Autumn...

Autumn...

by Linus Kleen

submit your photo


Picture of the Week Themes
Suggest and vote on themes

Please participate in Meta
and help us grow.

Tell me more ×
Photography Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professional, enthusiast and amateur photographers. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 0 down vote favorite

I am starting a photo studio and i am trying to buy cheap equipment (lights,props,...) or even if I find the material I make them myself. Does anyone know any online shops? In Europe preferably. Thanks

share|improve this question
1  
I don't think the broad "are there websites in Europe where one can buy photo equipment" can possibly be better answered here than with a Google search – mattdm Jan 13 at 16:32
2  
Cheap equipment may end up costing you more than decent equipment, especially if you're starting a studio. Also, your question would be more answerable if you limited it to some specific kind of equipment. Are you looking for backdrops? Strobes? Light stands? Cameras? – Caleb Jan 15 at 2:57

4 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

The term is usually "DIY" not "DYI" although this may be different in the country where you are from. If you are going to "DIY"(Do It Yourself) that usually consists of buying products from non-traditional vendors. So the equipment would likely come from home improvement or hardware stores to begin with, and may also include some online retailers(although again not traditional photography vendors).

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

Not too sure about cheap equipment but I like to buy some of my equipment from WEX Photography. As mentioned in another answer Ebay may be a good place to go to get some second hand equipment.

share|improve this answer
up vote 0 down vote

I don't think you can really make your own strobes and other lights, but you sure can make light modifiers (snoots, grids, gobos, cookies,etc.) http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101-cereal-box-snoots-and.html

Props are nearly always just found stuff, so look at your local thrift store.

I made a setup to hand backgrounds from my ceiling using some electrical conduit and chain, which I used until I decided to spring for some portable background stands.

share|improve this answer
Actually you can make your own strobes (the electronics in manual flashes are surprisingly simple, especially if you give up on fancy stuff like setting the light power) and you can re-purpose the flash from old P&S or disposable cameras - but I don't recommend it unless you really know what you are doing. even the tiny built in flash of a disposable camera stores enough power to potentially kill a person if he touches the capacitor – Nir Jan 13 at 22:04
Yeah, but since the voltages can KILL YOU if you don't know what you are doing, I usually tell people that they can't do it. What I really mean is that they should not, but that is longer. – Pat Farrell Jan 14 at 1:57
up vote 0 down vote

  1. eBay

    You can order cheap (new, not second hand) speedlights, light modifiers and props from China on eBay - you can't get everything and what you do get are cheap knock-offs (so don't expect the quality of original Canon/Nikon/Prophoto/etc.) but you can get a lot of things for ridiculously cheap prices - and for most Chinese sellers international shipping is free.

  2. http://www.diyphotography.net/

    The largest collection of photography related DIY tutorials I know of (they also have an e-book that seems like a nice easy way to get the basic tutorials - but I didn't buy or read that e-book myself so I don't really know what's in there)

share|improve this answer
Also, DSLR Experiment has their own DIYs that I found to be useful, although these include both photo and video shooting. – Chaithanya M Jan 13 at 17:31

Your Answer

 
discard

By posting your answer, you agree to the privacy policy and terms of service.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.