KT750U 750-Watt Thrifty Photoflood Kit

by Smith-Victor

Product Details

• Item Weight: 15.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 18 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000HSEEY8
• Item model number: KT750
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: June 17, 2003

Product Description

Designed to fulfill basic lighting requirements at an exceptionally affordable price, the improved Smith-Victor KT500U Thrifty Kit is an even better value. Now this kit features two 32" shoot-thru white umbrellas, two UM-6 umbrella mounts, 5/8" light stand adapters and Smith-Victor's Raven RS8 8' light stands. The new "through-the-reflector" umbrella mounting system places the umbrella close to the optical axis of the light for optimum control. The reflectors are chemically etched for maximum light dispersion.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Inexpensive and functional, December 18, 2007

By 

Joel G. Landau "Technophile" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: KT750U 750-Watt Thrifty Photoflood Kit (Electronics)

So I've used this kit for a couple of shoots, and here are my observations:


Pros
* Very inexpensive way to get into lighting
* Once you've put it together, simple to break down, move, and setup fairly quickly.

Cons
* Absolutely no instructions for assembly, whatsoever. While its not rocket science, there we some moments that I would have liked some instruction. However, once you get the first light together, subsequent ones are simple.
* Cheap materials and/or poorly tapped screw holes makes it impossible to fix one of the lamps into position (horizontal, not vertical).
* Umbrellas are (as you can see in the pic) translucent, so a lot of the light hits the rest of the room, limiting your control of lighting. On the converse, I have also used the unit reverse, lighting the subject through the umbrella, which works nicely for other shots.

Suggestions to purchasers:
* Find a suitcase to carry/store the kit in. I think a cheap hard plastic case (greater than 18" in length) would work well. I ended up buying a soft sided tote suitcase from Walmart for $25.
* Use velcro straps to secure the power cable to the stand, otherwise the cables hang out and can get you tripped up.
* Purchase extra bulbs, you can't get these at walmart! :) These are special color-corrected bulbs.
* Recommend a dimmer for each unit (I imagine you could get a generic dimmer from any electronics store that would work).

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great value, May 23, 2007

By 

H. David Dabour (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: KT750U 750-Watt Thrifty Photoflood Kit (Electronics)

I've only used this once so far and it worked as I expected. Not pro duty but it gets the job done. I like the third light. Original bulbs are still working but I will most likely replace them with higher wattages if the fixtures will accept them. If I had a wish I'd wish this came with a carry bag. I would have even paid more for this if it had a bag.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Lights, September 6, 2007

By 

E. Conner (Charleston, WV) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: KT750U 750-Watt Thrifty Photoflood Kit (Electronics)

This is a great lighting kit, but, I would recommend buying two 500 watt bulbs.