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Written by Martin Regtien | 01 July 2010
Posted in Reviews - Miscellaneous

Article Index
Brando Professional Foldable Photo Studio – Reviewed
Specifications
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Brando Photo Studio in Action

Here’s a great solution if you have to take macro shots or images of small to medium sized products: the Brando Professional Foldable Photo Studio. Real photographers know that there’s a huge difference between just putting a product on a table in the sun and taking a picture or if you do this under controlled lighting without any background shadows.
That’s where the Brando Professional Foldable Photo Studio comes in. It provides that controlled environment with lights that have the right colour temperature in a portable setup that is not too cumbersome to take on the road or fold away in a cupboard.

 

Sure, you can obtain similar results for less money if you use a cardboard box and some decent lights. I’ve done that for many years in trying to get good product shots for our reviews. It’s tempting to take shortcuts here and Photoshop the picture afterwards to get a better end result.

 

Brando Photo Studio with home made box...

Here’s the better way to do it. Brando sent us the Medium sized photo booth (see below for specs). That size allows me to keep the booth on my desk as we use it every day. But it’s still very easy to fold up for storage or transport.
The lights provide the right Colour Temperature: 5400K and are extremely bright.
The 24 Watt lights themselves are not all that powerful of course but bounce off the aluminium sides of the box and literally saturate the subject with the right illumination.

 

It’s easy to unfold the box and set it up. Next, select a piece of background paper. The black carry bag for the Foldable Photo Studio also contains a tube of background papers in various colours.
White is probably the best to work with. Clamping it down properly might be the hardest task yet in the setup. Just use some pegs or sticky tape so that the paper covers the back and floor of the booth.
The rest is easy: just shoot to your heart’s content. It’s amazing what good light does for sharpness!

Conclusion
If you photograph small objects indoors on a regular basis you might want to invest in one of these Brando Professional Foldable Photo Studios. The smallest one sets you back USD119 and the largest one is double that. The Medium sized one we reviewed is USD169 and well worth it. It has some Chinese markings on it and the instruction booklet likewise is all Chinese but who needs instructions with such a simple setup? And: it comes with an Australian plug so bonus points there for that attention to detail!
Visit the Brando site here.
See the Specifications for all three models on the next page.

 

 

Brando Photo Studio viewed from back

Specifications (from Brando site)

Price:
SMALL: 32x32x32cm  US$119.00
MEDIUM: 47x47x47cm  US$169.00
LARGE: 62x62x62cm  US$239.00

Features:
•  Professional Foldable Photo Studio with Handle Case
•  All-in-One Ready Complete Set: Efficient and Effective to take your photo in Professional Way
•  Just Ready your camera and get Shooting!
•  Foldable and Portable with Carry Case
•  Built-in White Color Light source: Color Temperature 5400K (Voltage:220V)
•  3 Size Models: Small, Medium, Large
•  7 pieces Different Colors Background Paper provided
•  White Background: 2 pieces
•  Black Background: 1 piece
•  Grey Background: 1 piece
•  Yellow Background: 1 piece
•  Pink Background: 1 piece
•  Aqua Background: 1 piece
•  Angle Adjustable Reflection Board: 4 sides

Small Package and Specifications:
•  Dimensions: 32.0 x 32.0 x 32.0 cm
•  Folded Dimensions: 32.0 x 32.0 x 9.0 cm
•  Baggage Dimensions: 42.5 x 32.8 x 9.0 cm
•  Space Shooting Max Length: 20.0 cm
•  Color Temperature: 5400K
•  Voltage: 220V
•  Weight: 2.22 KG
•  White Light source (18W/piece): 2 pieces
•  Reference Camera Exposure: ISO200, f/8, 1/60 (White Background)

Medium Package and Specifications:
•  Dimensions: 47.0 x 47.0 x 47.0 cm
•  Folded Dimensions: 47.0 x 47.0 x 9.0 cm
•  Baggage Dimensions: 57.0 x 47.5 x 9.0 cm
•  Space Shooting Max Length: 30.0 cm
•  Color Temperature: 5400K
•  Voltage: 220V
•  Weight: 4.80 KG
•  White Light source (24W/piece): 2 pieces
•  Reference Camera Exposure: ISO200, f/8, 1/60 (White Background)

Large Package and Specifications:
•  Dimensions: 62.0 x 62.0 x 62.0 cm
•  Folded Dimensions: 62.0 x 62.0 x 9.0 cm
•  Baggage Dimensions: 72.0 x 62.0 x 10.0 cm
•  Space Shooting Max Length: 40.0 cm
•  Color Temperature: 5400K
•  Voltage: 220V
•  Weight: 7.65 KG
•  White Light source (55W/piece): 2 pieces
•  Reference Camera Exposure: ISO200, f/8, 1/60 (White Background)

 

 

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