Last night I spent 3 hours sifting through pages and pages of lighting products on the B+H site. I learned as I went along, googling this and that and by the end I had myself a wish list full of beginners standard equipment. Just before I went to bed I purchased that wish list. I didn’t want to be second guessing my choices because that can go on forever and it usually ends up costing me a lot more money.

I bought the following items:

Lighting

1 x Photogenic Umbrella and Stand Kit – includes: 2- 45″ Eclipse Umbrellas, Mounts, …
3 x Vivitar 285HV Professional Auto Shoe Mount Flash (Guide No.120′/37 m at 35mm)

Film

5 x Kodak TX 135-36 Tri-X Pan Black & White Print Film (ISO-400) USA
5 x Kodak 400CN 135-36 400 CN Professional Black & White Print Film (ISO-400)
1 x Fujifilm RVP 135-36 Fujichrome Velvia 100 Professional Color Slide
2 x Fujifilm RVP 135-36 Fujichrome Velvia 50 Professional Color Slide

Other

1 x Epson Perfection 4490 Photo, 4800 x 9600 dpi, Letter Size, Flatbed Scanner
1 x Tiffen 58 mm Clear Coated Glass Filter

All I’m missing is some triggers for the flashes and I decided to go with the eBay style triggers. I know they have problems but the percentage of misfires is low and they are a tiny fraction of the cost of Pocket Wizards which I couldn’t afford for 3 flashes. I’m also getting a 5-in-1 42″ reflector kit from eBay as that was really cheap compared to the B+H one. I can’t see myself using them that much so eBay crap it is.