On the other hand, all those gear purchases can really add up and when you just bought a new camera two years ago, can you justify buying a new one now—even if it does shoot incredibly clean ISO 6400 images at nine frames per second?
And what if you don't need only a camera, but you also need lenses, lighting, a computer, and all those other essential items such as light meters, gobos and backdrops to get a portrait studio up and running? And what if you could only scrounge together $3,000 to buy all this stuff?
Sounds impossible if you're looking for professional gear, right? Well, not exactly, as photographers Jason Groupp, David DuPuy and I found out when PDN offered us $3,000 to go on an imaginary shopping spree for a new digital studio. Of course, we didn't factor in the biggest expense of all—the actual cost of studio space—but, instead, followed David's thrifty approach, which is to use part of his New York City apartment as his photography studio.
Believe it or not, keeping equipment costs down wasn't as hard as we had thought, thanks to those saviors of budgets spenders everywhere: eBay and Craigslist. What was difficult was agreeing on exactly what gear to spend the $3,000 on. With the amount of affordable pro equipment available online (albeit much of it several years old or older) the product combinations are endless.
So instead of trying to come up with one master list we could all agree on, Jason decided to go off on his own $3,000 spending spree while David and I teamed up to fill our virtual shopping cart with studio gear. Here's what we came up with.
With just $3,000 to spend, a medium-format digital camera was pretty much out of the question. (The best I could find was a used Mamiya 645AFD on eBay for $909—but that didn't include a digital back.)
Also, although many recent consumer digital SLRs are vastly better than, say, the original Digital Rebel from Canon, we wanted to stick to professional-grade equipment which meant having to find something a couple of years old.
For our camera, David and I grabbed an original 11.1-megapixel Canon EOS 1Ds on eBay for a final auction price of $1,095. Though this seemed kind of pricey for a DSLR that's now nearly seven years old, the 1Ds' still-respectable 11.1 megapixels of resolution, low-noise, full-frame CMOS sensor, and rugged overall build make this still an excellent choice, which is, perhaps, why the 1Ds's resale value remains high.
Sneaky Jason went the prosumer route, purchasing not just one, but two 8.2 megapixel-Canon EOS 30D camera bodies for $365 a piece. Though the 30D was released back in 2006, Jason says he's impressed with the quality of the imaging files that come out of that camera, noting that they're comparable to the 5D. His reason for choosing two bodies? You gotta have a backup.
Interestingly, we all chose Canon over Nikon cameras, mostly because of the fact that Nikon's recent high-quality DSLRs were way too expensive for our budgets, while the older models have not aged well.
| MONEY SPENT SO FAR |
| David & Dan: $1,095 Jason: $730 |
Lenses were our toughest decision since quality glass can be very steep. Instead of going for less- expensive, third-party lenses from Tamron or Sigma, David and I stuck with Canon, choosing the EF 85mm f/1.8 USM as our prime lens, even though we really wanted the 85mm f/1.2L. (The difference in price between the two was considerable: we found an 85mm f/1.8 for $333, whereas the cheapest 85mm f/1.2L we could find was $1,275—and that was from a low-rated seller.)
For our zoom lens, I found a versatile Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS on eBay for $879, which is not bad since that lens continues to be one of Canon's most popular L-series zooms.
Meanwhile, Jason pigged out on lenses on eBay, finding a "new" Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 for $350, and a Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens for $310. Since he was doing fairly well, so far, on keeping his costs down, Jason then splurged on a zoom lens, finding a "brand new" Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM for $1,100.
| MONEY SPENT SO FAR |
| David & Dan: $2,307 Jason: $2,490 |
After eating up most of the $3,000 on cameras and lenses, the only way to stay within budget on lighting would be to go for some kind of all-in-one kit. Needless to say, a high-end lighting system from Speedotron, Profoto or Broncolor was going to be out of the question. At the same time, we didn't want something that was going to be so weak and cheap it would be useless. Maybe because proper studio lighting is difficult for even semi-experienced photographers to understand, there's a lot of junk peddled on eBay and Craigslist as "professional" kits.
Since our budget was small, I had no delusions of finding a diamond in the rough when it came to lighting, so I just looked for any strobe set-up that could give me around 600 watt-seconds of power.
Though I like Alien Bees for good, inexpensive lighting, I couldn't find anything that would offer me a complete two-light set-up for under $600. So instead, I went with a company I hadn't heard of before, called Steve Kaeser Backgrounds, which was selling a new "3 Studio Flash/Strobe Wireless 600 W/S Lighting Kit" on eBay for $300. Not exactly ideal (each MX-200 strobe/flash head delivers just 200 w/s of power for a total of 600 w/s) but it would have to do. The kit also included a 30 x 30-inch softbox; a white/black portrait umbrella; a barndoor/colored gel set with honeycomb for softening the light; a 24 x 36-inch, 5-in-1-reflector panel, and three 6.5-foot light stands.
I also nabbed a new Sekonic L-308S L308S Flashmate Light Meter for $143.
Jason decided to go with a hot lights, finding a slightly pared-down, used version of a Lowell DV Creator 1 kit, which includes Pro-lights, Omni-lights and Tota-lights, stands, barndoors, gels, flags umbrellas and a nifty, hard-shell carrying case. The entire package sold for $475.
In addition to the lighting kit, Jason factored in $100 for assorted extras, including material to build a DIY one-foot by two-foot diffuser panel using wood and stretched opaque lux fabric to soften the Lowell hot lights.
| MONEY SPENT SO FAR |
| David & Dan: $2,750 Jason: $3,065 |
Assorted Extras
Though Jason had run over his limit, David and I still had a couple hundred extra bucks to buy a secondhand 7.5-foot Arkay camera stand ($100), which was sturdy enough to support the Canon 1Ds and could be wheeled around the studio and adjusted. We also bought a 24-inch x 25-foot roll of Rosco Matte Black Cinefoil ($30) that we could use to create an improvised snoot or flag; and a used 10 x 12-foot Westcott Muslin background sheet ($80) from B&H Photo.
Finally, we stole an old painter's drop cloth ($0) from David's building to use as an alternate background. When shot at a low f/stop, the blurred-out drop cloth creates a cool Jackson Pollack-like background behind our subjects.
| MONEY SPENT |
| David & Dan: $2,960 Jason: $3,065 |
| BUYER BE WARY |
| Shopping for photography equipment at online auction sites and classified listings such as Craigslist does come with some obvious caveats. First off, while it's not exactly "Buyer Beware" on eBay, it's certainly "Buyer Be Wary." Before you buy anything on eBay, check the seller's ratings first. If it's anything less than 98 percent positive, forget it. Also note the number of ratings a seller has and what types of sales he or she has made. A healthy amount of business selling photo gear without complaint probably means that it is safe to buy. eBay does offer built-in protection when you buy: you are insured for up to $200 for items not delivered or not delivered as described but that's a pittance if you just bought a pricey DSLR. If you use PayPal to make your purchase (and we still think it's the best way to buy almost anything online), you may be eligible for up to $2,000 of protection, but that's contingent on the type of buyer and the item. Craigslist is often cheaper than eBay, but also more risky, so always buy local and visit the seller so you can check out the equipment first. Also, never pay with cash. And finally, pretty much any used photo gear you buy online will no longer be under warranty, so always remember that being extra frugal has some inherent risks. Always do plenty of research before you make the purchase. |
| FIVE BEST BARGAINS IN PHOTOGRAPHIC SUPPLIES | |||||
Not all great photography equipment has to cost an arm an a leg. So, in a nod to the shaky economic times we're living in, here are five recent imaging products we think will give you a lot of bang for your bucks.
Any lens cleaner that NASA developed to scrub high-end electronic displays and now sells for just $10 a bottle is all right with us. Instead of using alcohol, ammonia or other harsh solvents, Purosol is made with a safe, organic blend of plant extracts that removes dirt from your lens without streaking, smearing or damaging lens coatings. Completely natural and non-toxic, Purosol creates an anti-static barrier on your lens that repels dust to help you cut down on further cleaning. Cost: $10. URL: www.purosol.com |
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Though the Epson P-7000 is a super-sweet multimedia player and handheld storage device, at $799 it is also super expensive. If you're looking for something that's considerably cheaper but still gets the job done, the NEXTO eXtreme ($210) is a functional portable storage device. Though it has hardly any of the bells and whistles of the P-7000 (its measly one-inch square display is no match for the Epson's 4-inch LCD) the NEXTO eXtreme lets you quickly back up all your images via a built-in memory card reader or USB. So when you're out in the field and your memory cards are filling up, dump all your photos onto NEXTO with the touch of a button and go back to shooting. Cost: $210. URL: www.nextodi.com
We love specialty inkjet photo paper but it can be extremely expensive, especially anything you see described as a "Baryta" paper, which uses a base coating of barium sulfate to give it a chemical darkroom look and feel. One of the best and least expensive of the so-called Barytas is Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk, which excels at black-and-white printing, but costs less than half the price of top-drawer competitors such as Epson's Exhibition Fiber Paper. Cost: $40 (8.5 x 11 inches, 50 sheets). URL: www.ilford.com |
One of the best results of the "strategic alliance" between Microsoft and Phase One from over a year ago is that the two companies are now bundling some of their software together at a reduced price. In a special deal for PDN readers, Microsoft is offering its solid but still criminally unknown digital asset management software, Microsoft Expressions Media 2, with Phase One's continually excellent RAW converter, Capture One 4, for 20 percent off. Just log on to www.microsoft.com/prophoto/bettertogether and enter this code at checkout: PDN2009. Final price with the discount will come to $159. 20. The offer will be available until March 15, 2009. Cost: $159.20.
Yes, as always with Tamron, this lens has a long name but, thankfully, a short street price: just $670. It is hard to believe that a lens with such a fast aperture and solid zoom range would cost anything less than a grand, but somehow Tamron has been able to keep the cost down while putting out a quality piece of glass. While it may not be as sharp or as fast to focus as comparable 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses from Canon and Nikon, this Tamron beast is still a beauty, offering great versatility for shooting in a range of lighting conditions at a bargain basement price. Cost: $670. URL: www.tamron.com |
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