PhotoSEL LS-21E52 Professional Softbox Studio Lighting Kit with 2x85w 5400K CRI>90 Bulbs, 40x60cm Softboxes
Product Description
If you have been trying to shoot pictures with an accurate colour representation of the items you are photographing it is very likely that you have been relying on special filters and/or software editing to improve the results. With the PhotoSEL LS-21E52 Professional Studio Light Set, this may well be a thing of the past. Rather than providing inferior quality 6400K bulbs (as many other sellers do), this package includes 2 high quality 5400K bulbs which produce the ideal light colour temperature for product photography – a pure white light that reproduces perfect natural daylight at midday – and yields pictures with an excellent colour balance. Of course these 5400K bulbs are much more expensive and increase our cost considerably but, we believe, that it’s our duty to provide only the best solutions to our customers at the right price. Please see the difference yourself by comparing the following two pictures taken first with 5400K and then 6400K lighting (pictures are listed above).
Ideal for portrait photography & video shoots
As well as being an excellent choice for portrait photography, PhotoSEL LS-21E52 is also the perfect lighting setup for video shoots as it is both powerful and very quiet.
Thanks to the lightweight and fully adjustable aluminium stands this light set is the perfect solution for photo-shoots in your studio or on-site locations. Repositioning the lights in location, height or angle is child’s play and makes them adaptable to any backgrounds, photography table or light tent.
- Continuous Lighting 5400K, 85W (500w equivalent) pure white daylight bulbs
- Provide soft lighting or hard lighting effect
- General colour rendering index CRI > 90
- Suitable for use with any Backgrounds, Photography Table or Light Tent and Umbrellas
- Assembly instruction is online at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL-KxdV9KMs
These lights arrived well packaged and come with a soft case, making it very easy to move to location shoots or simply for storage in the home. I bought them with PhotoSEL BK-13CB Black 100% Muslin Background 3x6m, PhotoSEL BK-13CW White 100% Muslin Background 3x6m and PhotoSEL BS-103 Professional Background Support 2.7, which together make an excellent budget studio kit.
The light stands are sturdy and strong enough, whilst not being too heavy and perfect for the job. However, the light heads themselves are made of a very cheap and I suspect, fragile, plastic. You really do have to be careful not to tighten the softbox mounting screws too tight, as I have no doubt the plastic will crack. That being said, so long as you handle them with care, you shouldn’t have any trouble with them.
The quality of the light produced by this set is surprisingly good. When I assembled the first light, I wasn’t expecting too much, but when I turned it on, it way exceeded my expectations. I did a shoot here in my home yesterday, using both lights and the white muslin background and got some very nice shots indeed.
As a photographer on a budget, these lights were a great buy and I’m extremely pleased with them. They are perfect for me to use either at home, or to take to an office for a corporate shot, for example.
If you’re in the market for a home studio solution, I highly recommend this one.
Rating: 4 / 5
Nutshell version: good product and fairly good value for money.
I bought this light stand set for two reasons: portrait photographs, and creating even lighting for a green screen background.
What’s in the box:
- Two Photosel light stands,
- Two photographic white daylight bulbs,
- Two light heads with on/off switches and UK 3-pin plugs,
- Two 40x60cm soft boxes (silver inner, black outer),
- Two inner diffuser sheets,
- Two outer diffuser sheets,
- Eight metal support rods,
- Carrying bag.
The light stands are fairly lightweight but totally adequate for supporting the heads and softboxes. The softboxes themselves are very well made, and the only let down is that the light heads are made of a cheap plastic which feels like it is going to break in your hands.
One nice surprise is that the light heads include a slot for a photographic umbrella, so you can add those to your lighting arrangements without having to buy anything else.
The bag supplied is a bit dubious. It is about 5′ long with a zip at only one end, so it can be difficult to actually get the kit into the bag and there is no arrangement I can find that does not result in masses of unused space. Coupled with the fact that the carrying strap is utterly useless, this makes the bag a bit of a white elephant. Sure it will keep everything together and clean when it’s in your car, but you won’t be dancing for joy about how neat and portable your lighting kit is.
The bulbs on the other hand are absolutely smashing – in the ‘great’ sense, not the damaged sense. The light is clean, strong, even, and super-pure looking, and the softboxes perform admirably with these bulbs. Each CFL bulb comes in polystyrene packaging surrounded by a cardboard sleeve, so keep this and use it to protect the bulbs during transit and storage.
I would say that this set is just at the edge of costing too much for the quality of the product, but having said that the kit is basically “what you need” at a reasonable price. Putting together the same setup by sourcing the individual bits elsewhere is likely to cost more with variable results.
If you want to light photos at home, you’re just starting out with studio photography (and perhaps don’t want to plough too much money into it just in case it turns out you are rubbish), or you want some cheap lighting for film/DV, then buy these. If you’re in the market for a kit comprising more robust products then you are probably going to need to spend a bit more money.
For me, this kit ticks all the boxes. So it’s five stars! I am not docking Photosel a star just for that stupid bag. It is after all included as a courtesy.
Photosel point to a Youtube video which shows how to assemble this kit. Unfortunately it is not very good at all, so I have made my own which is (even if I say so myself) a much easier-to-follow guide. Unfortunately it’s longer than the 10 minute limit on Amazon, but there’s a link to my channel on my Amazon profile (or use this video ID: watch?v=94QWKdxhJM8 ).
Rating: 5 / 5
Compared to other lighting kits this is a very good value set-up even if the build quality could be, perhaps, a little better but what can you expect for £120? (March, 2010). Buy it, it does the job as well as the rest, for a fraction of the price.
Rating: 5 / 5
For my first every softbox and lights I am very pleased and have used these to produce (in conjuntion with a new back drop) some great portraits. Very pleased withthem and the service. I havesince bought bigger softboxes and also some stob lights. All have their plave in my new home studio.
Rating: 5 / 5