[JWP]

I need some help. I want to set up a portable studio, and I need advise on which flash heads to go for.

I have about £750 to spend.

thanks

[CT]

'Portaflash' is the best known brand I suppose, they used to do a lot of options. It's not really my bag this, but I'd try to keep things as simple as possible - two or three good lights and spend the monery on gels, backdrops( you can't have too many) reflectors, diffusers and stuff which will let you make a real difference to your shots. If you PM Arkady or Pook (he hasn't posted for a while, but he works in the studio a lot), you'll no doubt get some sound advice.

Dazzajl is another pro who does a lot of studio work I believe.

[Steve]

For suppliers once you get an idea of what you want..Warehouse Express hold a great deal of stuff along these lines, from all the major players. It may be worth checking their website for info?

[Dave]

Digital Photo Mag did a test in Sept with follwing result :-

GOLD Award - Interfit EX-150 - £230 (2 x flash heads - 150Ws - Great Value Kit - incls softbox, brolly, stands + reflector)
SILVER Award - Elinchrom Prolinca - £304 (1 x flash head - 250Ws - High perfomance - includes softbox, stand & synch lead)

The 2 that lost were Portaflash Studio Kit 2 , + Multiblitz Compactlite

From limited knowledge & reviews I have read I would suggest something like silver award option for main light, with cheaper light set back for 2nd source, then spend the rest as per others comments. Wireless & Infrared triggers are nice to haves around £50-60 to save wires everywhere.

[dazzajl]

I did type out a lengthy reply to this last night but my internet conection decided that a great time to take a nap was when I hit the submit button. :eyesup:

There are a number of kits available complete with low(ish) powered head units, stands, brolly and softbox that would be fine for a 1st time portrait kit. If you were looking at doing product work then you'll most likey need higher output heads as getting in close requires small apertures if you want to retain a decent DoF. Which in turn means that you can never have too much light at your command.

Obviously, with portraits you'll more often want to be limiting the DoF and with the lens open the light levels end up being much much lower.

Unless you really need new equipment I'd seriously recommend looking out for a 2nd hand kit. There are some great bargains to be found at places like jessops and Ebay. Jessops is more preferable as they usually buy stuff for next to nothing and dont have a huge markup. Plus you get access to stock from all their outlets sent to your local branch for viewing and they'll give a 3 or 6 month warrenty.

One area that is definatley worth spending a little extra on is getting a variety of reflectors and upgrading the stands of the ones you get as part of a kit are a bit flimsy. Good sturdy stands not only let you relax knowing that a small knock (or a little breeze if you're outside) won't see your flashes headign for the floor at high speed. They also make you look far more professional.

As to your original question (see I got there in the end ) the make of kit is not going to make nearly as much difference as what you do with it. If you are still shooting film then you'll need to spend a bit more on something that will give a consistant light temperature every single flash but with digital you can deal with any slight temp shift quite easily.

HTH a little

D

[Gary Bagshawe]

I have a portaflash kit which I use for home portraits and small product stuff, I don,t think that it would be powerfull enough for studio work but as far as portable flash goes I can't fault it.