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Photography accessories

P

PokerGuy

Lifer
So I bought my wife a rebel xti a while back, and she loves the thing (what a junker those xti's are 😀). She's gotten very good at using it, and would like to get a little 'studio kit' of some sort -- with backgrounds, lighting, those little silver umbrellas (forgive me, I don't know squat about photography).

Any recommendations for such a kit that I could get her at a reasonable price? What features should I look for? (strobe, continuous, flash extenders etc)

Thanks!
 
Originally posted by: Snakexor
what kind of lenses does she have??
Click to expand...
She just has a couple of lenses for now, the kit lens that came with it and another rebel lens (I think 35-85mm or something like that). I'm planning on getting her a nice quality zoom lens in due time, but she wants to do some "mini studio" type stuff at home first.
 
For a studio setup you're looking at about $1500+.

My wife got most of her stuff at http://www.alienbees.com/

She got 3 lights, 3 stands, 2 or 3 sets of umbrellas, a soft box, a backdrop stand, a roll of black paper, a roll of white paper and a sheet of white muslin. Oh, also a remote for the lights and a light meter (which she doesn't usually use)
 
Originally posted by: mugs
For a studio setup you're looking at about $1500+.

My wife got most of her stuff at http://www.alienbees.com/

She got 3 lights, 3 stands, 2 or 3 sets of umbrellas, a soft box, a backdrop stand, a roll of black paper, a roll of white paper and a sheet of white muslin. Oh, also a remote for the lights and a light meter (which she doesn't usually use)
Click to expand...

Alien Bees are where it's at. You can go cheaper but you'll end up wasting your time and money. Buy the good stuff the first time around and you won't regret it. I started off with just an AB400 and light stand and it taught me a lot.
 
well first buy her a 50mm f1.8, and i find outdoor shooting gives more life to it indoor reflectors can make it dull

but you should go to

dpreview.com and fredmiranda.com
 
Originally posted by: PokerGuy
Originally posted by: Snakexor
what kind of lenses does she have??
Click to expand...
She just has a couple of lenses for now, the kit lens that came with it and another rebel lens (I think 35-85mm or something like that). I'm planning on getting her a nice quality zoom lens in due time, but she wants to do some "mini studio" type stuff at home first.
Click to expand...

if she does studio work she'll won't need a zoom. get her a prime lens, the 50/1.4 or the 85/1.8 to start. on the XTi they give similar results to an 80mm and a 127mm, respectively, both of which are about portrait range. they're each about $300. and the optical quality is much, much better.
 
For starters, does she have an external flash? If not, I'd get that before jumping into studio equipment. You wouldn't use the external flash for studio photography, but it'll let her get much better pictures than the built-in flash. There are also accessories you can get for an external flash that let you do different things with the light, such as diffuse it, or aim a certain amount of the light at the subject while bouncing the rest off the ceiling.

Are you the guy who was complaining that your DSLR won't let you frame your shot with the LCD? 😀 I'm glad your wife is enjoying her camera.
 
For those little accessory bits that you describe, perhaps something off ebay would do. Amvona sells tripods, light stands, umbrellas, backdrops (muslin) on ebay. I got my carbon fiber tripod from them. I'm not sure if there are quality issues with things like umbrellas or refletors, but they are pretty cheap on ebay.

There are a few DIY items too. I would attempt to build my own studio-in-a-box first (gotta find cheap lamps first though). I also built my wired remote from a free cell phone headset (the mute switch is the shutter).

For the pricier things, like lighting, I'd go with a quality flash unit (420EX and up), then decide if I wanted Alien Bees stuff.
 
I'll also suggest Alien Bee's or White Lightening, it's dependent on how much use they'll be getting. I don't really like the accessories that are provided with Alien Bee's. I'd suggest just buying the lights from then and picking up stands, modifiers, reflectors else where.
 
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