Customer Reviews

Square Perfect SP500 Platinum Photo Studio In A Box with 2 Light Tents & 8 Backgrounds For Product Photography

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Used the SP500 Studio to take several hundred pictures for a catalog I was putting together, it did the job adequately, and for a decent price but here are some things that might be helpful:

- Bulbs are really not very bright, as others have mentioned, you will have to add light and/or adjust camera settings, used ISO 80 was helpful along with changing some other settings.

- Backdrops will have wrinkles from folding, iron with a light cloth over it on synthetic setting and wrinkles will come out.

- If you want to get the 30x30x30 tent back in it's case you'll need to use the directions on the square perfect site because the ones that come with it are terrible, Tent folded up nicely using these directions: [...]

- Lastly, the light stands, in order to make these work better I had to take off the white pieces on the top of the light stands and reversed the swivel assembly on the light itself and then screwed the lights directly into the stands...worked much better.

Overall for the money there is a lot of value in this package and with the above adjustments it will get the job done.

I am satisfied with this product. The main reason I bought it was because I didn't want halogen lights. The lights that come with this light tent are much cooler, and I don't have to worry about burning down my house. There are actually two light tents that come with this kit. One is 12"X12"X12", and the other is 30"X30"X30". It was a good buy.

This is the first review that I post. This morning I got the studio box and so far it has exceed my expectations. I needed it for my business and take photos for my website. I was about to buy the Cubelite that I saw in one of the trade shows for $500 (they said it was a special price) an it only had one 3 ft Cube, one light and it had a Adjustable silver/white reflector, and pretty much that was it. With the SP500 Platinum Photo Studio in a Box I just saved $350 and I got twice of the things that I was expecting before seeing this product.

With out the studio all the photos that I took to the watches I sell looked blurry, now it looks so clear that will help me display them better on the website and catalogs. There are many different brands of thsi product, but with this great price and everything that comes in the package, you can't go wrong!

Retails for $250, but is only $99 on amazon.com. The best kit for the price. It came with a few scratches on the outside of the light reflectors, crappy ultra-light tripod, but I believe they can offer this price because it is a scratch and dent item. Overall, it was in very good condition. Didn't really care about the tripod, since I have a Sunpak and Gitza already. Makes a perfect light stand or remote flash stand. I wouldn't trust the tripod to hold a camera body and lens over 55mm. Probably get a lot of camera shake when the shutter releases because the center of gravity sucks and it's way too light.

Awesome purchase, though. Eight BG's, 2 boxes. I'd pay $200 for it at full price, just because of the whole tripod thing. But like I said, I wouldn't be concerned if you have a pod already. The only complete kit out there for under $300 with 2 tents, 2 lights, and more than 2 backgrounds. Very high quality materials and construction. Definitely produces professional results. Great Purchase. Go to the website for folding instructions.

I purchased my SP500 set over two years ago for taking photos of my products for online marketplaces -- the same photos I now use on Amazon and my own eCommerce sites. I still use this setup today and have always been happy with it. I've even combined it with other Discount Tommy systems for various light box sizes, green screen backdrops, and video shooting lighting to create a nice little collection of photo studio tools. Now if I could just find the time to learn better photography skills and faster software video editing -- I'd be set! :)

PROS: Higher quality and more durable materials than other kits I've owned. Customer service for replacement or defective parts was outstanding -- first rate. For the price, I wasn't able to beat the quality that came in the SP500. I've used my kit along with other, related kits, for 2 to 3 years now.

CONS: As other reviewers have mentioned, wrinkles in the backdrops are an issue --- however, I've found this to be the case with any flexible backdrop equipment. If you stuff your backdrops into a little ball between uses, then wrinkles will be a problem. If you properly store them it shouldn't be an issue. For me, I've rolled my backdrops across the cardboard rolls that gift wrapping paper comes on which retains the smoothness better than folding in quarters and creating crossing lines in the backdrop. Photo editing software can also be used to eliminate such wrinkles. The folding of the tents can be tricky at first.

Wish List: A nice addition would be a video instruction on caring for the equipment.
Instruction: For video, I've relied on Dave Kaminski's 'Web Video University' free monthly newsletter for tips on everything about photography, video, editing, lighting, et cetera. If anybody has better suggestions for lighting, please comment.

Great product!

This product was everything described and more. It had everything higher priced sets had, and the quality is good. It also has carrying cases for all of the components and a larger case for everything.

Just received the SP500 studio in the box and i am pleased with the kit.The light stands are solid and the camera tripod is fantastic.Not so sure about the sockets though...they seem fragile, i was afraid of turning too tightly...thought i might break something (that was my perception anyways). The photo tents are sturdy, it comes with two, the 12x12x12 is great for small items and a 30x30x30.
One thing though, forget about folding the larger tent back into its cloth case...you'll have fits trying to figure out how to fold back....all i could do was close it so that it will at least be flat. It comes with a instruction sheet with illustrations BUT no words so forget about it....just find a closet or something.
Also the bulbs seem on the flimsy side. One of them flickered and then nothing.....
If you can get passed the so-so bulbs and POSSIBLY the sockets then then go for it!

You get a lot in this kit for a very good price. Unfortunately what you don't get is quality. The moment this product arrived, I was excited to try it out. I have a blog where I do gadget reviews and thought this setup would be perfect for taking great product pictures. Setting up lamps and tent is quick and easy. But when I tried to power on the lamps, one worked perfectly while the other one barely lit up. Then a few seconds later I started seeing smoke coming out of the bulb. I immediately turned it off.

There's so many things in this 'Studio in a Box' that it would be too much of a pain to RMA it for just one bad bulb. So I ran to a home improvement store to purchase a replacement. Unfortunately they didn't have anything bright enough for photo studio quality lighting, but I did pickup their best possible choice for a temporary replacement. Looking at prices online, I realized it's going to cost me a large percentage of the original price I paid for this kit just to fix a problem I shouldn't have had in the first place! What's worse is that when I tried to use the temp bulb in the lamp, I found out that the previous incident with the defective light bulb caused the lamp to stop working! So now I'm down a light bulb and a lamp!

Moving on... I do agree with other reviewers, when using the bulb (the one that actually worked), it does seem a little dim when working with the 30" tent. Speaking of the tents, they're what I expected them to be. Annoying to put back together, but doable. The bag is nice to have but seems very cheap. The separators inside, to separate the components, are pretty flimsy and poorly thought out because I still find it hard to fit the components in their respective sections. But I'd rather be with the bag than without it. Tripod is just a cheap tripod, but does what it does if you don't already have one. I don't fancy it being gray.

You really are getting a lot for the money. You'll probably end up paying more if you get everything separately, and you probably won't get a convenient case. But that one light bulb problem really ruined the purchase for me. Who knows though, you might not have that problem.

I am a novice photographer and I got this set to take pictures for ebay. The overall set is of good quality.
I especially like the quality of the tripod. I do have a problem with the "tent" as the pictures I
took do not appear to be completely white backgrounded. This is probably due to the lighting that comes
with it(2 X 30Watts, 5500K)I think to have complete white background product pictures you will need 3 or four
of these lights instead of the two that it comes with, otherwise you may need to use Photoshop to enhance the product pictures.

Although I was impressed by this at first, I was quickly disappointed. The lights are too weak to actually read brightly enough at 5500K (white daylight). I added a third lamp and it looked better, but I still had too much photoshopping to do post production.

The cube is IMPOSSIBLE to fold. If you have a sun shade... maybe it will be easier for you. But if not, and you want the 30x30 cube, be prepared to find a 30x30 place to store it 'cause you're NOT going to get it back in the little sleeve. I spent an hour on folding it. NO LUCK. Maybe I am just folding-challenged.

The light stands are cheaply made, and are very hard to open and close. I have a very high quality tripod so I did not bother with this one. One of my lights arrived damaged, and the white cube had brown marks on it. I sent this whole thing back to amazon. It might be worth what I paid, but it did not do what it was advertised to do.

I need professional photos and this kit just did not deliver. I guess I need to shell out professional dollars to get the results I need.