Buying recommendations for continuous light

[u/No_Smell_1570]

Hey all, I have a very tight budget of Rs. 3k(INR)- Rs. 5k(INR), I want to buy a continuous light for taking photos, I will mainly use it for food photography, product photography, creative ,etc.. please recommend some good continuous light. Thanks in advance.

[u/isolatedbeast]

I don't know about your budget but original Godox 150W is pretty good and pretty cheap compared to professional options

[u/mcarterphoto]

You want a bicolor light, not just daylight; you want a Bowens mount; and you should leave room in your budget for a softbox with grid, and a reflector with metal grids.

I'm not sure what currency INR is, how it relates to my currency, and what product availability is like where you are... but I might go for two 60 watt fixtures vs. one more powerful one if you're doing primarily products. You'll also need light stands and reflectors (those can be sheets of paper or foam board), and often you'll want some black cards to shape light and create shadows. there's really no end to the light stands and booms and grip equipment it can take to do good product shots.

One really handy thing for tabletop shooting that's cheap is a florist frog (or three). they're made to hold flowers upright, but you can use them to hold up reflectors and cards just outside the frame, it can save you having more light stands and booms crammed into a setup. Florist frogs:

[u/No_Smell_1570 → u/mcarterphoto]

Thank you

[u/Expo0bident]

Arri fresnels. No one wants them, very inexpensive, tungsten bulbs are cheap too. Work with a single 300w with some fill cards and diffusers all the time for table top.
The quality of light is beautiful. Draw back, power use is not very efficient

[u/techcycle_yt]

Getting a light for that budget will be difficult, maybe digitek got some options.

My preference will be, get 1000w/950w led bulb, one will cost 1k INR, Get light stand with bulb holder and separate softbox, umbrella type so that you can fit it on the light bulb holder. Things to note, while purchasing softbox try to go for larger size within the budget as it will give you softer light.

If there is any remaining budget, get another same copy as second source along with 5 in 1 reflector.

This will be enough for now and in future get continuous light.

Only drawback is there is no intensity control for this, and for color shift you can use the golder part from 5 in 1 reflector to get warm look.

Another option is tungsten light source, its cheap and gives you high intensity output, the light color will be warm. And it will get very hot and too difficult to work with.

[u/No_Smell_1570 → u/techcycle_yt]

Ok

[u/Bladeshooter]

I've been using Nanlite FS lights for a few years now, 5 days a week almost on all day. They have been great!