With so many different products on the market, it’s easy to get lost in trying to pick the perfect one for you. So many brands, so many modifiers, and so much to learn. What if there was an almost perfect kit for beginners? Well, this might just be it.
It’s no secret that for as long as I have been shooting images, I have been using off-camera light in one form or another. Be it a torch for long-exposure photography or tens of thousands of dollars in flash equipment, I’ve experienced it all. This experience has always left me wondering, what would be the perfect kit for beginners to use? It shouldn’t be too expensive, but it also should be reliable and easy to use. While it would be great to give every flash photographer a Pro-11 pack and a bunch of kit to play with, realistically, it is impossible.
I am aware of a lot of the flash kit on the market, from the lower end to the top of the top. There are few lighting products I miss. This is both due to my obsession with lighting as well as a constant search for a better light, a more reliable light, and so on. That’s not to say that what I have now and recommend using is unreliable, but it can always be better, right? The kit I recommend is the kit I would personally go out and spend my own money on today if I were starting out in flash photography. In fact, this is almost the kit that I bought back when I was starting out.
Light
Profoto B2 250 AirTTL
More or less, this is the first big boy light that I bought. While you may be slightly surprised to see Profoto in a beginner-friendly kit, don’t let the name fool you. Profoto is far more beginner-friendly than any other brand. Why? It is just so darn simple to use. There are a few switches and buttons that control the main functions of the flash. It is easy to the point of my 11-year-old sister knowing how to control it.
On a serious note, buying this kit can be around $600. It will ship with two heads, two batteries, and probably an extension cord. As this is a battery-powered light, you will be able to take it with you wherever you go.
There are more powerful and cheaper battery-powered lights. However, the reason I advise many beginners to get into Profoto is that it is very much a buy-once product. Besides great build quality and reliability, you also get great performance. With 250W spread over two heads, you essentially get two lights for the price of basically one. Given that the light has both HSS and TTL, you can use it in auto mode without having to worry about power settings. Just make sure you have either an Air Remote or a Connect Pro. The first one can be found used for not more than $150, which is a fairly good price to pay for a remote that is the most reliable and easiest to use on the market. A more in-depth review of the Profoto B2 is in the works for anyone who is interested.
Modifiers
Profoto Umbrella Shallow M + Diffuser
Many photographers might say that the umbrella is something amateur and something to avoid. Indeed, it does not have the same oomph as a softbox does. But I assure you, not only will you get softer light with an umbrella, but you will also be able to travel with it much easier than with a softbox. A used umbrella will run you about $50 and will last you a good five years at least.
The reason I advise you to get a diffuser for it is to produce more even light. This is useful when lighting portraits and trying to create an even light spread on the subject. The diffuser is arguably more useful when using the silver umbrella, as it turns the specular light into diffused light, but even with a white umbrella, it makes a noticeable difference.
A used shallow umbrella will be about $50.
Profoto OCF Beauty Dish White
This modifier is also a highly recommended beginner classic, in my opinion. The OCF beauty dish is unlike many other beauty dishes as it can be used not only as a dish but also as a makeshift octabank. As the inner deflector plate is removable, this modifier is highly versatile. If you use it without the deflector and diffusers, you will get a light similar to sunlight; if you use it with the deflector, you will get classic beauty light. Use it with the plate and the diffuser, and you have a super soft light. In short, there are about ten more ways to use this modifier, making it a truly versatile tool that beginners can experiment with.
A used OCF beauty dish will run about $150 with the speedring.
The Reason To Go To Profoto
Perhaps one of the most common criticisms that I get from my readers is that I promote Profoto far too much in my work. This is fair enough, as there are plenty of other brands that make great lighting kits that deserve attention. However, Profoto is a brand that I personally believe in, same as Capture One and any other company that I personally use. I have not received heaps of gear from them to make me use them; I saved and bought their gear with my own cash.
Profoto provides some of the best and newest features on the market, as well as allowing you to constantly up your game in terms of performance. I am talking not only about their more pro-line lights such as the Pro-11, but also the forgotten Pro-7a or the D4. If you get to a point where you are shooting a lot in the studio, this might be an excellent purchase. The range of modifiers Profoto offers is also second to none, and their rental availability means that you are always able to get something you need in whatever city you are in. Broncolor would be in the same position in terms of availability, however, their features are not up to speed with whatever Profoto is up to.
Closing Thoughts
Here we have it. This is the kit you should use as a beginner photographer. While it appears to be pricey, it really isn’t much more when you buy it used. The catch is that these are buy-once products that will last you well into your professional days. If it doesn’t work out, this kit holds value incredibly well.
