ebay studio lighting

[scootermcq]

Originally Posted by ericbloemersphotography

the 45w cfl bubls are equal to 150w of incandescent bulbs, and 5 of them in one light would be pretty powerful right?

Sorry, never addressed that one.... I don't profess to be an energy guru, but my understanding from research is that a strobe firing at an average of 1/1000 of a second releases a peak power of 1000x it rating. Therefore, each 180 w/s strobe (which is energy used by the strobe, not the actual output) assuming 100% efficiency should produce 180,000 watts for 1/1000 of a second.

Your continuous lighting is 750 watts continuously. There isn't a cfl system out there that can touch a low end strobe. You can fire strobes at max sync speed of 1/200 ISO 200 all day and never reach full power, unless you are running f11 or something crazy. I doubt you could get 1/200 at iso200 with the cfl......

[ericbloemersphotography]

Thanks!! I didnt know that!! this is great information

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by scootermcq

That kit does have a modeling light and would be brighter than cfl..... If you think about an SB900 speedlight, it is about 90 w/s each one of those lights would be light firing a pair of sb900s....

I didn't note the modeling light ...or the fact that the WIRELESS TRIGGERS are included! Kinda makes it a no-brainer as the better choice between the two... Good call Scott.

[Rkaylor]

My two cents

I started out with a 3 light system on eBay because of the same reason you mentioned, low cost and a way to get started.

here is a video that will help you learn about lighting systems, very basic but cover strobes, constant as well as the newer LED lights.

‪eoslightingllc's Channel‬‏ - YouTube Part 1
‪eoslightingllc's Channel‬‏ - YouTube Part 2
‪eoslightingllc's Channel‬‏ - YouTube light types

I currently have strobes and continuous lights and one draw back with the photo florescent is it is a very soft light so if you are doing portraits and want some defined shadows it takes more work. I do mainly senior portraits and the constantly lighting works great for that. But for corporate portraits, model portfolios I tend to use strobes.

I have several constant lights to use, a 4' x 4' softbox with 12 bulbs in 2 banks.
I have 4 softboxes with 5 bulbs, each bulb can be turned on or off to control amountof light and 1 softboxes with 4 I use for a hair light. I also have 2 constants with hoods where I can attach colored gels.

The better constant softboxes have grids to help with light spill off, and higher end come in units with barn doors and other attachments.

If you try the constant lighting remember photo florescent bulbs light pattern is light a figure 8 and the light mainly emits from the sides of the bulb so you need someone to reflect and focus the light. do not get an eBay setup with a compact florescent on a light head with an umbrella as it is a waste you need softboxes or a unit where the long bulbs are placed vertical and a reflector behind the bulbs.

Like the one person stated you are not out a lot of money to try but it maybe a way to get started. I think it depends on what your shooting, portraits, objects such as they use photo tents for, etc.

A side note, Chroma key works great with constant lighting.

Take it with a grain of salt and I hope it was some help.
Ron