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I am about to buy lighting but my budget is low. This will be for small product photography (perfume bottles). I thought of using a Godox SK400II (strobe) and this Godox SL150 (CoB LED video light) to photograph products.

I do not have any experience in the subject of photography and lighting, for this reason I want your advice. The photos will initially taken with a phone camera.

Perhaps in the coming days I will be able to buy a camera.

Is the Godox SK400II a good choice if I use it as a continuous light. I don't have a Trigger because I don't have a camera, as I said above. Does it have more power than a Godox SL150?

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There is no 1 correct answer to your question, but here is my opinion…….

If you are going to use your cellphone camera, you need to have continuous lighting. One light will not be enough as you will need multiple lights to control the lighting angles and shadows.

Don’t waste your money on expensive dedicated photo lighting gear until you actually buy a camera and know how to use it.

Go to your local hardware store and buy 3 or 4 reflectors and bright LED bulbs. I would go for “daylight” 5000K bulbs, and if you want to get fancy, you could buy “Smart” bulbs that can be controlled with your smart phone using an APP.

Another good option is buying an entry level soft box kit for about $150.

As with any lighting setup, you will need to experiment and move the lights around to get the best lighting effects.

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    \$\begingroup\$ I use 15 watt (equivalent to a 100W incandescent), 5000°K LED bulbs (not the reflector type) with work lights as shown above. For a diffuser, I use frosted mylar printing material or bounce the lights off a white panel. Work lights are under $10 each. For product photography, continuous lights are much easier to set up unless you have a lot of experience using strobes for product photography. \$\endgroup\$
    – qrk
    Oct 24, 2021 at 4:54
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Is the Godox SK400II a good choice if I use it as a continuous light.

No. Because it's a studio strobe, and cannot put out continuous light.

Does it have more power than a Godox SL150?

Yes, quite a bit. This Petapixel article did measurements to attempt to equate Godox's strobes with their continuous video lights. Another Godox 400 Ws strobe (the AD400 Pro) measured at +2.7EV over target illumination, while the VL150 (a 150W CoB LED light, similar to an SL150) measured at -3EV.

So, the SK400 II is probably around 5-6 stops more powerful, or gives out roughly 32-64x more light than the continuous video light.

Also, if you could use it, the SK400 II might be too big/powerful for small product photography, particularly if used close in to the subject, because its minimum power setting is only 1/16.

I think if you have to get lighting gear, that LED panels might actually serve you better than either light you're looking at, if you aren't going to start off with a simple light-tent and desk lamps or work lamps.

Wait until you have a camera with a flash hotshoe before looking at strobes.

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