2000 WATT Digital Photography Continuous Softbox Lighting Studio Portrait Kit - 2 Light Stands, 2 Softboxes, 10 Bulbs

I am an amateur photographer and recently developed an interest in doing portraits. After srruggling with natural lighting only, I decided to get some constant lighting to help. After talking to a local shop and pricing some options I decided to take a chance on this kit. This kit is a fraction of the cost of professional kits, but it has a light head that holds 5 bulbs with separate power switches for each. This feature alone makes this kit worth the money. After watching an instructional video where the photographer had to position the light within just a couple of feet to get good lighting, I learned that you need a very bright light for photographing groups. This kit allows this, but also makes it easy to switch off bulbs for individual portraits. The soft boxes themselves are well constructed, made of sturdy material. I was a little concerned about ease of set up after reading some reviews, and while it is not as easy as some I've seen, it only took me about 10 minutes to assemble the soft boxes, without ever reading the instructions; while unpacking the kit. Future setup will take much less time. An unexpected surprise was that my soft boxes included two diffusers, one for covering the entire box opening and another that velcroed inside, which is another feature found in much more expensive kits. The stands, though functional, are nothing to get excited about. The biggest problem with them is that the bases are really not wide enough for how heavy the soft boxes are with all 5 bulbs installed. On a flat hard surface jnside, they are fine, but I would be very worried about using them outside or on a less stable surface. A good gust of wind or a mild nudge could send them tumbling when fully extended. Stands are not expensive though and upgrading them would still make this kit cheap. For the price, this kit is worth it just for the 10 bulbs, or for just one soft box and the boxes are plenty bright enough for doing group portraits. Compared to other kits in the same price range that have only one bulb, this kit is hands down the better choice. For kits with 4 bulbs, the choice is less obvious, but the 5 individual power switches is a nice feature. I've only used them once and given my experiences with other CFL bulbs made in China, I am not as enthusiastic about quality. Also, the light seems a little cool, especially when the bulbs are first turned on. But, replacing the bulbs would still make this kit cheap. For a pro, this kit would likely disappoint, but for me... they are perfect. They will work just fine while I experiment with portrait and still photography. If I find I need better quality, this kit could be upgraded or I would simply replace it entirely without feeling like I wasted my money.

I purchased a two different kinds of lights for my green screen and these are far superior than the others. First off softboxes are the way to go for nice, even lighting that won't wash everything out. What makes these so great is the ability to turn on as many of the individual lightbulbs in each softbox as needed. So if I'm using them to light my green screen I can put them all on, but if I want to light my subject and can take it down a few to get the exact effect I need. Also break down pretty easy. Very happy with these.

Came quick. Easy to setup. Had it up in 15 minutes on the first try and was able to get some still photo shots done . The lighting really enhances my small studio which has some natural light already but this just brightens everything up even more. I'm happy with the purchase and its definitely worth the price tag.

They would be better if they were just left in a stationary location. We were thinking that they must be designed to be portable, they have a carrying bag, right? + Bright with switches for each light, so if you don't want super bright, you can have medium + carrying bag + great diffusion, there are two layers of lightweight white fabric so the light actually is well diffused without spots - - Really difficult to set up. If you have three hands, it's better. With my wife and I working the system we have developed, it still takes about TEN minutes to get this whole system from boxes in the carrying bag to setup ready to shine. In my mind, that's a long time when people might be waiting for you to shoot. - stands. the lights don't attach to the stands very securely. Also, it doesn't take much to overbalance a stand and tip the whole thing over. At least the stands fold up pretty well.

I will start by saying that this review is probably just as applicable to any cheap CFL soft box kit you will find here. Below a certain price point, they are all made to identical standards....cheap. This isn't necessarily bad, as there is a right tool for any job. In this case, these are a great tool for someone who is setting up a small studio in a fixed location and will not need to set up or break down. Ever. Seriously, just putting these things together, I was afraid they were going to break apart in my hands. In fact, a couple of the pieces did come apart and had to be put back together. If you are looking for a portable lighting kit to take with you on location shoots, this is unquestionably the wrong tool for the job. Even if you replaced the stands with real light stands that were designed to be used without breaking, the soft boxes themselves are ridiculous to assemble, and the disassembled CFL bulbs are obnoxious to transport. If you must travel with this kit, you should transport the soft boxes fully assembled in the back seat of a car so you just have to mount them on stands. Now, since we are talking about the right tool for the job, what are these right for? In my case I bought them to light seamless paper backdrops for video production work. This is a job they are good for. Soft boxes provide a very soft even light; great for getting even backdrops. Some still photographers might want to light portraits with them as well, and will appreciate a cool running, energy efficient continuous light source. Continuous lights can help a newer photographer to learn portrait lighting as well, because they can see their image as they adjust their lights. In this case however, there is not a lot of adjusting that you can do other than light placement, angle and intensity (controlled by the number of bulbs active, 1-5). They can't be focused, don't accept any other light modifier, and can't be gelled. They only do one thing - turn on and provide soft light. Another thing to be aware of is that these lights (as with all cheap CFL lights) tend to have a slightly green cast to them that you will not notice with your eyes, but will notice in your images when mixing light sources, or comparing to natural light images. It isn't bad and can be removed in post processing, but it's there. Other lights like LEDs that have a green cast can be improved by placing a "minus green" gel (magenta), but with a soft box of this size, placing a gel on it isn't feasible. If you are like me however and are simply lighting a solid color backdrop (especially white) it won't matter. The main thing the color cast effects is skin tones. One last point to make: you may find a few even cheaper CFL kits online that use umbrellas. They are useless. Umbrellas were designed for tungsten lights or strobes that emanate from a single point, into the umbrella and reflect out as a soft source. CFLs emanate mostly out of the sides in a figure eight pattern. Very little light comes out of the top part which is pointed at the umbrella, and thus most of the light simply spills out of the sides. Soft boxes like these reflect the light from all angles inside the sealed enclosure and shine through the white diffusion material. This is really the only useful method of shaping light from CFLs. Okay, I lied. One more small point, then I will stop going off about lighting. This point is important. CFLs have a very short throw, meaning they do not light well across a distance. If you are doing portraits or shooting documentary interviews, these can be placed very close to your subject - just out of view of the camera. If you are lighting a whole set though...wrong tool for the job.

Products came in when expected and have exceeded all my expectations. Used it a week after for a commercial use and worked flawlessly. The only thing that i noticed was that one of the softbox rod was missing the aluminum end. It didn't affect the use of the product. I notified the company and they immediately sent back an email within hours and sent extra replacements hours later. Excelent product and support. I will buy another pair of these soft box from them in the near future.

Good lighting. Easy to setup. I like that you can control each of the lightbulbs with a switch. You have total control over the light. The diffusers also work well to either have a bright light or soft light with the addition of the cover.

Light came super fast and exactly what I needed. Great sturdy stands and daylight lighting. I can now properly do videos in the home.