Studio lighting accessories
 

Hey,
I'm looking to step into studio lighting, mainly for band promo shoots. I've decided to get the bowens 400/400 with the travelpak (so I can go on location shoots). I use a Canon 7D.

Being new to this I was just wondering if there is anything else I need to get started. I've heard talk of pocket wizards / Wireless Trigger Sets and was wondering if I need them? Any recommendations on which type - I see the price varies a lot

Cheers for any help.

Check out strobist website. Buying 2 flashguns might be a better option for you if you plan on going on location a lot.

If you don't want to use the supplied wires to fire the lights you'll need a wireless trigger setup.

Bowens do their own, the Pulsar which is slightly cheaper than Pocket Wizard but still pretty expensive, if you're only using them on studio lights a few feet away Pocket Wizard might be overkill, but they are the best.

You could use the generic triggers which look like Pocket Wizard, I can't remember what they're called but they're about £89 each and a flick through some current photo mags will find a full page advert for them in the back.

You'd probably be OK with a set of cheap radio triggers off Ebay which you can get for between £20 and £40.

You don't need 3 (one for the camera and one for each light) as the second light will slave off the first provided it can see the flash, so if you can only afford two of whichever you choose, you should be good to go.

Sorry for butting in here but, if I'm not mistaken the 7D already has a built in wireless trigger that can fire off camera flash, but I'm sure that somebody will correct me if I'm wrong....

Yes but it an only fire Canon Speedlites that have a wireless slave feature, it won't fire studio equipment.

the Pocket Wizard-like triggers I mentioned above are Titan Pro, sold by Interfit

Thank you so much, I've been reading up on it all and just getting confused but your explanation makes perfect sense :) I think I'll go for the cheaper ones in the beginning and see how I get on, then if I need it upgrade to the Pulser/Pocket wizard when I get the hang of things.

Some colour correction equipment is a must have, like X-rite colourcheck passport. There's alternative product available, but based my experience, they are more relialbe. At least they own pantone.

Then I think you need a collapsible reflector. You can use it as a fill light, sometimes it's every better than a flash as a fill light, it's more natual.