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[kb522]

I ran across this website in the new Digital Scrapbooking magazine. Has anyone heard of this company? Does it look like a good deal?

http://www.photobasics.net/new%20site/holiday.htm

Thanks!

[SAHMom]

They are constant lights, so will get hot. Oftentimes, constant lights are not powerful enough to freeze action like a strobe would. I'm afraid it might be $200 bucks of, "I wish I just would have put this toward something better."

Nikon has such a great lighting system with their speedlights that can be used off camera. My speedlight has been a great investment and I used it for a while in a softbox before I purchased my Alien Bees.

[kb522]

Thanks! I will check into that!

[bluelemur01]

I agree with Kim. I don't know this particular vendor, but sometimes these really cheap kits are really not that great. You CAN get good pics, but the lights can get hot, the softbox material can be thin & cheap & starts tearing along the seams; the stands can be rickety and topple easily and the metal fasteners and tighteners break or fall off pretty soon after purchase.

Now I'm not saying for SURE this will happen with this kit, but I myself have purchased some "too good to be true" stuff and it really WAS. My mistake was really cheap backdrop stands, and honestly, I should have put the $$ towards a sturdier kit.

That being said, if you are a tinkerer and a fixer and good at minor repairs, then a cheapo kit might not be an issue. I'm not being sarcastic. My dad, for example, can fix just about anything and he loves to buy cheapie equipment, and he makes it work fantastically. He can rig up all kinds of things and is so creative at making stuff just WORK. Minor tears and breaks don't concern him, b/c he can always fix them as good as new. But me, I need sturdier things to feel comfortable!

Like Kim, I use Alien Bees and find them awesome.

good luck!
Jennifer