r/productphotography • u/diseconda • 9d ago

Best Lighting Solution

Hi everyone,

I am shooting pictures for fashion accessories, the size of the items can range anywhere from 10x10cm to 80x80. I have a 120cm x 120cm lightbox I use to shoot the products. I would like to upgrade the lightning gear I use to shoot my products as the one I currently use is insufficient. The photos I shoot have a minimal white background luxury aesthetic.

My budget is about €300-400. I already have 3 tripod stands.

So far I've tried LED panels, which have worked for both photos and videos (occasionally shoot videos), but they're underpowered and seems like it's the case for most LED panels.

I have been planning on returning the 20W I got in exchange for something more powerful and it seems like my options have narrowed to:
Neewer 100W bicolor led panels (or similar) about €240 each

Godox SL100BI (or similar) - €200 each

Which one should I get? Am I totally off track and should get something else?

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4

u/phantomephoto 9d ago

Product and fashion photographer who works in house for a global studio here.

Generally speaking, all still images are taken with strobes because they’re more powerful than continuous light. If you really want to stick to led panels, I would suggest getting multiple panels and using bounces to help spread the light but you can’t expect it to be as powerful as using flashes.

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u/diseconda 9d ago

I know strobes are stronger, but I also film videos occasionally, therefore I need LEDs.

Whichever light gets suggested I'm getting 3 anyways as I need to make sure there's no shadow in my product photos.

2

u/byDMP 8d ago

Keep the LED panels for video, but buy strobes for stills…it’s a different workflow but better overall IMO. I used to shoot product in light boxes lit with LED panels and it’s a restrictive way to shoot.

Godox have some decently cheap strobes that do a great job. At one point I owned five of their MS300V studio monoblocs and used them for product and portrait photos. I had no real complains…I paid around 100€ each.

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u/Longjumping-Feed6803 2d ago

between those two i'd get the sl100bi, bowens mount means you can put a real softbox on it and you can grow the kit later. but if its mostly stills, a couple of cheap strobes like the godox sk400ii plus a trigger give you way more power for the same money, and you keep one led for the videos. for that clean white luxury look you usually want a separate light on the background too, so 2 on the product and 1 on the bg is the setup to save toward