starter kit for novice.

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ajay831

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ALAN
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Hi to all.
having bought my new Nikon D7000, with 18-105mm kit Kens and 50mm f1.8d prime lens. Can anyone tell me what equipment I need for a small studio room. I have a speedlight and a 5 in 1 reflector. But know nothing about stands lights etc. I want to try everything from portraits to still life. But confess to wanting to learn low key photography. Any advice would be brilliant. Thankyou.
 
Welcome to TP :)

My advice would be to start with just one light, and build from there. With that and the reflector you have, you're on the way.

Until you know what you're doing, multiple lights just make life harder and usually create a mess of conflicting shadows. And even if you have ten lights, there is almost always just one that is doing the lion's share. Then you can get more lights as and when, work in your speedlite, do anything :)

You want mains flash, with a modelling light so you can see what's going on and learn fast. Quick recycling is surprisingly important for portraits. Assuming you're on a budget, look at Lencarta. Head, stand, and one of their Profold softboxes would be my choice. Given your subjects, perhaps a rectangular softbox with a grid. Plus a radio trigger.

About £300. You can do it for less, but I wouldn't. If you're feeling flush, look at Elinchrom; minted, then Profoto. Though what you're mainly paying more for is features and build quality, rather than anything that will make most pictures look any different.
 
What sort of budget are you looking at?
 
Hi am new on here. I start up with a cheap 300 watts lamps , and at the time a new 10 d cannon
With 110 mm cannon lens . Trying to do high key . I found I had to increase iso up to 400 . it was hard work to bring enough light to the model.
I would buy two 400 watts lamps or one 500 watts lamp with two reflectors. This be easy to use you will have enough power . Don't settle for less. You can all wise turn down the power. If there no extra watts you cannot turn up the power.

Since then I have moved black to 120 film great love it as got a dark room much better then digital . As be working in digital for past 10 years.
 
Fridayboy said:
Hi am new on here. I start up with a cheap 300 watts lamps , and at the time a new 10 d cannon
With 110 mm cannon lens . Trying to do high key . I found I had to increase iso up to 400 . it was hard work to bring enough light to the model.
I would buy two 400 watts lamps or one 500 watts lamp with two reflectors. This be easy to use you will have enough power . Don't settle for less. You can all wise turn down the power. If there no extra watts you cannot turn up the power.

Since then I have moved black to 120 film great love it as got a dark room much better then digital . As be working in digital for past 10 years.
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If you needed to turn up the ISO to get so-called 'high key' then you're doing something very wrong.

I would buy two 400 watts lamps or one 500 watts lamp with two reflectors. This be easy to use you will have enough power . Don't settle for less. You can all wise turn down the power. If there no extra watts you cannot turn up the power.
Click to expand...
Just increase the ISO to get more effective power. The problem is actually the reverse of what you suggest - if you have too much power it's far more difficult to reduce it than it is to increase the effective power.

Of course, if you're shooting on film then this doesn't apply, and powerful flash heads still have their place.
 
Thanks all for your input. As a newcomer to this site wasn't sure I would recieve any feedback. My budget at the moment is about £400. I will be looking on the Internet for the suggestions you gave. I want to do flowers, dogs and portraits in low key and looking forward to trying it out.
 
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The Elinchrom D-lite IT 2/4 kit is available for around £430 which is a good starter kit if you read its reviews.
 
Personally, and I'm sure people will disagree, I went for a Lastolite Hi-lite background and cheaper eBay lighting. The Hi-lite background makes it easier to get a white background as its backlit so no shadows. I've also had no problems with my Ebay lighting over the past year. I will be looking to upgrade the lighting if it fails but so far so good.

It's a great starter setup for the money and the Hi-Lite background is superb, so easy to erect and use.
 
Phall82 said:
Personally, and I'm sure people will disagree, I went for a Lastolite Hi-lite background and cheaper eBay lighting. The Hi-lite background makes it easier to get a white background as its backlit so no shadows. I've also had no problems with my Ebay lighting over the past year. I will be looking to upgrade the lighting if it fails but so far so good.

It's a great starter setup for the money and the Hi-Lite background is superb, so easy to erect and use.
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No disagreement here. HiLite's are brilliant for that pure white look, especially if you're tight for space. You need a lot of room to do white backgrounds properly and the HiLite cuts that roughly in half.

Your post does rather assume that white is the only way to go, which it most certainly isn't, and neither is it the place for beginners to start as you need three lights minimum and it's not at all easy to get the front/rear ratios right - as so many examples on here prove ;)

And the other thing is, HiLites are expensive!
 
HoppyUK said:
No disagreement here. HiLite's are brilliant for that pure white look, especially if you're tight for space. You need a lot of room to do white backgrounds properly and the HiLite cuts that roughly in half.

Your post does rather assume that white is the only way to go, which it most certainly isn't, and neither is it the place for beginners to start as you need three lights minimum and it's not at all easy to get the front/rear ratios right - as so many examples on here prove ;)

And the other thing is, HiLites are expensive!
Click to expand...

I took the cost into account when I bought mine on the basis that I would get away with cheaper lighting for the same effect and less hassle in setup etc.

You're right about the white background, I always assume that :) I got the super black bottle top as well which I actually prefer, with a one or two light setup. I think a Hi-lite is about £250 roughly and my lighting was around £180 for three heads and all the accessories.
 
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