Continuous Light or Strobe for product photography?

[cfhjag]

Hi all,

I'm new to studio photography and got a few questions in regards to setting something small up. Basically, for what I'm shooting I want a very even light with nice soft shadows. Similar to attached photos.

I'm leaning more towards a continious light set up (simply because you can see how the shadows will fall etc) even though it will get very hot, but since I'm not shooting people or food the heat doesn't really affect me.

One of my questions would be, umbrella or softbox? What's the main difference in aspect of the shadows and soft light? Would a set up as in image no 3 be bright enough?

What kind of lights should I look into? Had a look at getting two old heat lamps basically and just hook them up with two 5500k bulbs, would that work?

Could anyone recommend some good bulbs? I found a led one (attached) but not sure if it would give a better result than a standard 5500k bulb?


Really appreciate your help!

Cheers,
H




Different lamps and bulbs:










Some reference images: