PHOPIK Softbox Lighting Kit 2X20X28 inch Professional Continuous Studio Photography Photo Studio Equipment with 2×85W 5500K E27 Socket Bulbs for Portraits and Product Shooting

I am a portrait photographer, and currently use strobes for most of my jobs. Strobes allow me to balance the shot with sunlight more easily. Since continuous lights don’t produce as much light, I was a bit skeptical that I could use these small lights in my setup.Much to my surprise, these lights do produce quite a bit of light. In these behind the scene photos, I am balancing artificial lighting with ambient light coming into our studio.After using these lights, I can really see who they would work well for.These lights are good for:1: Those who like to take photos with shallow depth of field.2: Those who have a dedicated space where controlling the light is possible.3: Those who are not used to using artificial lighting and want to try. Being able to see the light on your model’s face makes it so much easier and faster to set up than strobes.This setup comes with two soft boxes with diffusers, lightbulbs, and stands in a compact bag that fits all of them. The design of the soft boxes makes them very easy tot set up and take down. If you are starting out with artificial lighting, or if you need a small lighting setup for videos, it’s hard to beat these lights, especially for the price. I would love to see steadier and taller light stands for future products to allow changing angles more safely, but these light stands work for typical sitting poses. (In the second behind the scenes photo, you can see I changed the stand to allow my subject (5”6) to stand up.)If you are a primarily a natural light shooter and want to expand your skill set to artificial lights, these lights might be one of the best to try out. The product is inexpensive, comes with everything you need to start shooting, and continuous light allows you to shoot similarly to the way you would with natural light.Note: We were sent this product by Phopik. This review is honest and reflects our actual experience with using the product.

It's a really cool unit:EQUIPMENT:The unit comes with two identical, stands, softboxes, bulbs, and a nice carrying case. it's a continuous white light with no control of brightness or warmth but makes up by creating a flicker-free and fairly evenly lit surface. The connection is simply plugged in with an on and off switch.OPERATIONS:I love the unit. it does a very good job of giving you what you need to create nice commercial lighting or portrait lighting. The units are however not super bright as to be expected so you do want to use these in a very dark room or studio and close proximity to your subject. The last shot you see is working with the light. On average at iso 100 and f2.8, I was hovering around 1/80th of shutter speed so I hope that puts into perspective the brightness. They remained on and fully functional during my use so I was very happy with them.COULD BE BETTER:The bulbs are my main concern. The unit does come with styrofoam casing but I wish they had something slightly better that would keep them more secure. It would also be great if there was an option for slightly brighter bulbs so you could shoot with them a little further out.Overall, I was thinking of giving it 4 stars because of the last few improvements but honestly, for the money they are excellent. I love how they give you everything you need to set up and you can easily add another set and have a fully functioning system and it's all under the cost of just one good strobe! that's crazy! It's constant light so for beginners it's even better and doesn't have to deal with strobes and the unit is easy to put together and take apart.

Pros:First, let’s talk about the setup of the soft boxes! I am a small female and it was extremely easy to figure out how to put these lights together. They are very lightweight too, so it’s great for transporting from shoot to shoot.The lightbulbs are huge and produced a lot of light! The box cover helps diffuse the light enough to adjust for shadows. These soft boxes would be good for someone who has to video-chat on Zoom for work during the pandemic. They make your skin look great on video!The height of the umbrellas is adjustable ranging from 2-3ft to at least 7 feet which is nice if you need more or less height.Cost: These are worth the cost especially if you are like me, and you’re more new to the added accessories for camera gear. I do not want to invest into something that is too expensive because I am ameture. These are great to start with and have in your arsenal to learn with!Cons:The lightweight umbrellas tip over very easily so be sure to have them secured down to avoid any damage to the lights or others.The lightbulbs cast a more bright, blue tone than a warm tone. This could be great for certain situations or worse for some. The cord isn’t very long so you may need to have an extension cord with you when using these. Overall, they're a great set of starter lights for me! I would recommend them to anyone starting out in photography.