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- rodzilla
I have just been given the green light on some new photography supplies.
Shooting with Nikon D80
Currently, I have two studio lights (Alien Bees- B400). I have a boom, but no extra lights. So it is very difficult to get a well lit subject at times especially when I need light to wrap.
Can anyone suggest other brands other than Alien Bees or would you all suggest to stick with them?
I have also been given the green light on a wide angle lens. Can anyone recommend a mid-range lens?
I appreciate any feedback as I do not have a lot of first hand experience with buying studio supplies. The only real experience I had was in school and the professor set everything up and I shot with his camera.
Thanks!
- lumedia0
I would get something a bit more powerful if you are going to add to your lighting setup. We have this ProFoto kit and they have been very reliable but I wish we had something with a little more power. Also there is no auto dump on those which is a little annoying.
- lumedia0
I am working on seting up a studio also. I think I am going to go with one of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/pr…
and 2 of these:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/pr…
I learned on Bowens so I am a bit biased but I have always liked them.
What boom do you have? Do you like it?
- Not sure on the boom, but I think its alien bees, I am trying to figure out how to use it, it seems brokerodzilla
- scribbler0
I'm a Nikon girl and my wide angle is the 12-24. It's OK, I think I paid about £650 for it but it's probably more expensive now. Bit soft and gives alot of chromatic aberation at 12mm.
If I had the money I would go for the 14-24 f.28 which is lush.
I've also got the 28 prime f2.8, OK, again abit soft.
I've not bought too well on the wide angle lense!! so don't listen to me!
- erkat0
On the lighting it depends what you're shooting. I use Nikon Speedlights for everything (2 x SB600s and 1 xSB800).
Check out this site for loads of info on lighting:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/200…And also Joe McNally's new book The Hotshoe Diaries is a great insight on lighting.
- vaxorcist0
AB's aren't bad, are you unsatisfied with them for a specific reason? Or do they just exude less prestige than Profoto?
I learned lighting by assisting commercial photographers and working in stage lighting, so my path may be different than most people here, but I've come to think that any brand that doesn't drive you crazy is fine.
Before you buy more lighting gear, I'd get Kirk Tuck's book, or the Strobist DVD set, or even do alot of web searching... Light Science & Magic by Hunter Biver & Fuqua is a great book.
An AlienBee 1600 is 640 watt-seconds, fairly strong. Otherwise you can get either White Lightning or Balcar, as they will all take the same softbox speedrings.
You might even use a couple of old manual Sunpaks/Vivitars or Nikon SB25's.... www.strobist.com... if you're into shooting at wide apertures fairly close and like portable gear.
You'd be amazed what foamcore and reflectors can do once you get used to them...
Flash power needs depend on aperture and distance and subject matter as well as visual style. These days I have about 5,000 watt-seconds of Speedotron gear BUT I often shoot at F2.8, turning everything down to the minimum, so I don't need nearly that much power....
I haven't shot Nikon since 1999, so don't know wide lenses.
Moving the light a few inches has more impact than switching brands.- I'm not dissatisfied with them, I just didn't know truly if they were a decent light or not? I don't have a ton of photo experience or knoweldgerodzilla
- experience or knowledge.rodzilla
- All I am currently reflecting with is foamcore. I'm setting everything up alone and shooting with no one that has more knowledge....rodzilla
- sea_sea0
so what are the best lights for shooting products? do tungsten work?
I can't afford an expensive kit right now, so something to get me by while i save up for a nice kit...
:) clanks.
- vaxorcist0
Tungsten can work but they're called hot lights for a reason! If the products are small try:
- rodzilla0
What about plexi, anyone have a good source on buying black and white highly reflective plexi?
- vaxorcist0
You don't need black reflective plexi, see chapter 6, page 136 of Light Science & Magic.
- Coffeemaker0
^
- dibec0
Profoto.
- joewigdahlphoto0
I use profoto and love it but if the dude is using alien bees i doubt he's going to drop $5000 on a power pack. Their 7" reflectors cost $140 and a replacement strobe bulb is $400. I use profoto because I need it for all the location shooting I do but honestly, if you can get great shots using the cheapest or even homemade stuff than why drop all that money for something that's going to make no discernable difference?
Strobist is great for learning how to do shots on the cheap. Either another alien bee or a Nikon speedlight would probably be what you need.