Digital Concepts Ps-101 Portable Lighting Studio
by Sakar International Inc.
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List Price: Our Price: $58.90 You Save: $11.05 (16%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $46.00 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Digital Concepts Ps-101 Portable Lighting Studio
Customer Review: Great product!Great Price!
Summary: 5 Stars
Pleased with this purchase. It is as described and satisfied with its use for its price. Excellent.Customer Review: portable lighting studio
Summary: 5 Stars
I was really impressed with the portable lighting studio. Everything in the studio is top notch!Customer Review: Great solution for product photography
Summary: 4 Stars
As a photographer interested in capturing product shots, I seriously looked into this product but previously held off due to the negative reviews posted. Fortunately, I got this as a gift over the holiday season, and my earlier hesitation proved to be unjustified. While I can understand the hesitation of those who feel that it's overpriced, I am very happy with this product and strongly recommend it.
THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES
I was originally considering buying the Sakar product since it was cheaper than alternatives, but while researching it I came across some Do-It-Yourself solutions online (you can Google "DIY macro photo studio") that I was hoping to pursue, but I got this as a gift before I was able to construct my own alternative. While I understand people's reluctance to shell out over 30 dollars for this product, many competing photo boxes I came across online were much more expensive.
BUILD QUALITY
This is a well-built product that easily folds up. I love how portable this is! It's also very light, so it easily stays put together with the Velcro straps. The Tripod was suitable for my point-and-shoot, but [understandably] too weak for my bulkier SLR camera. I'm very happy with the construction of this product.
LIGHTING
The lighting is good, but could be better. I don't think it's as bad as some of the negative reviews made it out to be, but at 20 watts these bulbs don't generate enough light for a perfect picture. While a serious photographer might find this to be a problem, for most people the pictures should probably come out good enough. Just a note, the lights get really hot, so you might want to wait a little before you put it back into the carrying case. You probably could go to a hardware store and get replacements as some have suggested, although I haven't done this myself.
PHOTO QUALITY
I have uploaded several images to the gallery so you can get a better feel for the product (please vote!). For the most part I am pleased with the images, but they are not perfect. The creases in the fabric backdrop show, the lighting is a bit warm and inaccurate, but still, it's better than nothing. The fact that the backdrop is reversible (different colors on either side) comes in handy, and gives you more flexibility depending on what you're shooting.
BOTTOM LINE
This is not cheap, but it's also not as expensive as some of the competing photo boxes. Its portability is incredibly useful, but the lights that come with the unit are a bit weak for serious photographers. I do think that this is better than nothing, so while I received this as a gift, if I had to buy one myself I think it is worth getting. For those who are reluctant to spend the money, you can find easy DIY alternatives on the web.
Customer Review: Nice Portable Light Box
Summary: 4 Stars
The PS-101 is a very convenient portable photo studio.
Pros:
-Studio holds all included products.
-Sturdy.
-Lights are very stable.
-Mini Tripod good for small cameras (Would not use a DSLR due to the weight but if you have a $600+ camera you are not using a $5 dollar tripod anyway).
-Well made two sided backdrop.
Cons:
-The light's are built well however the bulbs are underpowered as other reviewers have stated. Just stop at Home Depot or Lowe's and pickup 2 50-watt GU10 bulbs for about 10 dollars total. I do not blame the manufacturer for the underpowered bulbs. They most likely did it due to the fact halogen's run hot. If you do get more powerful bulbs; only leave them on for short periods of time. Also remember the lights are meant to remove shadows and not for full lighting.
-No black/white backdrop. You can order one for 13 with s/h from manufacturer (not too bad for the quality) however I would think they could have included this.
-When you fold the backdrop into the studio for travel it has a bad habit of creasing.
Customer Review: Works well for small items, but could do with another light
Summary: 4 Stars
The box has shown itself to work well for photos taken with my 5MP digital snapshot camera (nothing fancy) using a combination of the provided lights and the built-in flash. It took some playing around with light position to make sure no shadows. But, once I did, the pictures were really clean with night color and light balance. An extra light would help for some bigger items, but I used a task light for that, and it worked fine (the color is not the same as the halogens, but since I was using for behind the object, it made no difference).
The whole thing folds up and the lights fit into a pouch. This is useful for storage and carrying.
The backdrop can be reversed to get two possible colors. The backdrop cloth is heavy duty and looks good in the picture (no blotches). It drapes well, which is important.
I think this works as well as the far more expensive ones of the same size.
Only word of advice: check the size and what you will be photographing. I found some items were too big.