|
Introduction |
| ***GUIDE AUTHORS NOTE: DISREGARD THE "DIFFICULTY" RATING; IT DOES NOT APPLY TO THIS GUIDE BUT I CANNOT GET RID OF IT. I AM LEAVING THE DIFFICULTY AT THE DEFAULT SETTING. Ideally, I would delete this altogether (or fully strip it out) as it has no relevance to this guide, but I cannot do so.*** | | ***PLEASE READ: this guide is not meant to cover all possibilities for photo lighting; mainly using, or even covering how to setup proper panel lighting by companies like Meiki or SmallRig as well, or studio surplus studio-grade panels. These areThis is the only way to really get a deal on these lights as a good set will generally sell for $50-60/panel which adds up to get two. In addition to this the many “low-cost” array panels you see on places like Amazon for ~$20-30) panels are viable; the problem with low-costoften too dim to be useful at $20-30 panel sets as most of these hover~700-1000 lumens on average. While you can easily use 4, it doesn't fix the core issue of poor quality light spread and the overall cost comes to be about as much as a proper LED panel pair. These cheap lights are only worth buying for the tripod if it whichis decent quality.not bright enough* There are two workarounds that make these a horrible option:** | | * ***This can be worked around by using 4, but by the time you get to this point, the cost is the same as a quality pair of panels which only need two to work. These are NOT worth your time unless you are getting quality tripods and are just going to discard the lights.*** | * ***The 2nd option commonly used is to get a pair of quality panels that are very bright but these come out to cost ~$50-60 or more per panel from a good brand with a high brightness rating. This is just flat-out expensive unless you use the panels where you can justify the cost or secure a good price on surplus lighting from a photo studio going out of business selling old lights (or upgrading to better ones) for cheap. However, this takes time and is not something you will see every day.*** | ***As a result of these two major deal-breaking flaws with budget LED panels commonly found online like Amazon, this guide is based around an equally as low-cost tradeoff, but far more effective: While many, many "low cost" studio style lights are too dim to be effective or you need 4 (and you end up buying 4 cheap panels at the price of two good high-end panels), a good pair of LEDs will also not be perfect but will be much better overall. This is a "happy medium" method that works well if you are on a budget but WILL NOT OUTPERFORM PROPER STUDIO LIGHTING in terms of overall CRI performance, lighting quality, or overall brightness in many cases. However; what it DOES offer is a far better overall light output that while cheap will be far more cost-effective per dollar (when used in conjunction with high-CRI >90+ bulbs). The downside is it will not be up to par with professional lighting but I do not expect this to matter for the audience I am targeting; I am not targeting professionals with high-end cameras, lenses, and studio setups. This setup is intended for beginners looking to upgrade from garbage Amazon LED "lights" on a budget.*** | | ***In short: unless you hit the deal of the month and the studio really wants them out, you will need to spend at least $50-60+ per panel for 2 good panel style lights. This is just flat-out expensive unless you use the panels where you can justify the cost (or get somewhat lucky and score 2 for cheap as a pair overall). However, this takes time and is not something you will see every day.*** | | | ***As a result of these two major deal-breaking flaws with budget LED panels commonly found online in places like Amazon, this guide is based around an equally as low-cost tradeoff, but far more effective: While many, many "low cost" studio style lights are too dim to be effective (or you need 4 and it's still awful), a good pair of LED bulbs with tons of brightness is also far from perfect but a far better overall compromise and is essentially a good "happy medium" between a deal from a closed down photo studio, time and quality. Remember: THESE BULBS OFTEN DO NOT OUTPERFORM PROPER STUDIO LIGHTS IN TERMS OF THE CRI RATING AND THIS CAN AND WILL SHOW IF SOMEONE HAS A TRAINED EYE AND CAN TELL. However; what it DOES offer is a far better overall light output that while cheap will be far more cost-effective per dollar (when used in conjunction with high-CRI >90+ bulbs). The downside is it will not be up to par with professional lighting but I do not expect this to matter for my target audience; I am not targeting professionals with high-end cameras, lenses, and studio setups. This setup is intended for beginners looking to upgrade from garbage Amazon LED "lights" on a budget.*** |
|