Photography equipment: Umbrellas/Stands/Slaves
 

Hey guys, im finally beginning to get more into my photography and im planning on buying a few parts to add to my collection. I am specifically looking for umbrellas, stands, and slave units...

Im pretty noob with flash photography..so im still not sure what brands are the best bang for the buck.

my plan was to pick up 2 stands, 2 white umbrellas, 2 silver umbrellas and a slave unit..
(figure the Cactus v4 would be a cheap/decent start for a slave)

atm, my gear consists of a D60, 2x SB-600 flashes, 18-55 kit lens and a 50mm 1.8 prime AF-S.

do you guys have anything to unload to help me through my path to sucess?

thanks
-David

nobody has 2cents to chime in??....im still sortof clueless....

you can put those sb's into well use, attach the cactus reciever to 1 as the master and the other can slave off it. Get some cheap modifiers from ebay, umbrellas are like $5 each, umbrella softboxes, lightstands will run $15. Of course they're not top of the line but they're more than sufficient to start off with to learn lighting. Just make sure you dont topple the umbrellas, the arms will bend and break if it falls over and hit the ground once. Cactus V4 is a good trigger. I still use them for commercial work haha, only thing is some art directors will be like "ooooo what are those! never seen them before!" as they have no clue how cheap they are and are 100% used to seeing pocketwizards as the norm. I'll show u my strobist setup when i shoot your car :D

ah thanks Jackson. I'll look into Ebay for parts...I almost dropped 6+ for a kit from photoflex....lol!

Check out the strobist kits at mpex.com

http://www.mpex.com/page.htm?PG=STROBIST2XKITS

the bottom kit (SB4) might be just what you need. Or you can mix an match just the items you want

If you plan on going with a 'full' studio setup, then $600+ would be well spent on a set of alien bees. Obviously not the best you can get but they're quite reliable, great products and accesories and good customer service, quite alot of pros use them as well. Unless you need to maintain a certain image with your clients with profotos, broncolor, etc, the Ab's will be more than enough. Keep in mind though studio setups are also not very portability unless you have a few assistants, power packs, and want to make the shoot a 'big deal'. It's requires alot more setup and transport than 2 speedlights and lightstands. Throw some speedlights in the camera bag with batteries, stands and modifiers in a duffle bag and you can solo man it ontop of everest for a quick 5 min setup and 15 min shoot if you wanted to. It's not just cheap cost, but also portability that makes strobist shooting so attractive. Plus if you find down the road you're not goin to get into much studio shoots you can always still use the speedlights individually or sell em off easily, cant really carry a studio strobe with you and it requires alot more packaging to send somewhere. But if you knw 100% studio is what you want to do then go all out. Otherwise since you already have a nice set of strobist lighting, get some modifiers and perhaps a decent light stand and you can easily make the transition over. Of course 1 downside is the speedlights give no where near as much power as a 1600ws studio strob, but unless you're shooting a group of 5+ or trying to overpower the sun and sky in a large scene, it's not much of an issue.

some strobist stuff:

stands lots for cheap you can get a bit heavier duty ones but most are similiar:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Two-Photo-Vi...item27a872ddb3

flash/umbrella holder:
get this kind, you might need to shop around for the right stud height:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Flash-Shoe-Holde...item3ef49de9f9

and not this, these are shit and not as versatile as your flash can only go 1 way. You'll find it doesnt work with lots of modifiers as the speedlight body is quite high:
http://cgi.ebay.com/SWIVEL-FLASH-SHO...item5ad506f8a4

umbrella softbox great for strobists:
http://cgi.ebay.com/2-PRO-40-STUDIO-...item2ea718a1c3

silver:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lot-of-2-New-33-...item19b8096d0e

umbrella jap lantern style:
http://cgi.ebay.com/UMBRELLA-SOFTBOX...item439b9d3e54

those three modifers will be pretty much all you'll need for now, maybe invest in a ringflash down the road if you like it, can also DIY a beauty dish that'll cost a few bux.

shop around for package deals on there, those arent the cheapest prices. Quality wise they're pretty much all the same, if you dont topple them they'll do fine, and they're so cheap anyway even if you do break em just order another. Dont cheap out on the swivel as the cheap stuff looses some functionality.

For triggers, if you buy cactus, get the V4's. The V2's are crap compared to the new ones. Or these:
http://www.alienbees.com/remotes.html

and finally if your doubts of the limitations of a strobist setup is pushing you towards spending big bux right off the bat on a studio setup for decent results, spend some time on the flickr strobist group. Almost all shots are taken with cactus triggers and sunpack speedlights. Some REALLY amazing shit on there that you wouldn't dream came from a strobist setup.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/

for transmitters/receivers look into the rf-602 ones.

ppl over at POTN seem to really like them, haven't heard of any issues either. cheaper than catus (i think).

they're around the same price and sometimes a bit more......

i had yongnuo's as the cactus V2 knockoffs, they sucked in a sense they didnt have consistent sync speeds and would never be anywhere near the 1/250 sync. i was lucky if i got 1/100 with a full battery.

Found this and thought it might be some help to people. I don't use flash or anything like that much, so i really don't know much about it. Hope it helps a bit.

http://uk.fotopunto.com/articulo-exp...ing-schemes_60

Wow, thanks for the info guys....i will begin my purchases after the new year...and will definately post some pics.

I just bought the Cactus v4 transmitters and the Cactus KF-36 flashes. I'll give you guys a review once I get em.

I recently bought a whole bunch of Yong Nuo gear.

RF-602 radio triggers. the receivers use AAA batteries and have 16 channels at your disposal. The transmitter and receiver also double as a wireless remote for your camera.
they use metal hotshoe mounts and have standard 1/4 tripod mount underneath that also fits into hotshoe mounts though it lacks a tightening screw so forget about using a flash and this trigger on top of a standard speedlight stand.

YN460-II manual Flash. For the money you simply cannot beat these flashes. I havent had them for that long so I can't tell how long they will last but as far as power goes they are on par with my Nikon SB80DX. though not as many power settings. The optical slaves built in the YN460-II work perfectly as well. they are the same size as the SB80DX and have the same head and use the same diffuser caps. they come with WAD and white car built in, a small stand and soft bag for the flash. The best thing about the YN460 flash? its a universal hotshoe flash that will fit any hotshoe. the built quality is really good it weighs about half of an SB80DX.

does anyone know where to buy those umbrella/Hotshoe mounts for decent price other than buying them off ebay? locally the opus ones go for $29.99 at kerrisdale.

Welcome to the strobist world.

is the stuff on ebay ... durable in the sense that it can be transported and not break easily?

i have a 430exII at the moment. should i save for a 580 or go cheaper and manual? another purchase i'm looking at are the cybersyncs to replace the cheap ones i have.

any recommendations on kits? both online and local?

TIA

Look into the Nissin line of flashes. The top model the Di866 is just as good as the 580EXII, but about $150 cheaper. I have one, and it's quite nice.
http://www.nissindigital.com/en/Di866-1.html

how about light stand kits? (stand, umbrealla, adapter etc.) what do you guys think about the kits at mpex?

my cactus V4 receiver's case popped open with the weight of a 580ex2 + beauty dish attached to it when i tilted it lol. taped it shut with some gorilla tape and continued using it. Pretty solid if you ask me.

How can it be solid if it popped open? Haha...

Having said that, the plastic shoe of Pocketwizards are a little fragile too.

One thing I forgot to mention is that with the Nissin Di866 flash, the custom flash settings are not available on camera. If you try to adjust the C.fn settings, the camera will tell you that an incompatible flash is on the camera. With the Di866, everything that you would change on the camera can be changed via the menu on the flash, so it's not too much of a big deal to me. The secondary flash on the front is awesome, as it can provide fill if you're bouncing the main flash off a ceiling or wall. It is a bit too powerful even at its lowest setting, so I just tape a small piece of an ND filter gel on it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...I/IMG_1739.jpg

i'm a bit confused on the 866's wireless capabilities....

if i invest into a system like the radiopoppers or PW's will any flash that does ettl do? (if i'm using ettl)
what exactly can the di866 control by itself? other nissin flashes? canon ones?

The Nissins will work with the Canon Speedlite system just as any Canon 580EXII or 430EX. You will not get TTL with Radio Poppers or Pocketwizards, unless you get the Pocketwizards TTL Flex.

thnx

i thought the MiniTT and the PX RP's do TTL ...

why do people like the PlusII so much? just for range and reliability? compared to say the cybersyncs or even the cactus

Oh, shit....I forgot the Radio Poppers do TTL. Duh.

Most pros will use Pocketwizards Plus II for the reliability & durability, and as it is the defacto standard used by pros, many high end studio strobes have Pocketwizard receivers built into the packs.

anybody have a good suggestion of a local place that sells the Nissin flashes?

and I'm looking at purchasing some umbrellas... are shoot-through white umbrellas a good substitute for softboxes? or are they nowhere as good...?

I'm looking for some pretty beginner kit right now.

I can bring them in, but we don't stock them.