Lighting equipment recommendations

[Mike_T]

Morning all,

I'm after some recommendations for some lighting stands and modifiers to play about with that won't break the bank.

What would I need to get started? I've already got a couple of speedlites, but is there much difference between a £50 light stand and a £100 light stand? It's possible in the future I may want to carry one light stand to locations, perhaps with a modifier or two.

What size of soft box should I be looking for with a Speedlite 580? And do umbrellas work better than soft boxes?

I used to know all this, but I've not touched off camera flash in about 12 years.

As an aside, I will be re-educating myself by way of The Speedliters Handbook and David Hobby's online course!

 

[Sky]

You can't really go wrong with Lencarta stands, they're built well and are a good price:

Lencarta Light Stand 360cm | Pneumatic Air Damped | Heavy Duty

<h1 style="text-align: center;">Lencarta Light Stand 360cm |Pneumatic Air Damped | Heavy Duty</h1> <p style="text-align: center;">Our Lencarta Light Stand 360cm can handle anything you throw at it. Soaring to an impressive 360cm (3.6m) of fully adjusted height, and still able to support 5kg...

www.lencarta.com

There's no sense going too big with a softbox if you're only using a speedlight. Again, Lencarta does this one:

KU-V1 Round Head Speedlite Softbox | Lencarta | 60cm

Softbox For Round Head Speedlights MAIN FEATURES STRONG BUILD QUALITY: The 60cm octa box is made from a solid steel construction and uses the same top quality was and diffusion materials for a softbox to perform well, it needs to be deep, so that the light from the flash head can bounce off...

www.lencarta.com

You'll be very limited with speedlights and would be better off going with proper studio lights. I would recommend Godox as the best budget option and once again Lencarta will come to your rescue:

All Products

Studio Lighting and Studio Flash kits, studio lighting accessories, Safari and Atom location lighting kits, studio lighting modifiers, photography studio lighting equipment for sale

www.lencarta.com

 

[Mike_T]

Thanks Trevor--I was trying to remember the name of Lencarta but couldn't for the life of me!

 

[Sky]

You're welcome.

I had a memory once, but I don't know where I put it.

 

[troutfisher]

If its any help I went for the following from Lencarta to get me started
Lightweight Stand .OK for a speedlight but perhaps not robust enough for a studio head
Flashgun stand adapter -you need this to mount the speedlight
100cm Pro white reflective umbrella
I already had Godox TT650 speedlights
That lot cost me £47.00 and its fine for me at the moment but I have to say having a modeling light would be handy but not essential ( for me at any rate)
So this lot got me up and running, I may buy another stand in the future and that softbox looks interesting but not at the moment.

 

[Garry Edwards]

As Sky mentioned, there are severe limits with flashguns compared to studio heads. You may want to look at some of my tutorials (in the tutorials section here) for detailed information on softboxes, flashes, lightstands etc.

Softboxes generally give much better control of the light than umbrellas but this matters more with some subjects than others.

 

[Mike_T]

Thanks all for your input

 

[manda]

Hi,

If I was starting again I'd purchase mid-budget and smaller modifier IF you are working in a small space (light bounces everywhere). I'd also consider a rectangular or square soft box at 60cm to control light spill.

I've not tried godox as it didn't exist when I bought into a system but I'd definitely try and get the same brand to grow into.

My list for indoors would be:
Lencarta collapsible beauty dish with cover (I use it most as a soft box).
Elinchrom DX 1 (or similar with a low watt to reach 2.8 Aperture on camera).
Elinchrom light stand

Alternatives:
Westcott Apollo or similar (but you can't angle it down)
V flats (I made my own)

Current items I want to grow into;
C stand
Parabolic / deep umbrella
V flat world product

Surprises:
I've had really good results with a bog standard shoot through umbrella. But I think that's because I've learnt how to use it. I could do a thing with it when I first bought. Don't discount it if you own one and are short of money.

Edit - just realized you're thinking outside.

I use a lastolite stand outside with the above mentioned beauty dish / soft box for weight. The link Sky shared would be perfect. I adore the white, collapsible shoot-through outdoors but it blows away too easily.

Good luck and enjoy! Mandy