Cheap ebay lighting?

[roncgizmo]

Has anyone used it?

I found a few setups on ebay some came with a kit that has

2 45w strobes 2 stands and 2 silver umbrellas

the others have 2 CF lights (35w) 2 stands and 2 white umbrellas.

I don't expect anything fantastic but for around 50 bucks
I was thinking about trying a set until I'm ready for some
"real lighting" all I have right now is a Canon 540EZ and
white umbrella. I'd like to start taking some portraits of my
5 year old niece and thought this might help until I can get
a soft box.

I was also leaning on the Strobe kit. I was thinking it might be more versatile in that I can swap out the umbrellas when needed.

My question is, is it worth bothering with at all.

Thanks

[nightspirit]

My opinion is that you would get more out of your current equipment than you would with either of those setups. 45ws is not alot of power, especially when shooting through an umbrella. I wouldn't even consider using CW lights for childs portraits. You would have to shoot with your lens wide open and at a low shutter speed. From personal experience, that is a bad combination especially when photographing children. If you haven't already done so, get your 540ez off camera. You can use a cable like this Canon | OC-E3 Off Camera Shoe Cord 3 | 1950B001 | B&H Photo Video With that and a reflector for fill light, You should get some nice results. Search the forums for single light setups, also check out the strobist site.

[roncgizmo]

Hey thanks for saving me a few bucks...or making spend more..lol

Believe it or not I'm using this canon flash with a Nikon D70. I've tried
bouncing it off walls etc and it's working Ok but I have zero control. I'm going to buy a wireless slave hoping it will work better then
the optical slave I already have and use that along with a reflector on the opposite side. I would like to get myself a nice 85 2.8 before I spend the big bucks on a light. until then do you think what I plan on doing will be adequate?

[nightspirit]

What you have should be more than adequate for your plans. I shot this photo with a Promaster speed lite set at 1/4 power shot through a 36 inch umbrella. I triggered the light with a sync cord and hot shoe adaptor. Camera and flash were both on manual. I am pretty sure you're Canon puts out more power than my used promaster light. The Lighting 101 articles on the strobist site has alot of information. Strobist: Lighting 101 - Start Here From there it's just a matter of experimenting and getting the desired effects.

[ladonna]

Night Spirit,
I have a light set that was around $300.00. Set came with 2 stands, 2 umbrella and 2 strobes. I do not have a sync cord. I usually bounce my sb 600 flash to set off my strobes. However, all I am getting is a black picture.
Is the black picture because I am not in manual mode or the shutter speed is not fast or slow enough? If so, I am not familiar with manual mode. I learned how to shoot pictures using aperture mode to control the depth of field and I let the camera set the shutter speed.
In the manual mode, what is your aperture and shutter set to? Thanks in advance for your help.

[highbarger]

My first guess would be that your sb600 is emitting a preflash which sets off your other lights and they don't recycle fast enough to fire again when the shutter is open. Can you set the sb600 to manual and eliminate the preflash?

[ladonna]

Highbarger,

Thanks for your input. I will try to set my SB 600 flash to manual mode.

[nightspirit]

My strobes have a switch that let's me turn the slave settings on or off. If yours have one, make sure it's on. I always forget to do it when setting up. By default mine are switched off when I turn off the power.

[billjames]

Originally Posted by roncgizmo

Has anyone used it?

I found a few setups on ebay some came with a kit that has

2 45w strobes 2 stands and 2 silver umbrellas

the others have 2 CF lights (35w) 2 stands and 2 white umbrellas.

I don't expect anything fantastic but for around 50 bucks
I was thinking about trying a set until I'm ready for some
"real lighting" all I have right now is a Canon 540EZ and
white umbrella. I'd like to start taking some portraits of my
5 year old niece and thought this might help until I can get
a soft box.

I was also leaning on the Strobe kit. I was thinking it might be more versatile in that I can swap out the umbrellas when needed.

My question is, is it worth bothering with at all.

Thanks

Be Sure to check out this page on ebay. You can break it down to more specific catagories. Easy way to cut through the ebay 'crap' auctions.

10 Most Watched Lighting & Studio Equipment Auctions on Ebay.

[roncgizmo]

Originally Posted by billjames

Be Sure to check out this page on ebay. You can break it down to more specific catagories. Easy way to cut through the ebay 'crap' auctions.

10 Most Watched Lighting & Studio Equipment Auctions on Ebay.

Thanks!

Last week against my better judgment I bought a two light kit with 2 backdrops and BD stands from one of the sellers on that list.. they seem Ok. I'm going to try it out tomorrow so I'll find out if it will work for now. one thing I do like about it is it's light weight and size, it even fit's in my car..I fix the whole thing plus my tripod in a bat bag (aside from the BD rod) so even when I do get better lights this will make a good portable set