Strobelites: Cool Lights, Cool Price,
A couple of weeks ago, I got the Westcott 2-Lite Box kit, and I had been meaning to put it through its paces. Over at the FJ Westcott website, they had advertised that if you got a 2-Lite kit, they were throwing in a bunch of other things- up to about 500 dollars worth of gear… so it couldn’t hurt to give it a shot.
(The slideshow on the right is a couple of sample pictures from that shoot. Click in the window to play it. Click on the picture or click here to go to Flickr to check out bigger sizes.)
THE BAG
I’m a big fan of the little things, so right off the bat, I was happy to see that the entire rig came with a -rolling- case for your stuff. I love the idea of having a studio in a box, but I want to be able to take that studio places (I want to see what these lights look like outdoors). To that, I think that the case was spacious, and held the three lights, stands, barndoors, gels, and assorted stuff pretty well.
THE LIGHTS
Out came the lights (my buddy Kathy was doing the unboxing here) and they were light, and pretty straightforward. The PLUS units here are rated at about 400WS, have a built in slave, and have a simple knob that takes them from 1/4 power to full power by turning it to the right.
THE RANT
Sometimes, I think photographers new to the game tend to see lights and get into a watt/second arms race looking for lights that have the most. You would be amazed as to how much you can get done with a light like this.
I got a chance to actually try it over the weekend. A friend of mine needed to do some pictures of Dance teachers at a local dance school and I figured it was a cool place for me to give these puppies a once over.
I put together one of the softboxes- struggling for a bit to put the spokes into the speedring, and said “hey.. let’s use these instead of battery flash” The only thing that I added here that didn’t come with the kit was a Westcott Collapsible background in black and off we went.
THE ASSIGNMENT
For the shots with the texture in the back what i did was setup one of the enclosed softboxes camera right, and placed a second light with the gel in the barndoor -behind- the collapsible background. I was able to trip the main light with the enclosed sync cable attached to my Nikon.
I figured that the Slave cell on it should be able to pick up a little something and go off without the use of a Skyport or Pocketwizard. A little playing around on the knobs confirmed it, and in short order I was off to the races. The lights have modeling lights in them as well, but I didnt bother to put them in… yet.
From full power all the way down to 1/4 power, the recycle time was a couple of seconds.. and I didnt feel like I waited around for it. Light was even and plentiful. The only thing that I had any concern about were the lightstands. Westcott supplies a couple of 8.5 foot air cushioned stands and a backlight stand. When I first unpacked the stands, I wondered if they were fit enough from a build quality to hold the lights.. but they held up well for the shoot. We took off the background and then pointed the back light against a black wall to finish up some of the shots.
The only thing that I would have changed in the shoot is not to have used the collapsible background. Personally, I like using something that goes all the way down to the floor, so one of their Washable Muslin in black would have been a better choice. you can setup a kit online with a bag, background stands, and be good to go here.
The kit also comes with a DVD that takes you through a bunch of lighting scenarios as well… GREAT for someone getting into the game now that wants to start taking awesome shots. The DVD
THE VERDICT
All in all, I thought the Strobelite kit worked very well. For a very reasonable price, I got three capable Flash heads, stands, doors, gels, and a case that offers a TON of photographic possibilities. Anyone who is considering a home studio, or getting into the exploration of Flash lighting would be served well with a kit that will grow with them. These Strobelites will do just that. As I use these more in different scenarios, i’ll add more to the Flickr set above. Make sure you click on them to go over some of them.
For more information on the kits, and the specials they are running, visit the FJ Westcott Website.
R.C.,
Thanks for your thoughts on this kit. I saw this kit yesterday and have been trying to compare between other kits I’ve seen. I was already leaning toward this kit because of the free soft boxes. I think this kit is definitely in my future and fits my budget.
Great shots.
Dave
Let’s say I wanted to purchase this kit…what would I need to get this going with my camera? I currently have a Digital Rebel XT that I’ve had for a couple of years but I’m looking to upgrade. Thoughts on arming the Rebel XT to work with this kit? Thanks.
The website shows the Strobelite PLUS as a 200WS head. Am I missing something?