There’s just something about creating your own photo studio at home that makes the art of photography so much fun.
But no photographer’s road to mastery is without its bumps. From discovering the perfect camera settings for capturing lightning or taking a perfect low-light portrait, to getting the right lighting for your photo, there are a lot of challenges along the way.
One of the challenges is finding the right portable studio lighting set to have with you when having photoshoots outside your studio.
In the sea of portable photography lights, this list of the best photography studio kits gives you some ideas for how to get started. If you still don’t know where to start, we’ve given our favorites below!
You should be asking yourself these questions when trying to find the best portable photo studio set:
You want to know what color your light is going to be.
The more Kelvins (K) your light gives, the more cooler it will be. This can mimic natural sunlight the best and is great for videos. Warmer tones are also good for softer portraits.
You want to know how strong the light is.
Knowing how many watts your light has, will let you better determine in what kind of locations and lighting conditions you can best photoshoot.
You want to look for a kit for your needs.
When buying a portable kit, more is not always more. If you’re looking for great lighting sources, getting a backdrop in the deal and simultaneously compromising with the quality of the light is not something you want to do.
Indeed, if there’s some extra clips for future background buildups, that won’t do you no harm.
Here are the best portable photography studio kits that’s going to be worth your investment.
Disclosure: There are some affiliate links below and I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post, but these are all products I highly recommend. I won’t put anything on this page that I haven’t verified and/or personally used.
Neewer Studio Kit
If you are a beginner, you may be wondering what the best portable photography studio kit is. The answer is Neewer Studio Lighting Kit. This complete photo studio kit has everything you could possibly need to get started on your journey as a professional photographer.
Perfect set for home studios both outdoor and indoor. Make portraits or document any artwork or products, this set is for that.
Everything is easily assembled and made of durable material that wont break or tear easily. Lighting can be effortlessly switched between tungsten and daylight. Some of the LED lights won’t diffuse as well inside the soft box as outside of them.
This Neewer Lighting Kit set is really a nice set of lighting for a nice price point. The mod light has a dimmer and has selectable color spectrum; a pure white one and the other is colored as warm white. The whole set folds nicely and has a carry-on bag where everything fits well for portability. This item can sometimes be found with a limited offer. Overall a good product at a great price.
Make sure you are careful with the stands; some might feel lighter than usual and can tip over easily.
Overall this set is really a great for a nice price point.
KIT INCLUDES
- 3 x 45W Dimmable LED light head
- 3 x 20×27 inch / 50×70 cm softbox
- 3 x 88 inch / 224 cm light stand
- 1 x boom arm
- 1 x empty sandbag
- 1 x carrying bag
45W dimmable LED bulbs with 2 Color Temperatures: 2700K and 5500K.
EMART Studio Set
Our favorite beginner’s kit is the EMART Studio Set.
Set up up a simple home studio for YouTube videos or portraits with this portable photo studio set from EMART. Fits easily in a closet. Setting up this set takes about 20 minutes, with the backdrop and stands.
This kit includes white umbrellas, so if you’re looking for warmer tones, you’ll need to purchase the set with the third light.
The quality of the materials isn’t quite as good as some of our other options here—the backdrop stand doesn’t feel like it could handle much weight without bending—but it’s still an affordable option for people who want quick access to something similar in size but don’t want to spend hundreds on equipment just yet.
Note that these lights do not actually result in the same video results as daylight. Mimicking authentic daylight with these is simply not possible. So these lights alone wont fix the lighting situation for an entire room you might have, but for a small concentrated space they are wonderful.
This kit is easier to set up than the other one with the softboxes, umbrellas are more of a quicker option, if you’re looking to set up your studio rapidly. The only downside that is worth mentioning with this product, is that the lightbulb gives off a light with a blue cast to it, instead of a daylight cast.
Backdrop: vinyl plastic material. Compared to paper and cloth backdrop, more durable. The backdrop is digital computer printed and thus not washable.
KIT INCLUDES
- 1 x white wood floor backdrop
- 1 x 7x10feet backdrop stand
- 2 x 83inch light stand
- 2 x 4.5inch heavy duty spring clamps
- 2 x black reflector umbrella
- 2 x translucent umbrella
- 2 x light holder
- 2 x 45W energy saving bulb
- 1 x convenient carry bag for the background stand
400W LED bulbs with 1 Color Temperature of 5500K, continuous lighting.
HYJ-INC Studio KIT
This HYJ-INC Lighting Kit has an excellent price to value ratio. This portable lighting studio is lightweight so expect that when considering buying this product.
While this kit is on the smaller side, it’s still a good option for someone who wants an easy, portable studio lighting kit. It comes with everything you need to get started.
The thick black, white and chromakey green backdrops are great and easy to set up. The stand for the backdrops is a bit wobbly, but sandbags can always fix this issue. They do not come with this set though. If using this outside in a windy weather, have a sturdy backing to go with it.
However, maybe not the best if you plan to setup/teardown regularly – but is best used in an indoor studio just to be left and used when needed.
You will get an additional clamp pack which is a great addition to this kit.
Note: the set does not include instructions on how to set up the kit.
KIT INCLUDES
- 1 x backdrop stand support system
- 2 x muslin backdrop
- 2 x 86inch light stand
- 4 x multifunctional clips holder
- 2 x black reflector umbrella
- 2 x white translucent umbrella
- 2 x light holder
- 2 x 45W energy saving bulb
- 1 x convenient carry bag
45W light bulbs. Color temperature: 5500K of continuous lighting
LINCO Studio Set
The Linco Studio Set is the ideal photography kit for beginners because it comes with all the necessary equipment, including a softbox, background and even the background clamps. The softbox is collapsible and adjustable to allow you to control the intensity of light and direction. The background can also be removed if you’d like to use your own backdrop or just have more room for your subject.
There are no dimmers unfortunately. This is the only downfall as you won’t be able to control how much light will be in your images.
The backdrops work well, and will fit one person lengthwise. Material can be ironed and washed. Storing this set is pretty compact with the carry on bag that comes with it.
If you want to clamp the fabrics to the bar, you’ll need bigger clamps – the ones that come with this set work fine but to me they had a bit of a cheap feel to them.
You might want to try different lightbulbs or consider dimmer switches. The lightbulbs are good quality, but at times they are little too intense.
That said, the stands are good quality, and you can place them far enough away to avoid hot spots or too much intensity. You just have to play with the setup.
KIT INCLUDES
- 2 x softbox sized 24x24inch
- 2 x white premium umbrella
- 1 x premium quality carrying bag for equipment
- 4 x light holder
- 4 x lightweight light stand
- 1 x backdrop stand support system
- 4 x 60W Spherical LED Bulb
- 3 x backdrops (white, black and green)
- 3 x backdrop holders
60W light bulbs with 5000K color temperature.
Fovitec Studio Kit
The Fovitec Portable Studio Lighting Kit is a great option for beginners looking to take their first step into professional photography.
The quality of these materials makes this kit reliable and durable for long-term use. In addition, the carrying case protects your equipment when you’re traveling on location or storing it in your studio closet after shooting.
The Fovitec kit also includes an instruction manual with detailed photos to guide you through assembly as well as tips on how to best use each item within the studio kit so that you can get started with minimal effort.
This makes this product ideal for anyone who wants portable studio lighting but isn’t sure where to start or how much it will cost them upfront before even using their new equipment once purchased.
This kit had the most positive reviews even if the package only included lighting – though being a bit more expensive than the rest of the kits, I will explain why that is.
I would give this portable lighting studio 4 stars for user experience, but an honest comparison of options at cost puts this at 5 stars (explained below).
First, no kit with comparable light quality is very portable. Granted, single LED lights are way more portable, but have nowhere near the light amount or quality of these CFLs.
And second, this kit is so affordable, that you can’t expect a pro grade storage system.
The hardest aspect of set-up and tear-down in this kit are is setting the tines in the hoods is very tricky; budget some time when you feel patient and unrushed to practice this. DO use this as a mobile kit, but do BUDGET the TIME for it. The stands are easily sturdy enough for the lamps.
Beginners will be comparing this kit to umbrella strobes and flashes. Umbrella kits tend to give smaller fields of illumination, forcing you to move back farther to give broader light, which further looses brightness.
Excellent value for both beginners and professionals.
KIT INCLUDES
- 2 x socket-head fixtures with 20x28inch softboxes
- 1 x quick setup 20x 28inch softbox with AC socket
- 1 x boom arm with a sandbag
- 11 x fluorescent lamps
- 3 x 7’6inch light stands
- 1 x carrying bag
45W light bulbs of 5500K color temperature.
While the above kits are all great, the most important thing is to find the right fit for you. If you’re looking at switching to a portable studio lighting, make sure to do your research and know what kind of equipment you would like to use.
If you are on a budget, consider looking at cheaper kits that will work just as well; if money isn’t an issue, perhaps look into a more expensive kit with more options.
Whatever route you choose, remember that these tools will make your photography journey easier and more enjoyable!
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