Re: Need advice about flash kit for studio lighting

Robin,
I'm not the best person to be giving advice on specific brands. I just haven't used that many different brands of lights. Someone who works in a very large studio that has been in business for a long time would be better. Did you know that Creative Cow has a lighting forum, too? This might be better posted over there. Leo Ticheli and others over there light scenes and sets for a living and know an awful lot.

One thing I'd say about battery powered lights (the situation may have changed since I last looked at them which was probably around three years ago, so don't take this as gospel but investigate it yourself). When I was checking them out they were about twice the price and also about half the power (or less) of strobes. Of course half the power is only one f stop but those f stops add up, especially on some shots when you need as much depth of field as possible. If you have a specific purpose for battery units (shooting a portrait of the president on location on a hurricane disaster site, for example, or a rock band backstage hurrying off to catch an airline flight - boy, I'd like to have those gigs!) then they make sense.

I'd also point out it's likely there would be few light modifiers for battery units and the hardware is likely to be lighter weight than optimum.

Richard