Lights, Camera LIGHTS!

[mshenay]

So I think I'm ready to invest in a more professional set of lights than what I have... I was kinda sold on the jinbei ef ii 60 but it seems it's HEAVILY back ordered... so I've since moved onto something like the Godox 150W but I hear they are loud and I'm not 100% sold...

I don't intend to use it for video, primary stills

Any one have any input?

 

[Inner Space]

Photons are photons. That's what we would say. The magic is in what they hit, and no one can control that.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

In the end of buying a lot of lighting, I standardized on plain old tungsten lights - they have a predicable color temperature, accurate color rendering, and are stable. Yes, they're energy inefficient, but whatever.

 

[mshenay]

In the end of buying a lot of lighting, I standardized on plain old tungsten lights - they have a predicable color temperature, accurate color rendering, and are stable. Yes, they're energy inefficient, but whatever.

Do you have a brand you prefer?

Ahhh ok, It seems I may want to hunt down a properly rated E27 socket lamp and continue to enjoy "lamps" but aim for tungsten VS Halogen cost wise seems to be less up front but more energy of course, which imo is irrelevant as I'm already using 300W Halogens

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

I just use plain old tungsten 500W photofloods - the designation is 'ECT' - with an umbrella, reflector or soft box. Obviously, energy efficiency is not their forte but then again they're not illuminated all that long either, just enough to get a light reading and take the shots. I take a lot of product photography these days which ends up in audio-video equipment reviews, but did portraits before.

 

[mshenay]

I just use plain old tungsten 500W photofloods - the designation is 'ECT' - with an umbrella, reflector or soft box. Obviously, energy efficiency is not their forte but then again they're not illuminated all that long either, just enough to get a light reading and take the shots. I take a lot of product photography these days which ends up in audio-video equipment reviews, but did portraits before.

What's been working well for you in that regard? It seems like these will work well for my needs [despite only lasting 60 hours... but at $5 a pop I can buy a few] tho a few folks have mentioned their heat?

Thank you again tho for your input!

 

[RayDunzl]

I'm happy with some blue LED backlights behind the rack. 9W standard style bulbs in aluminum reflectors (hidden from sight)..

Dim blue silhouette of the black stuff in the foreground.

Frames the TV nicely.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

What's been working well for you in that regard? It seems like these will work well for my needs [despite only lasting 60 hours... but at $5 a pop I can buy a few] tho a few folks have mentioned their heat?

Thank you again tho for your input!

I find I use shoot-through umbrellas most of the time. Like any incandescent light bulb they get hot but that's why they call them 'hot lights'

 

[mshenay]

I find I use shoot-through umbrellas most of the time. Like any incandescent light bulb they get hot but that's why they call them 'hot lights'

Well I think I'ma take a stab at this! Price for three lamps and Stands is about the same as one single Godox SL 150W, and with this cart I got my self a C Stand and 2 el Cheapo Straight stands. Pretty solid value I'd say! Thank you again for your recommendations, oh also included were 2 umbrella's and 5 bulbs, 4 3200k and one 4800k

Hazzah!

 

[Wombat]

Used and a bit of luck is an option. Patience is not always possible, of course.

I have just taken delivery of a new/unused Godox V860ll-f flashgun with X1T-F trigger for $AU100($US75). Unwanted bonus items when the seller purchased his camera gear.

Aussies don't get the great deals on new that we see in the US.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Well I think I'ma take a stab at this! Price for three lamps and Stands is about the same as one single Godox SL 150W, and with this cart I got my self a C Stand and 2 el Cheapo Straight stands. Pretty solid value I'd say! Thank you again for your recommendations, oh also included were 2 umbrella's and 5 bulbs, 4 3200k and one 4800k

Hazzah!

Just remember to set the color balance of your camera to 'tungsten'.

 

[Matias]

I use Hyperikon 5000k CRI95 17W A21 light bulbs in a dark room for product photography. These are now discontinued I have learned.

https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-light-bulbs/details/2286064

When I need to replace them I will try these ones below instead.

https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-light-bulbs/details/2344098

https://www.amazon.com/TORCHSTAR-Dimmable-Equivalent-1600lm-Daylight/dp/B07JMP9K7W

 

[Matias]

Also here is a fantastic website that measures lights.

https://indiecinemaacademy.com/complete-led-color-database-cri-tlci-cqs-tm30-15/

 

[Matias]

Cree A21 5000k is also nice, same as the Hyperikon (CRI 95, red R9 90)!

https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-light-bulbs/details-plus/2353347

https://www.amazon.com/Cree-Lighting-Equivalent-Dimmable-Daylight/dp/B089HPRPHQ/

 

[mshenay]

Just remember to set the color balance of your camera to 'tungsten'.

Yea I use my Camera's color profile settings a lot! Hoping with the Tungsten filter I get better color accuracy overall, as currently I've having to manually edit out some of the very intense "orange" patches that show up on some products... which is tiresome

I'm also hoping the umbrella's diffusion will also help eliminate these "hot spots"

Worse comes to worse I can just exchange a lot of it on Amazon... tho I intend to keep the light stands as I do need them

Cree A21 5000k is also nice, same as the Hyperikon (CRI 95, red R9 90)!

https://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-light-bulbs/details-plus/2353347

https://www.amazon.com/Cree-Lighting-Equivalent-Dimmable-Daylight/dp/B089HPRPHQ/

Oh that is pretty nice, 2K lumens is a lot lower than what I'm used to shooting with tho but not impossible to work with. I'll post some test shots here once I get everything in

 

[Matias]

Here are more measurements.

https://budgetlightforum.com/node/69805

Apparently these SunLike bulbs are quite good.

https://budgetlightforum.com/node/70422

http://sunlikelamp.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=59_63

 

[Wes]

how about buying a light tent?

not clear what sort of stills you are taking, so maybe reflectors (or a north facing window)

lighting is key - and the word photography literally means writing with light - photo graphy

there are tons of books on lighting techniques, from simple portraits to the use of crossed polarized sources/filters to reduce specular reflections

 

[Matias]

For product photography I use one of those cheap light cube kits, and installed high CRI LED bulb lamps. Total investment less than 100 usd. For my needs this is enough. Construction of the cube is weak but it is still in quite a good shape after 4 years of ocasional use.

Example of a photo I made (Nikon D3500 + kit lens + basic Photoshop editing).

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Don't know what the nature of the product photography is going to be, but in my instance of photographing consumer electronic gear, I shoot against a white background but then eliminate the background via the tools in Photoshop. Most of the time this involves use of the 'lasso' tool while the image is zoomed far in, then refining the edge with a small amount of blur. Even using a light box, the background can seldom be a pure as just eliminating it entirely, especially with the large nature of much that I photograph.

I go to this trouble because I can then furnish a .png image of just the component (a .png image has a transparent background) to magazines and others to which they can easily add their own drop shadows or whatever they wish.

 

[JeffS7444]

I got a color measurement app for my phone which was very enlightening! Although use of digital with custom white balance and custom camera profiles lets you get away with a lot, it's still easier if you start with a good light source. And if you're going to shoot with film, it's even more important.

First image shows spectrum of hardware store 5000 degree "barn light" LED corn-cob bulb, second one is of photo-specific CFL sourced from Adorama. Adorama's got some house-brand spiral CFLs which put out a massive amount of good quality light, and they're cheap. So far I've had one fail on me after a couple of hours. Nothing against good LEDs, but my consumer-grade Promaster softbox wasn't designed to handle the weight of 4x corn cob bulbs, so CFLs it is.