Need Some Help With Lighting Kit Purchase

Adam.W

Adam.W

I've Got It
Hello, I want to invest in a lighting kit. I've done some research and picked up my 2 main choices but it's really hard for me to choose between them.
If you have some experience with lighting I would appreciate your help.

First kit:

51Dyo7TvxtL.jpg

$190.40 (£125)
  • (4) x 4 Sockets Light Holder Softbox Lighting Holder Bulb Socket
  • (4) x Photo Softbox for Photo Studio Soft Box Reflector
  • (16) x 45W Photography CFL Bulb 6500K, Daylight Balanced, Pure White
  • (4) x 86" Tall Studio Quality High Output Umbrella Flash Strobe Light Stand
  • (1) x LimoStudio Convenient Carry Case


Second Kit:
6147SCqBdsL._SL1200_.jpg

£135.99 (plus £15 for delivery)
  • Lightweight, fully adjustable and portable , The complete lighting kit would be a good addition for your shooting. Great for both video filming and photo taking
  • 4X Support Light Stand: 0.8-2m , Material: Aluminum alloy , Section diameter:25.2mm/22.2mm/19.1mm
  • 2m x 3m Background Support Stand: Height is adjustable from 0.8m- 2m,Width is 1.5m-3m , 2X Telescopic Crossbar)-Suitable for holding all types and sizes of backdrops
  • 3X 1.8*2.8M backdrop: White,Black, Green, 100% Cotton Muslin ,Completely seamless, can be machine washed or dry cleaned.
  • 2X 50*70 cm softbox: with bulb holder and 2X 125W (eq. 625w) light bulb , 2X 84cm (33'') White Umbrella with 2X 125W (eq. 625w) light bulb,uk plug only


My thought process:
Kit 2 seems like an obvious choice because of the 3 backgrounds in addition to the 4 lights BUT
  • Kit 1 has 4 soft boxes rather than 2 soft boxes and 2 umbrellas
  • Soft boxes in kit 1 have four bulbs rather than one like in kit 2
  • Bulbs in kit 1 have 6500K output, and are Daylight Balanced. Kit 2 only mentioned that they are 125W so I'm worried that the bulbs in kit 2 are not that good. (I will contact the seller to ask either for the Kelvin number or CRI rating.
Kit 2 is very tempting because the 3 background are going to be perfect for my videos and will allow my to be very creative with my content.

The reason why I'm choosing between those 2 kits is because my parents gave me £150 to buy me some actually lighting after they saw that I was looking to buy hardware store lights to save up money. I know that at this price point the quality can be compromised but I'm very much a beginner and I take good care of my equipment so quality is not a big concern for me.

If you know of a better kit than those two please let me know, I'm also willing to spend £50-100 of my own money If I find a better quality kit in the £200-250 price range.

Thanks for help! :)
 
I'd go for stand 2 because of the background. Daylight balance wouldn't be an argument for me because you can compensate for it with the white balance setting in your camera.
 
XXLRay said:
I'd go for stand 2 because of the background. Daylight balance wouldn't be an argument for me because you can compensate for it with the white balance setting in your camera.
Click to expand...

You are right, the camera could compensate for the daylight balance but It would be better to get it right without having to use the camera. Hopefully the bulbs have at least a 4500K rating, any less and that and eventually I would have to replace the bulbs to get that natural lighting.

What do you think about the 2 soft boxes and 2 umbrellas rather than 4 soft boxes?
 
I bought these two kits:

ebay.co.uk/itm/321145446962?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
ebay.co.uk/itm/321617849986?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The lighting kit only has two softboxes, but comes with a reflector kit that can be used to bounce a light source. Budget-wise, both together are less than £100 which would leave an extra £50 if you wanted to buy a second lighting kit.
 
In my eyes the two umbrellas give you more flexibility and the ones in this kit already offer pretty soft light. As even daylight rated bulbs won't offer you real daylight adjusting your white balance is not an option but a necessary if you consider it to be that important.
 
DJBenz said:
I bought these two kits:

ebay.co.uk/itm/321145446962?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
ebay.co.uk/itm/321617849986?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The lighting kit only has two softboxes, but comes with a reflector kit that can be used to bounce a light source. Budget-wise, both together are less than £100 which would leave an extra £50 if you wanted to buy a second lighting kit.
Click to expand...

Looks very interesting, I had a quick look at your channel to see either the lights or backdrops in action but didn't find anything. Can you point me to a video where you use this equipment?[DOUBLEPOST=1448280305,1448279803][/DOUBLEPOST]
XXLRay said:
In my eyes the two umbrellas give you more flexibility and the ones in this kit already offer pretty soft light. As even daylight rated bulbs won't offer you real daylight adjusting your white balance is not an option but a necessary if you consider it to be that important.
Click to expand...

I thought that the soft boxes are the more flexible ones because they have less spill allowing for more control over where the light goes.

The reason why I'm looking for daylight balanced bulbs is because I already have lights that have lower ratings and produce this yellowish light which I don't like, yes I could change the white balance but I feel like it doesn't look right. If I have to shoot a skit in which I want to imitate daylight, changing white balance might not do the job but I'm not an expert so I'm not sure.
 
Adam.W said:
Looks very interesting, I had a quick look at your channel to see either the lights or backdrops in action but didn't find anything. Can you point me to a video where you use this equipment?
Click to expand...

Haven't used it yet, I only took delivery recently, it's for a new project. :)
 
Adam.W said:
OK. When you get a chance to unpack it or even test it please let me know about your experience :)
Click to expand...

Will do. I had a quick check over everything to make sure it was OK and the quality looks good. The proof of the pudding, as they say, is in the eating so I can't speak for how well it works in practice.
 
For anyone interested with what I decided to buy:

I was worried about the quality of the light in kit 2 so I decided to buy kit 1 BUT I found out that kit 1 is not available for delivery in the UK. :D
I've done some more research an d found this kit for £120 + £10 delivery.
41D9aW8yExL.jpg

As you can see it has 5 bulbs per soft box so it should produce strong and even lighting (perfect for green screen). You can also control each bulb separately so It allows for a lot of control over the light strength..

I still wanted that backdrop set like in kit 2 so I also bought the backdrop set suggested by @DJBenz

$_57.JPG
 
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