Studio lighting kit

I am looking to get a studio lighting kit...

I am not too sure on what would be best...

I was looking at Elinchrom D-Lites/Bowens Studio in a box... It would be to do portraits and full body length shots..

I use a K10D, does anybody have any experience or recommendations?

Thanks
M

get the radio slave to go with it.
one fella has had issues with elinchrom, here..
but I've not had any probs with mine, very happy.

Very happy with my DLites. Just be warry that some stocks were sold with bad capacitors and they may blow in under 50-100 shots. Elinchrom knows about them but won't do anything until the customer complains.
They are fixed for free under warranty of course, but you're out for three to four weeks for repair.

I don't know if there is any way to investigate LOT numbers, etc... to ensure you have a good set. And that was eight months ago, so HOPEFULLY the bad ones have all been sold and out of circulation by now.

There are other issues I have with Elinchrom as a company, especially relating to their Skyports radio triggers and their support -- or lack of it, on going issue for six months before it came down to the fact that they essentially lied about their capabilities the whole time.

Other than that, like I said I am quite happy with the DLite-4 strobes themselves.

I am even quite happy with the Skyports for most of my uses... they simply do not live up to advertisements and I cannot use them under certain conditions. In the end, they are slightly better than the $30 eBay triggers to me.

My opinion of Elinchrom,
Product: Adequate, They get the job done. Perhaps a bit high priced for the quality of their products.

Support: Abismal! Just hope you don't need it.

Take it for what its worth.

I have had good advice on the basic Bowens kit, £430 for 2 lights and 2 brollies, cables. etc.
THey have been suggested over other brands because of adaptability to upgrade, and simplicity of system. It doesn't need special cables, and even if the lights are not 'PRo' they don't differ much, and with 200V really provide some power.


I am seriously thinking of getting them.
The first kit on this page.

http://www.chiswickcameras.co.uk/accesories.php?type=lighting&srt=manufacturer

Hope this helps

Nathan

I have a set of bowens gemini 500's and they are great, vrey robust.
the main factor when choosin lights is how far you will push them, I have had mine on full power for big groups before, but have also wished they were lower powered in small tight areas.

if you were ever thinking of using them outdoors bowens make power suplies to fit the all of there light's(i think?), where as elinchrome do a ranger series so i not i dont think the d light's have a mobile power supply avalible.

i have also got a pair of cheap 180 wat lights from ebay, i don't trust them as far as i can throw them but so far they are doinhg ok.
they might be a good idea if you want to find out how much you will use them, or not.

another thing to consider is the price of light modifiers, i have'nt looked at elinchrom prices but bowens own brand are very expensive.
altough there are a lot of third party products out there in bowens fit.

hope this helps.
pete

I found Bowens to be good, and they work ok if you use triggers

Out of interest would anyone be able to post any shots they've taken using the Elinchrom D-Lite 4 or the Bowens 500 - interested to see if there is a big difference - other than the price...

I cant see how you could possibly see any difference - there are just too many variables in how any photographer might use them

Just a (potentially dumb) question....i have a 'kit' that ive managed to build up - 2xlarge softboxes & 300W bulbs (Continuous) (Paid for one, got a 2nd free due to senders' error!!! :wink... various reflectors etc. My question (probably knowing the answer) - is it worth getting a brolly & flash light to add to the kit? I use a k200d & would also go for a wireless unit (ebay for around a tenner). Mainly for portraits & 'family' shots, with the odd moody one thrown in.

"Add" as in using as an alternative, or in addition to the constant lights?
The flash and brolly would make for nice photos on their own and in my opinion may be well worth it.
But when added with continuous lights you may need to be careful of light color. If the constant lights are not color matched to the flash you'll have a hard time getting the final image to look right.
You might also have a hard time keeping the flash down low enough to not over power the 300w bulbs. But you can always move it back, add more diffusers, etc... to help work around that if the flash does not go low enough (something like the Pentax 360 or 540, that should not be a big problem).

It is quite likely, almost certainly, the case that the colour balance of your continuous bulbs will be different from flash

Edit: beaten to it by nanoseconds!

Good point about exposure, I guess with your lamps you might be shooting around F5.6, with a decent flash you'll be closer to f11 all things being equal

Cheers for that... sorry, i meant 'add' as in 'add to the kit', not to use at the same time. I use the softboxes for gentle soft light but quite fancy a go with a flash setup as well. No budget to buy all in one go so have just been building a kit up over the last 12months (getting a second sent 'free' was a big bonus!!!).
Ok, as ever, great friendly advice Cheers guys.