A little while ago we covered the lighting setup for a pro wedding photographer at ImagesForever.net down in Melbourne Beach. A few of you might have read that and gotten depressed because, when you added up all the separate components, you realize the cost of that lighting setup was close to $1,800.
Many of you don’t have that much to spend, others may enjoy photography as a serious hobby but aren’t willing to risk divorce court by trying to talk your significant other into dropping that kind of cash on portable lighting.
So, I took on the challenge and wanted to see how close I could get to a usable lighting setup on a budget more people can afford, say $250.00 USD. Certainly there are going to be some compromises: Build quality, fit and finish, and convenience will all be challenged to move the price point that far. You get what you pay for, but if you’re creative in moving stuff around, you can sometimes get better results than the price tag might suggest. Besides, you can always upgrade individual components if you have the money.
Here’s what I came up with. Please note the prices are subject to change and don’t include shipping:
1 Yongnuo YN-467 ($85.64)
This flash is pretty good for the money. It’s compatible with my camera’s e-TTL system and does a respectable job lighting the scene. The refresh times are surprisingly fast for a sub-$100 flash. With fresh batteries the flash can fire as fast as my camera can write images. It’s also got a built-in diffuser plate and bounce card.
The build quality does have issues. The battery door feels cheap and flimsy, take extra care changing the batteries.
1 Yongnuo YN-460 Slave ($39.39)
Instead of two YN-467’s, I went with a dedicated slave to save some money. Now I have the freedom to mount the fill flash on a monopod or light stand that I can move around. The downside to not having the AC3 Zone Controller is I have to walk over and change the power settings on the remote manually, instead of flicking a switch on the top of the camera.
Another limitation is having the bracket flash tethered to the camera with a cord. It limits mobility quite a bit. I could still mount the bracket flash on a light stand if the situation called for it, but I’m not going any farther than the cord.
1 Pixel TTL compatible sync cord ($23.18)
A $20 cord still gives me the ability to put the primary flash on the bracket handle and still sync with the TTL in my camera. Instead of shooting everything manually, I can use the Creative Auto (CA) setting and change the exposure of at least the primary flash with the exposure compensation adjustments in the camera.
Two bounce diffusers from eBay $1.95 each.
Okay, that brings us up to $152.11 and we can go shopping for a flash bracket and light stand.
For the flash bracket I picked the Stroboframe Quick Flip 350 on sale for $35.95, which unfortunately did not arrive in time for the article photos.
Which leaves me enough room for a pair of PBL heavy duty light stands for $51.95.
Which brings my total to $240.01, with enough left over to buy pizza for the TFP models.
So How Does It Work?
Judge for yourself. With the exception of the bracket handle, I took all these photos with the components described above.
Because the remote operation is manual, it sometimes took me a couple shots to dial in the fill flash power. Sure, it’s extra walking, but how much walking will you do for $1,400?
