Advice Needed - Cheap and Nasty Ebay Strobes

[mercho]

Hey Guys,

Well since borrowing works strobes (this thread) i want to grab some of my own. As much as i would love to have the Bowen 800W that i used, i can't afford it..

So i have been looking at Ebay strobe kits and came accross this:

Linky


Seems like a good package to start off with, except that they are only 300W x 3 strobes..

Anyone have any suggestions or advice?

Only really looking to spend around the $500 mark to start of with...

Damn portrait photography is adictive lol

Cheers

[kiwi]

I have one ebay strobe, it works

Will it work for long ? That's what you pay a premium for I think (as well as access to all the accessories etc).

Light is light.

[mercho]

I have one ebay strobe, it works

Will it work for long ? That's what you pay a premium for I think (as well as access to all the accessories etc).

Light is light.

Thanks Darren, What wattage is it?

I have only ever used the 800W ones, and while they are more than enough, do you think the 180W and 300W ones would be enough?

Cheers

[kiwi]

The one I have is 300w. I use it as a 2nd light, hairlight etc, but it's powerful enough on it's own to do portrait work in a confined space imho. My other main strobe is a really high quality one, and 600w and usually I am using it dialled right down power wise.

It really depends on the space and the type of lighting you want to achieve

I'll say I am way from being an expert on this sort of thing

[mercho]

The one I have is 300w. I use it as a 2nd light, hairlight etc, but it's powerful enough on it's own to do portrait work in a confined space imho. My other main strobe is a really high quality one, and 600w and usually I am using it dialled right down power wise.

It really depends on the space and the type of lighting you want to achieve

I'll say I am way from being an expert on this sort of thing

No worries thanks mate.. I have done a bit of reading, and apparantly 200-300W is more than enough for the standard lounge room stuff..

[Adrian Fischer]

Hi Mercho,

I have 6 similar ebay lights (all made in china) all 300w. I have just finished taking 2,000ish dancing class individual portraits and class portraits over the course of 2 weeks. This is the second year Ive done them and the lights have never failed me. I put them up and pulled them down after every shoot (I travel to the dance classe location and they were different every day). The lights themselves seem to be able to take the work load and also the manhandling. The softboxes (I have two and I think they might be slightly larger than the ones your looking at (and both the same size) also seem to be reasonably robust. I havent managed to rip seams or damage them yet. The receivers and sender units all work fine and I very rarely have a missfire or a failure to fire. The bags the lights come in are also reasonably sturdy though I doubt they are realy designed for daily use. I also have two backdrop kits which I put to gether to create a 20ft wide backdrop for my larger dance groups. The stands and extendable top bar are all reasonbly well put to gether and nothing has fallen apart yet (some minor maintenance required to tighter allen keys but nothing that I should have been doing anyway to maintaint them properly). The bags they came in however are not the best quality. Plastic zips. One zip is now broken pretty much making the carry case useless. I was thinking about getting something more robust for their transport anyway. In and out of the the boot of the car is hard on them I think. That aside, for the price, and considering the amount of work they have done for me so far, I cant complain. As Kiwi said, light is light. The kit your looking at looks a good price to me. I didnt look to closely were they were coming from. Are they in Australia of being shipped from OS? shipping might be costly owing to weight.

[mercho]

Cheers thanks for the detailed feedback Adrian!

They are based OS i think so shipping is $150 i think, which makes them add up!

They have similar kits for a cheaper with 2 x 250W strobes wich i am considering also, not sure if i would use 3 lol

Thanks again for the feedback, makes them seem worthwhile!

[hoffy]

Get the 3 light kit mercho. More flexibility

[mercho]

Get the 3 light kit mercho. More flexibility

Yeah i have the 430ex that i can use as well though? hmmm

[Brad]

It seems quite a reasonable kit to start off with. 300W is a surprising amount of power. Doesn't seem alot compared to the 800W you've been using but with 3 heads there is quite a few options

[hoffy]

Yeah i have the 430ex that i can use as well though? hmmm

All depends on how the 430 is triggered and whether there is any pre-flash, etc (not knowing how the canon system works).

The other drama that has become apparent to me is light temperature. You may find that there is a difference between the two. It may not be a big deal, but it may also make getting the WB right a PITA

[mercho]

Cheers thanks guys, ill keep your advice in mind.. Will hopefully get them within the next month or two

[ehor]

The 300w will probably only very *slightly* more powerful than a 580EX on 1/1.