If you’re a beginner looking to specialize in portraits and fashion, you may be daunted by the world of off-camera lighting; especially when the majority of your budget just got spent on your camera or lens. With that in mind, I’m going to go over the basics of setting up an off-camera lighting system as well as recommended budget equipment to get you started.

Part I: How to Set Up an Off-Camera Lighting System

Solution 1: Radio Trigger Method

Radio triggers are used to wirelessly connect your camera to your flash or strobe. The industry standard is the PocketWizard which retails between $170 to $300 depending on the model.

For a two light set up, you’ll need a transmitter (connects to your camera and sends off a signal) and two receivers (connects to your lights to receive camera’s signal), or three transceivers (combination receiver/transmitter such as the PocketWizard). This can get pretty expensive. A two light set up with the PocketWizard Plus II Transceiver for example will run you $510 (and we haven’t even looked into the cost of lights yet).

Price aside, this is the most convenient method due to the lack of wires. You also have complete access to any strobe or flash after you connect it to the receiver or transceiver. The connections are made with either a pc sync cable or a hot shoe flash adapter.

Solution 2: Optical Slave Method

The second wireless solution uses a receiver that reads the flash output of another light to fire the second light. Many strobes have this feature built in, however if you’re working with a flash you may need to buy an adapter like the Kaiser Hot Shoe Flash Slave. The problem arises with setting off the first flash with the camera. If you want to maintain a wireless set up, you’ll need a radio trigger from solution 1. While using the slave method may be cheaper than investing in multiple expensive receivers/transceivers, the method in my experience is much less reliable, especially if you are using light modifiers and attachments that may block the receiver.

Solution 3: Sync Cord Method

This method doesn’t give you the convenience of wireless lights, but is easily the cheapest solution. With a sync cord, you can attach a flash or strobe to your camera and use optical slaves from solution 2 to trigger your the rest of your lights. The major downside to this is that you’re tethered to one light which may be a problem depending on the type of work you’re doing.

Solution 4: Camera Transmitter Method

While this method isn’t for everyone, it could be a very cost effective solution if you already have a Canon/Nikon flash to compliment your camera. The Canon EOS 7D for example can wirelessly control Canon branded flashes. A few Sony DSLR’s have this option as well. Alternatively, you can attach a Canon ST-E2 to your Canon DSLR to give it this ability. Nikon shooters can pick up the Nikon Wireless Speedlight Commander for similar functionality. The downside to this is that you’ll be extremely limited in terms of compatible equipment if you attempt to shop outside your camera brand.

Other Ideas
Don’t let the four solutions above limit you. You can easily mix them up to work with your budget. If you already have the equipment for solution 4 and want to add a second flash without investing in an expensive camera branded flash head, you may be able to get by with a cheap light and one of the attachments from solution 2. The important thing is to understand all of the various methods to connect your flash or strobe to your camera and from there you can work out a system that fits your budget.

Part II: Finding Affordable Budget Equipment

Since your shopping options and prices are fairly limited if you are using either solutions 2-4, I’m going to focus this list on radio triggers only, in addition to flashes/strobes. For the most cost effective solution without sacrificing convenience, I recommend purchasing a reliable radio trigger for a single light and triggering other compatible lights through their optical slave systems.

Radio Trigger Recommendations

You really don’t want to skimp out on this. A quality transmitter makes a world of difference and the cheap models really aren’t worth the headache.

The PocketWizards are the industry standard for a reason. They just work. They are however not the only option and unless you plan to be firing massive lights from 1,600 feet away they probably aren’t worth the money for the budget photographer. I’ve used them countless times and as nice as they are, I decided to purchase a different set of receivers simply because they were overkill for my kind of work.

My personal favorite is Alienbee’s CyberSync System. You’ll want to pick up the CyberSync Transmitter for $60 and additional CyberSync Battery Powered Receivers for $70. I’ve never had a single misfire using this system and I’m quite happy with my decision to purchase this over the PocketWizards.

Impact’s PowerSync16 System is another option to look into if you want to shop around. The transmitter/receiver set can be bought for just $150 and additional receiver’s sell for $95. While I have no experience with these, I have a lot of praise of Impact’s cheap strobe lights with built in optical slaves and their product seems to have generally good reviews. Definitely something to consider, but I’ll still stick to my Alienbee’s.

Flash Recommendations

I like flashes. They’re small, portable, and fairly powerful. While they may not be able to offer the fast paced shooting and power that you can get with a strobe, they’re perfect if you like to carry your lights around.

You’ll definitely want something that offers manual controls. Plenty of people (*cough*… like me) like to purchase old manual flashes simply for off-camera use. The Vivitar 285HV is a great example of this and can be had for $90. This light is a workhorse and I love it to death. The only issue I can point out is that its large size makes it difficult to attach light modifiers sometimes. A little duck tape and other ghetto solutions can fix this, but it’s annoying nonetheless.

Other good options include the Nikon SB-26 and Nikon SB-24. These old flashes have gotten tremendous reviews from other photographers in the strobist community, however it’ll take a bit of effort to find used models at decent prices.

Strobe Recommendations

Shopping for budget strobes is something I have much less experience in. I don’t use strobes as much because they need to be plugged into outlets or large battery packs, and my style of shooting doesn’t require the power or speed they offer.

Impact’s EX100A Monolight Kit is an extremely cheap ($200 for a set of two) solution to the budget photographer. You definitely don’t want to pair this with other lights without a bit of research though. They seem to fire light at a slightly different temperature than all of my other flashes and I had to gel the bulb with a clear orange transparency to get the the light colors to match properly. On their own though, they’re a great starter kit for a beginner. One downside is their slow recycle time. The lights take about three seconds recharge in between each shot. At that rate you may be better off shopping for some manual flashes.

If you have a bit more spending cash, the AlienBees B400 might be of interest to you at $225. These lights have gotten great reviews and with a .5 second recycle time, they’re definitely a good option if you’re trying to shoot anything remotely fast while staying on a budget.

Part III: Further Reading

Looking for a more detailed scoop on equipment for your first off-camera lighting system? The Strobist lighting tutorials is one of the most in depth sources you’ll find to help you get your gear set up. Everything from how to connect your transceiver to your flash to how to secure a flash to a light stand is covered on that site.

Strobist: Lighting 101