Aussies with home studio - this question is for u

01/05/2005 10:15:51 AM · #1

I was wondering how many Aussies have am studios at home and what equipment you use and where you bought it. Reason I constantly hear the overseas people talking about things like the lighting setups and how they bought cheap lights from walmart or where ever.

Different country, different stores and different products.

So more or less I am wondering what you guys use for studio lighting, how much did it cost and where did you get it.

I would really like to invest in proper lighting, because my studio work is completely limited at the moment to a could bedside lamps and the room light.

Thanks

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

01/05/2005 07:23:13 PM · #2

bump

doctornick

Apple iPhone 13 Pro

01/05/2005 07:32:58 PM · #3

//alienbees.com/

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

01/05/2005 07:50:01 PM · #4

Thanks for replying

Thats an Americaqn site though isn't it?

I need to find Australian suppliers though, because it is just too expensive to use American, plus we have a different power syster.

KiwiChris

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

01/05/2005 08:39:12 PM · #5

//www.alienbees.com/international.html

I've been looking into some strobes, and importing some alienbees is pretty price competitive with what's available across the Ditch in NZ, so I imagine it'd be the same for you.

The only down side I can see is service/warranty issues.

On the basis of the warrany issue I've decided to wait, save up a bit more and buy some higher quality units locally, but I'll probably be buying my modifiers (soft boxes etc) from the US. Even including freight with insurance I can get brand name gear into NZ for less than half the domestic cost.

Cheers, Chris H.

Natator

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/05/2005 10:22:44 PM · #6

I completed setting up my studio just before Christmas, or so I thought. I went for a mix between budget and spending a few $. Shame you are not in Brissy Loz or you could come over and I'd show you the setup and let you have a play with it. I have a photo of the setup on another PC, I'll find it and upload it when I am next on the right PC.

Ok, running through from the start, as others may find it useful to learn from my error.

Area:
Am using a double garage, which gives me plenty of space. Walls were cream, painted them white (ceiling was already white) to avoid colour casts. Worked perfectly for that BUT, and this was the mistake I made .... I get too much light bouncing around, making it too hard to have full control. I am therefore painting the walls and ceiling grey (another Christmas project that never got done) to avoid this.

Backdrop holder:
Spent $10 on curtain rod holders, the nice wooden ones for those thick wooden curtain rails. Fixed them to the wall (2 screws each, easy even for me) just under 3m (9 feet odd) apart and got some thick (40mm, about 1.5") wooden dowel 3m long as my backdrop holder. Rolling up/down the backdrops is simple, and it saved the $1000 odd for a professional system.

Backdrops:
Did purchase 2.7m x 11m rolls of continuous paper in black and white, but the rest is hand made. Went to local fabric shop and they had stone washed material in many colours of a nice thick curtain material that was really cheap. Looks like the mottled backgrounds the pros use. Made an error here. Got one wide on, wgich is great, and a heap of different colours as well, 1.2m wide. Turns out the narrow ones are only good for head shots, unless you stand the model right up against them, which causes the shadow problem.

Tip: If using paper backdrops and you have carpet, make sure you use boards under the paper or else if the model wears shoes, particularly heels, you'll tear the paper in no time.

Lighting:
Hot shoe flash stuff:
Have 580ex and a 420ex so am using them as extra light sources. Still working on getting that set up right but they will basically be optically fired when the main strobes go off. The ST-E2 approach doesnâ��t work as this fires all the strobes prematurely when using proper studio lights as well.

Found a really neat little accessory, thanks to Jacko: This isnâ��t the actual one I have but is exactly the same thing:

Studio lights:
I ended up going with an Elinchrom kit. This contained x2 500W strobes, stands, white umbrella, silver umbrella, carry cases, softbox. I have since added a honeycomb and a large 5 colour reflector.

I went with the Elinchroms as we had used the same model in the studio lighting course I had just done and loved them. Canâ��t fault them at all they are sensational lights, Swiss made I believe. I picked these up through Vanbar (in Vic I think but I ordered online). This was the one real expense I did go to.

A couple of words of warning for studio lights:

Originally posted by ohmark:

The only down side I can see is service/warranty issues.

On the basis of the warrany issue I've decided to wait, save up a bit more and buy some higher quality units locally, but I'll probably be buying my modifiers (soft boxes etc) from the US. Even including freight with insurance I can get brand name gear into NZ for less than half the domestic cost.

Not quite. I think your approach though of buy the lights locally and then the accessories overseas is a great one though, and the path I took as well .....

1)Be very careful if ordering lights from overseas, especially the US. The US models are usually only set up for the 115 volt (I think it is) and wonâ��t work here. You might be able to get power adapters though, but I have no idea if that is a viable option or not. I was going to get my lights through B&H but did not for this reason.

There is also the warrenty issue Chris spoke of.

2)Be very wary of second hand lights on ebay. I was about to purchase a set of 3 lights off the Aussie ebay. The seller was very vague about the specs of the lights, so I hunted on the web. Could not find the lights. Eventually someone here pointed me to them being a good English make and who distributed them in the UK. I e-mailâ��d them for the specs and they didnâ��t know them as â�¦.. that line of light was discontinued 15-20 years ago. The lights looked brand new!

Ok, there you go. Good luck and have fun!!!!!!!!!!!

Message edited by author 2005-01-05 22:25:55.

Natator

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/06/2005 05:05:55 PM · #7

Ok, grabbed that photo of my studio.

Anyone wanna come help me paint it grey?????

Mick

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

01/06/2005 05:18:43 PM · #8

Originally posted by loz1:

Thanks for replying

Thats an Americaqn site though isn't it?

I need to find Australian suppliers though, because it is just too expensive to use American, plus we have a different power syster.

Too expensive to use American? I wouldn't think so since there's a much larger market here. Anyway, they do have options for international customers...
International AlienBees