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.
The words "beginner" and "Profoto" have no business being in the same paragraph let alone sentence together. Profoto is prohibitively expensive for beginners. $1600 plus tax (according to your links) is not beginner friendly for a lighting setup. Yes profotos are very easy to use. They have a fantastic user interface for all of their products and MANY companies in MANY industries should really take a page from their book when it comes to UI design, but they are never priced beginner friendly. They are professionally designed and marketed tools for working professionals and priced as such.
Yo I checked out your website. Sick work. Some really great stuff man.
5-10-2023-IMG-Test-Gu-Yue12273.jpg This one is my fave. Love the contrast between the models and their outfits.
"This is the kit you should use as a beginner photographer."
I had to check my calendar to make sure I didn't oversleep until April 1.
😂😂 the guy is a 🤡
I'm new to studio lighting, not to photography. I was eager to see your recommendations. However, after reading, I'm unconvinced. This reads like Profoto shill.
You mix pricing for new vs used, citing $600, while your link shows $1400. Plus, even as a beginner, I can tell you my umbrellas were way less than $50 new, let alone used. The price is rather high for entry level gear. And while I respect "buy-once" that literally does not define beginner. So the pricing feels detached from what a beginner life is like.
Further you don't really explain some of the technical benefits, instead saying "more oomph" and such to try and pander to a newbie crowd. I read Fstoppers because I'm interested in photography. We the audience can handle the real details, especially if you give us more of a how-to approach.
M8 you are having a laugh.
This isn’t a serious take on beginner advice. It’s a Profoto ad.
Oh please... Stop now... The best beginner setup is Godox (or their private label brands) Why? They have the best ecosystem in the business. Period. EVERYTHING works together. Start with the trigger - their triggers fire all their products - I like the XPro and all it's iterations at around $90. Add a couple or three TT600 speedlights at around $65 each and you're off to a legit "beginner" start. Upgrade the lights - battery or plug in - as your skills and work need and you can pretty much cover anything. We all know that Profoto is great, just not a "beginner" setup.
I guarantee that everyone of the naysayers here didn't hesitate for a second when buying a two, three, or four thousand dollar camera body . . . which does very little to help make a great photo . . . whereas great light does.
This post was targeted at beginners. You began your journey into photography with a top of the line $4000 camera? Must be nice.
Every beginner I know starts out with a $4000 camera. Of course I only hang out with billionaires, and they have caddies to carry all their stuff, and private jets to get them to the photo locations, but hey, that's just me...
Few beginners start out with expensive equipment.
I am a beginner and especially I never shot with flash as i am focussed on street and night shots... But if you have kids ... What would you recommend to me that works with Fuji, Leica m and Sony? Budget wise I would be fine with 1500€ max ...
Long time Profoto user here, started with a used pair of Compact 600s, still using a pair of B1s and an A1. That being said, I wouldn’t recommend anything released after the B1X…the build quality of their newer models like the B10s is abysmal.
This would be a far more helpful article if it presented several approaches and options and described some of the uses and pros and cons of each. As a 20-year veteran of location lighting I am, frankly, horrified that you're pushing Profoto on beginners.
Many lighting beginners want to make a simple home/garage studio for making portraits. One can reasonably start learning and doing this kind of work with two $20 stands, a pair of $60 Godox TT600 speedlights, a $20 umbrella or two, a $40 octa, and a 4'x8' sheet of B&W foamcore. As the beginner develops more complex setups, they can then inexpensively add, say, another stand, a $100 large Paul C Buff PLM with diffusion, and a $250 AD200 or a $120 MS300 for more power and options, without obsoleting the beginner kit and having to start over.
This is the beauty of the Godox/Flashpoint gear: It ranges from 60WS speedlights to 2400WS pack & head sets, and all of it works together seamlessly.
Now, if one is starting at a high level, doing mostly studio work, and has money to burn on "the best", then Profoto gear certainly has a lot to recommend it. But, for an inexpensive low-power location kit, it's wholly inappropriate.
P.S.: In the photo at the top of the article, the speedlight alone costs $1100. Yeah, no.
EXACTLY my take. Two or three TT600's, a trigger, add assorted modifiers and stands, and the investment is under $500. That's actual "beginner" territory.
Say what? Profoto for beginners - give me a break.
Saw the title and the lead image - assumed it had to be some sort of bait and switch or a sarcastic article. Nope, straight up ad.
As others have said, Godox/Flashpoint/etc are by far the best for the beginner (and even most seasoned pros). Even if you had said Westcott, I would say that yeah, ok, that is an ecosystem that someone can grow with.
Saying beginners should get Profoto is about the same as saying that a teenagers first car should be an old 911.
For me, I ended up using a number of Godox products due to the low cost while still being decently reliable. and while some of their older stuff had an annoying UI, such as the Godox X1T, they greatly improved the UI of their newer products.
If i was looking at beginning studio photography, and I wanted to do some beginner studio work, I wouldn't mind profoto, though if talking high priced, something like in the attached image would also be a decent beginner setup for some basic studio work.
Overall, while the products are good, recommending them for beginner use (while it would be awesome for the purpose), it is a bit like how a beginner in doing basic repairs and maintenance on a car, wouldn't mind having a set of high end precision torque wrenches were commonly seen when workers were assembling the James Webb space telescope.
From a functional standpoint (ignoring price), there isn't really anything bad about profoto. Their lights are consistent, well made, and offer good results as seen in the work of many pros who use their products on complex shoots. For a beginner, it would also be extremely easy to use, though that is the case for more professional focused tools. For example the Sony A9 II is one of the most beginner friendly cameras, while it is not targeted at beginners, and certainly not priced for a beginner, a beginner would have a better experience with that camera over an entry level camera.
Profoto is the perfect choice for the beginner. Easy to use, very reliable, and you won’t throw money away on frequent upgrades. Beware of false “economy.” Getting it right from the beginning makes good economic sense. I began with a pair of B1 500 AirTTLs, later added an A1X and an A2. I would do exactly the same thing again.
For the event work that I do, Profoto would not be "getting it right" from the beginning, in the middle, or at the end. It'd be a tremendous waste of money.
In fact, I'm working with a successful wedding shooter whose lighting kit is all Profoto, and while the battery-powered monolights are versatile and easy to use, he seems deeply dissatisfied with the speedlights. One of two has malfunctioned, and the battery in the other drains with disappointing speed. He's got a Godox speedlight filling in for the busted A1 (A10?) and seems very interested in buying more Godox. He could get four Godox V1s for the same price, and replacement batteries are 1/6th the cost.
While it is important to not get products where you will quickly end up replacing them. For example, even if you are a beginner in car maintenance and repair, you still don't buy those $30-40 192 piece toolsets, because a few months, later, you will still be a beginner, and you will be back at the store or on amazon, buying the dewalt toolset, as that toolset + a decent torque wrench, will work for a wide range or repairs, including more complex ones such as replacing valve head gaskets, transmission swaps, and other non specialty things).
On the other hand, for the beginner, it would not be the most financially sound or practical decision to recommend they purchase a full set of Snap-on tools. While their $7500 toolset would likely be quite nice for the beginner to use, the beginner would not feel they made a good financial decision, even after they progress to doing the full range of maintenance and non specialty repair.
I have to agree with others on the Godox/Flashpoint system. It is affordable, offers great value and is scalable.
And if you buy the Flashpoint system from Adorama (for those of us in the US) you get great customer service and technical support.
Sigh. After I saw the price for that first link I knew was going to be shenanigans.
This should have been a fairly easy article to write but the main image gives it away as a shill piece. Roughly 8 years ago or so My starter kit was going to be an alien bees with a large parabolic. I had no idea about what battery packs did, I just knew if I could plug it into the wall I should be fine. Ironically I'm a on location photographer, So I wrestled with buying in-house studio gear.
Somewhere around that time I did a studio lighting class at international center of photography in midtown NYC. Really great class. Regardless of what was taught the teacher kept stressing if you didn't have connections you were not going to be a photographer. He was kind of wrong and right at the same time. You can still be coming photographer, but without the connections you won't be a working photographer. (Much). Great studio all profoto gear that was ludicrously expensive, much like the links for the USED gear gear that is still over double the quoted price in the article. That's just wild weird and hilarious.
Volatile finances be damned, I never did get that set up. Right now my home studio was taken down to make way for a real estate broker to take clean pictures of the walls. It never did go back up.
I ended up replacing the cameras, the 5D3 with a suspect AF brand new R6 Mark II, and now in R5 so I can actually feel like I upgraded from 22 MP. Problem of lighting never did get solved. I could pay a couple of hundred bucks a week or 700 for a class to learn it again, but... Okay going into the woods I'll stop here.
Cheers all. Get some godox.