I'm thinking about Studio Lighting for Portraiture

[Peter_AUS]

but can't afford the Profoto, Elinchrom etc and have been considering Alien Bees B800's but have seen a lot mentioned about the housing cracking where you attach the umbrellas. I am also considering Whitelightning X800 as the housing is metal. The cost difference between the two is about $130US and I am thinking of 2 of them.

I have two light stands, background support, backgrounds (Sheet material one colour, white, blackish grey, maroon, medium blue), 5 in 1 reflector kit, two tripods and two bounce umbrellas at this stage as well. I have been using a Canon 550Ex, Sigma 5000AF and Metz CL45-1 flashes but haven't really like the results as I find it hard to get the lighting balance correct. I do have a Sekonic L-358 light meter as well. These I have been putting together over the past 2 years. What is missing at this stage are real flash heads, barn door(s), gels, snoots, Softbox(s) etc but that is in the future. I think the most important thing at this stage is flash heads.

What do those with studio lighting think of these options. I will basically be using these for portraiture work and don't anticipate high usage and constant daily use, but I do want something that is sturdy, duriable and will last for a while. Certainly if I ever make some money out of this idea then I would look at getting something more durable and indistructable.

Reason I am thinking of these is, I have a friend who might be going to the USA from here in Australia for a month and he will bring them back with him as excess baggage and therefore the postage costs would just about pay for the excess baggage and import GST tax and hopefully will be safer with him doing this way.

The equivalent here for one Flash Head is around $1,200Aus which is about $890US, so this might explain my reasoning. I know warranty is a high consideration, but I haven't addressed that with them as of yet, but that is at this stage a secondary thought. I can basically get two flash heads for around the price of one here. Buy accessories here which are compatible then as the cost difference is not that great when you take into account postage and GST tax here.

Thanks for advice.

[Asylum Steve]

Seems like the most bang for the buck...

As for the umbrellas connecting, yeah some monolights have flimsy brackets that may not stand up to a lot of use. I'd either be real careful using the umbrellas (try not to torque them too much), or better yet, get the seperate umbrella holders that connect between the monolight and the light stand. They're about $15-$20US and much cheaper to replace...

but can't afford the Profoto, Elinchrom etc and have been considering Alien Bees B800's but have seen a lot mentioned about the housing cracking where you attach the umbrellas. I am also considering Whitelightning X800 as the housing is metal. The cost difference between the two is about $130US and I am thinking of 2 of them.

I have two light stands, background support, backgrounds (Sheet material one colour, white, blackish grey, maroon, medium blue), 5 in 1 reflector kit, two tripods and two bounce umbrellas at this stage as well. I have been using a Canon 550Ex, Sigma 5000AF and Metz CL45-1 flashes but haven't really like the results as I find it hard to get the lighting balance correct. I do have a Sekonic L-358 light meter as well. These I have been putting together over the past 2 years. What is missing at this stage are real flash heads, barn door(s), gels, snoots, Softbox(s) etc but that is in the future. I think the most important thing at this stage is flash heads.

What do those with studio lighting think of these options. I will basically be using these for portraiture work and don't anticipate high usage and constant daily use, but I do want something that is sturdy, duriable and will last for a while. Certainly if I ever make some money out of this idea then I would look at getting something more durable and indistructable.

Reason I am thinking of these is, I have a friend who might be going to the USA from here in Australia for a month and he will bring them back with him as excess baggage and therefore the postage costs would just about pay for the excess baggage and import GST tax and hopefully will be safer with him doing this way.

The equivalent here for one Flash Head is around $1,200Aus which is about $890US, so this might explain my reasoning. I know warranty is a high consideration, but I haven't addressed that with them as of yet, but that is at this stage a secondary thought. I can basically get two flash heads for around the price of one here. Buy accessories here which are compatible then as the cost difference is not that great when you take into account postage and GST tax here.

Thanks for advice.