Photoflex First Studio Product Kit Review

If you like to shoot still photos of items or take product shots for eBay or other auction sites you probably know that a good picture of your item can have a big impact on if it sales and for how much. Getting good product shots is much easier now thanks to Photoflex’s First Studio Product Kit. Read on to find out what’s included and how well the kit performs.

Gallery

7 images

Benchmarks

Features & Specifications
When you buy the Photoflex First Studio Product Kit you get two FirstStar light heads, two FirstStar 250W lamps, two 2205 LiteStands and one medium LiteIgloo shooting enclosure. The medium LiteIgloo measures 19.75 x 19.75 x 19.75 inches so it is large enough for lots of products, though if you shoot very small items you may find the lighting is not bright enough.

If you take product shots with a digital camera using flash you will have noticed that the flash tends to blur the details of the product you are shooting, especially so if the product is light colored or reflective at all. With the Photoflex First Studio Product Kit, the LiteIgloo filters the light from the FirstStar light heads so you don’t have to use flash to shoot your pictures and the soft light also prevents shadows from showing up on your subject.

All the products included in the Photoflex First Studio Product Kit are built with excellent quality. The light stands have three different sections that you can height adjust and the light heads are very easy to adjust on the stands. The stands themselves adjust from about three feet tall to eight feet tall. The LiteIgloo is made from a while nylon material that lets most of the light through to the interior of the enclosure, but filters out any harsh shadows or glare.

Included with the LiteIgloo are two background sweeps, one white that makes the product look like its floating on a white webpage and one blue sweep for those that use chromakey to remove the product from a background. Velcro tabs on the inside of the enclosure hold the backgrounds securely and tabs on the out side hold the front flaps open.

Using the First Studio Product Kit
Using the kit is very easy, simply place the lights close to the sides of the LiteIgloo, turn them on and you are ready to shoot your product shots. Be sure that the bulb doesn’t touch the sides of the LiteIgloo or it can discolor the material. Depending on the angle at which you need to take you r shots you can position the LiteIgloo so you can shoot from the front or from the top of the enclosure.

If you look around the I4U site here, I have been using the Photoflex First Studio Product Kit on all the product reviews recently that feature product that will fit inside the enclosure. I have found that really small items, like the 8600 GT video card I reviewed recently, tend to be under lit inside the medium size LiteIgloo. This isn’t due to a fault of the Photoflex system, but is due to the size of the enclosure. I really need a small light enclosure for a lot of the work I do. However, even in an enclosure that is too large for the item being shot the difference in the photo quality is undeniable. You can see details of the product without them being in too much shadow or covered by too much light. There are no harsh reflections on the products and the soft lighting makes the images look much better.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

• Quality build on all components
• Lots of adjustment in the light stands
• Includes everything you need to get started

Cons

• Heat from bulbs can discolor LiteIgloo

Verdict
Any person who shoots product shots for auction sites like eBay or for websites should own the Photoflex First Studio Product Kit, the improvement in image quality you get when using this kit is fantastic. The kit is of great quality for the price of right at $267 making it quite a bargain.

What Others Say about This

DIARY-Malaysia 2012 corporate earnings

Following is a list of release dates for the quarterly earnings of top Malaysia-listed companies. All dates are confirmed except those marked by a "T", which means it will be released around those dates. To submit a date, email: burhan.shariff@thomsonreu ...
Full article at: Reuters.co.uk  More like this  5 hours ago

DIARY-Malaysia 2012 corporate earnings

Following is a list of release dates for the quarterly earnings of top Malaysia-listed companies. All dates are confirmed except those marked by a "T", which means it will be released around those dates. To submit a date, email: burhan.shariff@thomsonreu ...
Full article at: Reuters  More like this  5 hours ago

What is a Virtual Operations Support Team?

I’m fortunate to be working with a group of #SMEM* friends who like to help each other during disasters. We train on real disasters as well as live non-disaster events, such as conferences and fast-moving popular events, so that we can test new social me ...
Full article at: IDisaster 2.0  More like this  11 hours ago, 12:26pm CST

Don't miss ...

• More Misc Stories
• I4U News Homepage