Studio Lights - recommendations?

rgrebby

rgrebby

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Richard
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Im planning to turn the new house loft space into a studio. Its around 22' by 13' by 8' high so its large enough to but something in there.

Ideally I need to studio lights and would really like to get something where I would be able to add a portable power pack to it so I can take it on location when needed.

The issue is since ive just bought a house I dont have a vast amount of money maybe £500-600 to start off with but it does need to have the chance to add extras to it.

Maybe bowens?
 
was gonna suggest the calumet genesis lights too if you want to be able to add a battery...

the bowens travelpaks are very expensive tbh, approx the same price as the new lencarta discovery with a head or two.

so if I were you, look at the genesis lights, but other than that, don't let your choice of lights be influenced by wanting a more portable solution - you'll probably end up wanting a dedicated location system, (and with the price of travelpaks, vs that of a discovery...it's not an unreasonable price difference either) or just get a tronix pack.
 
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cymruchris said:
Sounds interesting - I think the OP is looking for lighting though. :exit:
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:LOL:

let your choice of lights be influenced by wanting a more portable solution - you'll probably end up wanting a dedicated location system
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I agree, sometimes a compromise can be the right answer, but generally it's better to get tools designed for specific jobs, they tend to work better than compromises.
 
Good advice thanks.

I'll check out the genesis ones. Are they actually much good in the studio?

If I was to forget about the need to go portable in the future what options would you give?
 
They are excellent lights.

PM if you have any questions on the 300b and battery.
 
Kris said:
They are excellent lights.

PM if you have any questions on the 300b and battery.
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surely you realise that this is a forum, and questions like that should be in thread?
 
Quick question about the Calumet Genisis lights, what type of modifiers do they take and can you get an adapter to make it take S type modifiers?
 
rgrebby said:
Quick question about the Calumet Genisis lights, what type of modifiers do they take and can you get an adapter to make it take S type modifiers?
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elinchrom fit.
 
rgrebby said:
hmm, ok i'll hunt around and see if there are elinchrom to S type adapters, or would I need S type to elinchrom...
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you can probably swop the speedrings in your mods for elinchrom ones
 
Thats true.

Im having a tough time trying to decide that to go for. One option is to get 2 Calumet Genesis 300B Flash Heads which would be about £360, plus a couple lightstands and then some modifiers, which would end up being around £500 or I could get the Bowens Gemini 400/400 kit for £570 which comes with a stands and some mods.

The difference I guess that S type modifiers are cheaper, the travel pack is a lot more expensive though.
The lights however are not as powerful with the bowens.
 
rgrebby said:
Thats true.

Im having a tough time trying to decide that to go for. One option is to get 2 Calumet Genesis 300B Flash Heads which would be about £360, plus a couple lightstands and then some modifiers, which would end up being around £500 or I could get the Bowens Gemini 400/400 kit for £570 which comes with a stands and some mods.

The difference I guess that S type modifiers are cheaper, the travel pack is a lot more expensive though.
The lights however are not as powerful with the bowens.
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A third of a stop of power is a pretty irrelevant consideration iMO, there are more important things to think about, one of which is the choice of Elinchrom/Bowens fitting.

But another is the quality of the lights themselves - it would be a big mistake to assume that just because Bowens and Calumet are owned by the same firm, that the Calumet heads are better value than the Bowens.
 
Im not sure how the bowens compare to the calumets, I would have thought the Bowens to be better though.
 
rgrebby said:
Im not sure how the bowens compare to the calumets, I would have thought the Bowens to be better though.
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yeah, bowens are bulletproof, calumet ones are sorta plasticy.


Elinchrom fit mods are probably the same price as bowens fit ones if you're buying offbrand (bessel, ebay etc). If you're buying onbrand, buy the rotalux off the guy in india on ebay who seems to be able to acquire them at low prices... :)
 
I've just bought the lastolite triple head set:
3x 400 heads
3x air damped stands
3x reflectors
2x brollies
1x 60cm softbox
Radio trigger/receiver
All power leads
3x Padded holdalls

All delivered for just under £650

Really happy with it! :)
 
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