edwards said:
If this thread had been in the lighting forum I would have seen it earlier...

Retailers will typically recommend the kit they sell, you can't blame them for doing that but the advice isn't always good, because it isn't likely that a shop will have in depth knowledge of every kind of photography.

Lighting is actually pretty simple, once you understand the basics, and both I and other people on here can help you with the basics - but we need to know something about the type of products you need to shoot before we can give worthwhile advice - a link to your website, by PM to me if you like, would be a good starting point.

Meanwhile, you might want to look through the various articles in the Lencarta Learning Centre
Click to expand...

Thanks. I'll PM you just now and I'll check out the info you sent when I get a free moment.

G.
 
And now replied, the products are actually pretty straightforward in lighting terms
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top