Need Advice Pls : Saw this sleek Portable Light Studio

[alvinlin]

Hi Experts,

I am a newbie, am gonna tryout some small/medium products shoot for my cousin next month for a suburban shopping centre, products involve would be like stationeries, cakes, pastries, flowers, vases, cellphones, bubble tea, etc, results need not be super-pro due to budget, decent quality is good. hence am extensively scouting a starter's lighting setup, preferably portable as a plus point as i will be hopping from shop to shop, though not the main priority, I can alternatively bring back the products to shoot, logistics is not a problem.

I came across this sleek portable Lighting studio as shown below, seems china made, but looks quite good. setup with only 2 flourescent tubes at the inner top, and have the lights reflecting across the inner reflective white panels. size seems to be ideal for my purpose. but i realised the front bottom part may have inadequate light if product is placed, bound to have shadow casts, so i will place a continuous small light source at the inner bottom front facing the product to compensate.

• 4 x 5500K colour temperature lights (2 to use, 2 spare)
• 5 x Reflection structure boards

I am contemplating to buy the tagotech 650w starters lighting set with light tent and now i have come across this, i have taken quite a liking for this now due to its sleek design (damn the heart),

Things about this kit that makes my heart flutter:

• sleek design
• portability
• easy storage, not unsightly

before i make an impulsive buy, I seek from you experienced ones for some pointers in terms of technicality and practicality for long term comparing the 2 mentioned, this will be my main priority, making the right investments.

question is,

1. Is this a better option for my purpose for long term, compare to tagotech starters 650w lighting kit, which type will be more ideal? say if i am NOT intending to go any "PRO'er" than this scale of setup I know tagotech isnt this portable, as i mentioned i might bring back the products for shoot instead, if tagotech is advised as a better choice, so to justify my investment on lighting kit.
2. noticed the fluorescent light tubes shown are not adjustable, will this be a big issue? what kind of issues will you experts reckon i will face during shooting, eg what cant i shoot? what kind of effect wont be achievable? compare to the tagotech set.
3. have anyone used this black sleek portable kit before? any pointers or feedbacks?

big thanks for reading and sharing in advance.

 

[glengoh]

Just be mindful of the white balance. If auto shooting mode is used, may need to compensate exposure by +1 or +2 stops due to the overwhelming white background that fools the camera's light metering. Check for highlights especially when shooting very shiny objects. My advise is to bring your camera and test object down to the shop who is selling this and make a few test shots. If you are happy with the results, buy it especially if it is within your budget.

 

[alvinlin]

Just be mindful of the white balance. If auto shooting mode is used, may need to compensate exposure by +1 or +2 stops due to the overwhelming white background that fools the camera's light metering. Check for highlights especially when shooting very shiny objects. My advise is to bring your camera and test object down to the shop who is selling this and make a few test shots. If you are happy with the results, buy it especially if it is within your budget.

yup budget is ok, my point is to justify the investment via the precious inputs and advice given. will try to bring down my cam and subject to test shot, but feel a bit dramatic doing that =P

Great heads-up and noted. will probably on AWB. manual mode so can take my time to fiddle exposures, etc.

so am i right to tell that you'll recommend this over tagotech kit?

 

[eleveninth]

wouldnt go with either, however i like the hole there to shoot into, tht way u don't get any reflections. Nothing white vanguard and a hole won't do.

How much is this anyhow?

I'd still go with speedlights, modifiers and triggers over this, just for the versatility. If you get this light box thing or tago (lol) most likely you'll only get to use them at home & frankly how often do u shoot products?

 

[alvinlin]

wouldnt go with either, however i like the hole there to shoot into, tht way u don't get any reflections. Nothing white vanguard and a hole won't do.

How much is this anyhow?

I'd still go with speedlights, modifiers and triggers over this, just for the versatility. If you get this light box thing or tago (lol) most likely you'll only get to use them at home & frankly how often do u shoot products?

thanks for your inputs, this is around SGD250

yup intending for home use, or leave it around the office and use when intended. frequency of product shots likely to be bi-yearly (6 months once), about 100-200 products and maybe some shots here and there along the year.

dont think i'll invest into speedlights and all.. abit costly, overkill eh? hee

 

[eleveninth]

u can always get yong nou with ebay triggers, probably cost around the same also. And you can even use it for portraits or other stuff.

in the long run the extra money u pay, beats having something tht u use bi yearly.

 

[flipfreak]

it is a copy of a 3M product tent. i have seen it sold at popular bookstore before.

it looks decent and as long as the items u shoot will be small enough, i think its fine. also take note of the fixed shooting angle for the tent. unlike conventional tents, u are restricted to 1 height to shoot at. might not be appropriate for some items. the power difference is not an issue if u are shooting still life which u are. white balance maybe a problem after the lights aged.

 

[alvinlin]

u can always get yong nou with ebay triggers, probably cost around the same also. And you can even use it for portraits or other stuff.

in the long run the extra money u pay, beats having something tht u use bi yearly.

will give it a thought, i do have already 2 flashes (wireless capable) which i trigger from my pop-up flash, i only use the flashes for night outdoor shots, u reckon it will definitely be better than continuous lightings for product shoot? i'll go try.

another reason i am looking into these kits is i like the thought of the clean boxup isolation for product shoot, isnt it? nicely designed (i know i can easily customised something like that myself, but i prefer aesthetics of things around me, office or home, maybe my diy skills are sloppy and it'll turn out DIY and looks ugly so i choose not to)

it is a copy of a 3M product tent. i have seen it sold at popular bookstore before.

it looks decent and as long as the items u shoot will be small enough, i think its fine. also take note of the fixed shooting angle for the tent. unlike conventional tents, u are restricted to 1 height to shoot at. might not be appropriate for some items. the power difference is not an issue if u are shooting still life which u are. white balance maybe a problem after the lights aged.

thanks for the inputs. yeah made me realised the inclined height with a second look. =)

haizz still tempted. actually i was looking for answers on whether to choose this OR the Tagotech or anything else similar available.

 

[daredevil123]

thanks for your inputs, this is around SGD250

yup intending for home use, or leave it around the office and use when intended. frequency of product shots likely to be bi-yearly (6 months once), about 100-200 products and maybe some shots here and there along the year.

dont think i'll invest into speedlights and all.. abit costly, overkill eh? hee

I think this is too expensive.

I think a standard light tent costs a lot less but is a lot more useful, letting you many different kinds of lights. And it cost 1/5 of this product (if bought in SG), and a lot less than 1/5 if bought in China or HK.

 

[alvinlin]

I think this is too expensive.

I think a standard light tent costs a lot less but is a lot more useful, letting you many different kinds of lights. And it cost 1/5 of this product (if bought in SG), and a lot less than 1/5 if bought in China or HK.

thanks for the time taken to advice. pretty spot on. yup thats the difference as this is totally opaque so only confined to the fluorescents. 1 pt down

 

[eleveninth]

will give it a thought, i do have already 2 flashes (wireless capable) which i trigger from my pop-up flash, i only use the flashes for night outdoor shots, u reckon it will definitely be better than continuous lightings for product shoot? i'll go try.

another reason i am looking into these kits is i like the thought of the clean boxup isolation for product shoot, isnt it? nicely designed (i know i can easily customised something like that myself, but i prefer aesthetics of things around me, office or home, maybe my diy skills are sloppy and it'll turn out DIY and looks ugly so i choose not to)



thanks for the inputs. yeah made me realised the inclined height with a second look. =)

haizz still tempted. actually i was looking for answers on whether to choose this OR the Tagotech or anything else similar available.

Even better, since u have 2 flashes already. just use them, if need get a reflector. More than enough to get clean shots.

 

[alvinlin]

Even better, since u have 2 flashes already. just use them, if need get a reflector. More than enough to get clean shots.

thanks agn, money saved. will research for more info on the how tos' with my flashes and start practising and see how it turns out. =)