I'd like to know what most of you think is the best lighting for digital cameras doing studio work. I like the flexibility of working with hot lights because you see what you get and can sculpt the light more effectively, but it limits you -- doesn't do well for food photos, and people tend to sweat excessively.

Strobes is still the best, but professional studio strobes with modeling lights can be expensive, and you have to tack on the price of a quality flash meter (I'm assuming they're still compatible in the digital arena).

I've heard of "cool" lights, these are fixed lights with lower operating temperatures. In cinematography, I know these were called HMI. Does anyone know a good manufacturer of cool lights for stills? Have you worked with them? How expensive are they?

Never heard of cool lights ( I am in the UK ) but I always use studio flash with modelling lights.
I use a Nikon D100 which doesnt have a sync socket so to over come that I use a small on camera flash set really low and bounced off the ceiling to fire the flashes.
You can check out the results in my gallery,its all glamour so if that offends you dont go there.
Mail me if you want to ask any questions
Eddie

Hello,

The best advice I can give choose studio flashes (strobes) (with modelling lights). Digital photography can be very tricky (e.g. white balance , dynamic range, ...). Okay it costs a lot, but see it as a long term investment . You can choose self contained units ( costing less 2 or 3 is a good starts and manufacturers sell ready-to-use kits with light modellers and so on ) or a power unit with flash heads ( more flexible but more expensive ).

One of the best manufacturer (quality/price) is Hensel. (Hensel Website) also a good flashmeter will be needed (Sekonic 358 to start) for tricky light situations. You can trigger your flash with a infrared trigger or better a radio based system all you need is flash head grip/socket on your camera or you can even use sync cable but it requires a sync socket but that doesn't very comfortable (cable being always where it mustn't)

But again it may be look expensive at first look but studio photography is "expensive" but better to buy a light system who will help you during years than spending money on stuff/manufacturer who will disappear in 2 or 3 years.

Hope it will help you.

Peace.

Aegy

Thanks...but have any of you ever worked tabletops?

I use to be an assistant photographer (long while back) and we used Norman strobes. Everything was shot on 4x5 view cameras with extremely small apertures (like f/64) and we would use what we called a "pop" system -- that is, do multiple flash fires to get enough light on the film. We really needed to maximize our depth of field. Polaroids test shots helped us guage how on target we were to what we desired.

How do you achieve the same effect in digital?

I must ask you a question :

-Will you shoot in medium/large format in digital ? (using digital backs I mean because they cost more money than a decent strobes kit )

Quote - I must ask you a question :

-Will you shoot in medium/large format in digital ? (using digital backs I mean because they cost more money than a decent strobes kit )

Yeah, I know, like the price of a luxury car. LOL

I was thinking about these Cambo View Pro Kits. They make several models for different cameras. Seems to be an interesting merger between the flexibility of view cameras and dslrs.

www.calumetphoto.com/item/CB4600K11/

Ever heard of these or known anyone to work with them?

Strobes - and here's the fun part: I haven't used my light meter in over 2 years! The rules are the same as with film - using transparency, that is (digital has a very short latitude - blows out to white very fast, crushes to black or mud very fast).

Setup is simple in a product shoot (and architectural) environment - with film I had to wait, maybe take a few Polaroids, but film was a bit different so I still had to meter within an inch of my life.

Digital: Set up your lights, and any setting for your camera will merely be a starting position. FIRE!

Too bright - either close your aperture, or reduce the power of the light.

Too dark - either open UP your aperture, or INCREASE the power to your strobes.

It really is that fast to work with. Going for a specific effect - shallow DOF - open your aperture all the way to where you want it (2.8) and adjust your lighting - taking shots along the way will just show you where you are in the process. It's he ultimate Polaroid setup. Deep DOF - just the opposite, but same starting point - set your aperture to where you want it and work from there.

HMIs will run you some ugly money (couple grand for ONE light) - much more so than strobes, believe it or not. Calumet Travelite packages - $1,500 for a 3-light kit is a good starter. Alien Bees are good power and inexpensive, as are the modifying equipment and accessories.

I've been toying with the idea of getting flourescents - Kino-Flos or Lowel Caselights - for some of the stuff I do. Already I use LED pen-lights with gels on them for long exposure "painting with light" shots - they come out fantastic. And here's another beauty - you can do multiple setups with a locked-down camera and merely put them together in Photoshop (or like program) for a single shot with all the reflections where you want them, etc.

Hope this helps - good luck and have fun!
-Lew ;-)

Something I forgot to mention with the "Too bright/Too Dark" section above - the Histogram is your friend!

It shows you whether or not you've blown things out, or crushed them - you'll know what color information you have to work with all from the Histogram while shooting.
-Lew ;-)

Hiya Xoteric...

Hot lights (redheads) are nice to have as additional lighting sources, as I find I still use them every now and again. If youre on a budget, and would like to experiment a little... consider buying some builders ligths... the kinds folks use a security lights outside their houses... The operate on Halogen lamps, which can probably fry a suckling pig in uder 15 mins... so Id go easy on them :) Try a 500 Watt, as the 1000 is just ridiculously hot... They have a u shaped bracket that you can screw onto a quick release plate of any sturdy tripod... I find I prefer using continuous lighting for rim effects etc... and sometimes pack shots... (remember to set your white balance accordingly before shooting under these) Other forms of "cold lighting" is are quartz lights or daylight balanced flourescents.... But they tend to give you a very "flat" type of lighting scenario, and takes out 2 dimensions... which isnt always great... it does have its uses though if you shoot jewellery etc etc...

However for digital I rather recommend strobe lighting... consider monoblock heads with built in modeling lamps... Look at Jinbei's... I in the past have used Elinchroms, Hensels, Electra's and Pro Photo's... but I still prefer Jinbei's... due to a number of reasons... The build is really good (steel casings, and built in fans for cooling... as opposed to the more expensive brands that dont have cooling) This comes in handy if youre using a snoot, for a long period... They use the same "3 claw" fitting as the VERY expensive Broncholor's... so the light modifiers (accesories) are interchangeable between the two brands.... The kits come with air cushioned stands, and they have stepless power... The best part is though... that theyre like maybe a 1/4 of the price of most of the other name brands....

I hope this helps :)
Thomas