24Mar/102
Buyings cheap studio equpment in Denmark
To those of you who read this blog, I guess it's old news that I'm teaching in photography - anywho - from time to time, I promise my students links to all different sorts of things mentioned in class, and last night, we discussed studio equipment.
So this post is dedicated to showing what placing in or around Denmark you can find the cheapest studio equipment.
http://obt.dk/ is where I've bought most of my equipment. They sell the brands Interfit and Lastolite.
I myself have 2 150w interfit lamps which has worked perfectly for me 2/3 years (can't remember exactly how long I've had them). This being said, these brands ARE some of the cheapest money can buy, and therefore there is no comparison to brands like Profoto (you wouldn't compare a Fiat with a Mercedes either).
http://www.flashogfotobutikken.dk/ is an alternative to OBT.dk. The prices are quite similar (OBT being a tad cheaper when buying things like backdrops - I haven't really compared other items). I have not yet bought any equipment from this store, but from trustworthy sources, I've been told that they are very reliable.
Instead of Interfit and Lastolite, http://www.flashogfotobutikken.dk/ is selling Boling, which is a cheaper version of the well respected brand Bowens.
The magazine Digital Foto nr. 7 2009 stated that this brand performs as good as Bowens and Elinchrome which are both much more expensive brands.
After having looked into it, I actually think I'll go and invest in a set of 600W Bolings. I'll make sure to post a review of them as soon as I get them.
If any of you guys out there have experience with some of the mentioned brands, feel free to share.
You can check what equipment I'm using myself right here.
And make sure to read the comments - Jacob Dam from Fotostart.dk is posting some very interesting points on the regard of studio equipment.
Portfolio
Archives
- April 2012 (3)
- March 2012 (2)
- January 2012 (1)
- December 2011 (2)
- November 2011 (3)
- September 2011 (1)
- August 2011 (1)
- July 2011 (4)
- June 2011 (3)
- May 2011 (4)
- April 2011 (3)
- March 2011 (3)
- February 2011 (5)
- January 2011 (4)
- December 2010 (4)
- November 2010 (7)
- October 2010 (10)
- September 2010 (13)
- August 2010 (14)
- July 2010 (15)
- June 2010 (9)
- May 2010 (6)
- April 2010 (12)
- March 2010 (15)
- February 2010 (8)
Categories
- behind-the-scenes (14)
- Fun (11)
- interview (5)
- music video (1)
- News (40)
- Other photographers (25)
- photo shoot (44)
- photoshop (15)
- review (2)
- Tips and advice (34)
- Tutorials (21)
- Uncategorized (7)
- Video (1)
March 24th, 2010 - 13:15
For flash quality, I would say that the following is stuff you should be aware of:
- White Balance consistency (all flashes cycles more or less in color temp between shots; some obviously more than others)
- Output consistency (without altering any settings, some flashes can vary their output nevertheless. Not much though.)
- Temperature requirements (in a hot studio, if you shoot a lot of images in sequence; can the flashes handle it, or will they melt down? Active cooling built-in is the most common solution in mid-range flashes and upwards)
- Automatic draining of charge (a very handy feature; if you go from full to 1/2, the flash will need to drain it’s charge. Some cannot do it, and thus you have to test-fire your flash if you step down. Pretty annoying).
- Speed. At highest and lowest output. Some can go as fast as 1/1000s, while others will stall at ~1/320s. Big difference if your subject moves. At full output, many cheaper flashes stall at 1/60s, which is NOT good if you want action.
- Varying your output without steps; some flashes have switches, which means limiting in varying your output; others have dials. Dials are much more preferable, but the best is digital control!
- Beep-sounds for when the flash is ready and charged.
- Other featuers (built-in wireless, intercommunication with master unit etc.).
Balancing all these parameters in the equipment you specifically need, can be tough. As for me, I use some cheap below-midrange Walimex at 300 and 420W.
If I should upgrade, I’d definitely look at Elinchrom. Yes, the Boling are good quality – but feature-wise, they come up short when rated up against Elinchrom.
Elinchrom are actually not that expensive; their D-Lite 4 series are nicely priced, and extremely good.
D-Lite 4 have buil-in skyport for wireless communication. A transmitter comes for free if you buy a set.
They are digitically controlled, and even their fans are controlled via a built-in processor, which means the fan only switches on, if there is a need for it.
Speed locking bayonet makes detaching and attaching softboxes WAY easier!
Can speed sync at 1/250s, instead of only 1/160s as many others do.
Can be triggered via your camera’s built-in flash also, and IGNORE the anti redeye blinks from your camera! Pretty cool, but maybe pointless because of the skyport system.
The modelling lamp can go proportional with the output, or be set manually. Nice touch, very usable for product photography, which often will require constant modelling lamps at full strength.
But look also at the BXri-models; up to 500W output.
Here you can also set the power output from the skyport remotely!
They can only be set in 5 output strengths; from 1/16 to full. But that’s usually more than enough, given the ratio controls one will want to fullfill.
Their duration at full strength is a whopping 1/1538s for the 500W, and crasy 1/2762 for the 250W!
The 500W models is only 0,36s to charge at 1/16, and only 1,13s to charge from full! Wow!
I know this sounds like a commercial, but I’ve really really really come to LOVE Elinchrom. They managed to beat my old-time lover, Bowens. At least in my point of view.
March 24th, 2010 - 15:06
Thank you very much for that very explaining comment.
To those of you who reads this and perhaps doubt if Jacob actually IS a salesman from Elinchrome, I can inform that Jacob is the owner of http://fotostart.dk, the largest site for danish photo enthusiasts.
A very vital point when comparing cheap and more expensive equipment, is the number of features lacking on the cheaper models.
I own a walimex 500w which in my point of view is a crappy lamp.
It has 3 steps (full, half and 1/4), there is no beep sound to inform when its charged, and if you shoot prematurely, the light is less powerful.
When shooting with full power, it takes almost 3 seconds to charge up, and around 1 second on 1/4 power.
I have yet to test Lastolite and Boling, but what I’ve been told about the Boling (which I am gonna test myself) is that they have a very fast charge time (similar to elinchrome) a step less output designater, a model light which follows the output or is set at full strenght.