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Lastolite Hilite Background + Vinyl Train
Thought I'd pop a quick review of the Lastolite Hilite up, well as good a review as I can make.
Firstly, the supplier. Ordered on Sunday evening and it arrived at midday on the following Tuesday. For an advertised 48 hour delivery, I was very impressed as it shouldn't have arrived until Wednesday. That's a big plus now for Warehouse Express in my books.
It arrived in two simple yet well wrapped packages:
My main reason for getting this was for the portable side of things. As you can see below, it's fairly portable and there's good protection should you need to transport it about.
Setting up was pretty straight forward to be honest. Out pops the main background, stick the four poles in and it's sorted. The vinyl train is just as easy and simply velcros on to the main background.
Once it's all setup, I popped in a single 250w light and it didn't even have to be on full power to give me a nice clean background.
Took a quick few test shots without the train. The first thing is that the subject comes out lacking contrast but this could just be my lighting setup. Also, the background isn't pure white.
However, it's literally a case of clicking on the blinkies in LR3 and sliding up that exposure tab a little and you suddenly have a pure white background with little impact on the actual subject. A quick fix of the contrast etc (normal processing stuff to be honest) and the end result is good for me.
He's a quick shot with a local model
(I've processed this for print and not for web):
What about all these horror stories about folding it up? Well, some may find it tricky but after four quick attempts it was all packed up again. Once you've got the knack of things it's no problem.
So what's the conclusion? It's pretty good for a portable setup although this one being the 6x7ft version may not be big enough to photograph families, groups or really really fat people. If a model were to lie horizontal then you could have a problem.
I've not tested out the vinyl train so processing out the join may prove to be troublesome. I'll test that out soon enough. Also, if you use the train on carpet then heels will probably go right through it! lol
At £280 It's pricey for what you get, especially when compared to a traditional background setup which cost me in the region of £160 for the full support system and both black and white muslin cotton backgrounds.
I think because of the size and potentially the join then the Hilite could prove to be restrictive and I'd probably recommend the traditional background support over it if you can manage the space. The muslin being seamless should prove easier in post processing. Also, as the Hilite is a backlite background it is going to cause a few problems with contrast etc.
Ultimately, if you aren't super tight for space then it's probably not worth the cost and lack of freedom, it is essentially just a small tent. It is portable but not so much with the vinyl train as it's a fairly heavy 6ft tube to be carried about.
I'd say buy it only if you really have to.
Thought I'd pop a quick review of the Lastolite Hilite up, well as good a review as I can make.
Firstly, the supplier. Ordered on Sunday evening and it arrived at midday on the following Tuesday. For an advertised 48 hour delivery, I was very impressed as it shouldn't have arrived until Wednesday. That's a big plus now for Warehouse Express in my books.
It arrived in two simple yet well wrapped packages:
My main reason for getting this was for the portable side of things. As you can see below, it's fairly portable and there's good protection should you need to transport it about.
Setting up was pretty straight forward to be honest. Out pops the main background, stick the four poles in and it's sorted. The vinyl train is just as easy and simply velcros on to the main background.
Once it's all setup, I popped in a single 250w light and it didn't even have to be on full power to give me a nice clean background.
Took a quick few test shots without the train. The first thing is that the subject comes out lacking contrast but this could just be my lighting setup. Also, the background isn't pure white.
However, it's literally a case of clicking on the blinkies in LR3 and sliding up that exposure tab a little and you suddenly have a pure white background with little impact on the actual subject. A quick fix of the contrast etc (normal processing stuff to be honest) and the end result is good for me.
He's a quick shot with a local model
(I've processed this for print and not for web):
What about all these horror stories about folding it up? Well, some may find it tricky but after four quick attempts it was all packed up again. Once you've got the knack of things it's no problem.
So what's the conclusion? It's pretty good for a portable setup although this one being the 6x7ft version may not be big enough to photograph families, groups or really really fat people. If a model were to lie horizontal then you could have a problem.
I've not tested out the vinyl train so processing out the join may prove to be troublesome. I'll test that out soon enough. Also, if you use the train on carpet then heels will probably go right through it! lol
At £280 It's pricey for what you get, especially when compared to a traditional background setup which cost me in the region of £160 for the full support system and both black and white muslin cotton backgrounds.
I think because of the size and potentially the join then the Hilite could prove to be restrictive and I'd probably recommend the traditional background support over it if you can manage the space. The muslin being seamless should prove easier in post processing. Also, as the Hilite is a backlite background it is going to cause a few problems with contrast etc.
Ultimately, if you aren't super tight for space then it's probably not worth the cost and lack of freedom, it is essentially just a small tent. It is portable but not so much with the vinyl train as it's a fairly heavy 6ft tube to be carried about.
I'd say buy it only if you really have to.
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