American Recorder SIB-101CS Photo Studio-in-a-Box

Kit contains everything needed to take professional studio-quality images: soft lighting diffusion box, lights (UL Listed), backgrounds, and camera stand

Soft light box: specially woven, heat-resistant, 100% nylon fiber mesh diffuser; 16" W x 16" H
Customer Review: Nice kit, weak camera stand
This is a nice, lightweight, compact light studio with one drawback: The camera stand is too weak to support a digital SLR camera, especially with a 105 mm macro lens attached. So just use your regular studio tripod and you are okay.
Customer Review: What a worthless piece of garbage.
I'm an eBay PowerSeller who received the Studio-in-a-Box as a gift from a family member. The only thing I've gained from it is horrible guilt - I didn't realize the studio was a piece of junk until it was too late for my family member to obtain a refund. I've gotten better results with several sheets of folded paper and a table lamp. First, you need an inordinate amount of space to set up all the components - about 8 feet (by 3 or 4 feet) of completely clear table space. You'll also need to move a good 6 to 8 feet back to get an in-focus shot, where you'll need another level surface to set up the tripod. In other words, you need a large dining room table (that's not in use - and, no, your kitchen counter isn't wide enough). If you live in an apartment or a small house, you simply won't have the space needed to use the studio. The lights present their own problems. They rest on tripod feet that are, in some alternate universe where American Recorder makes quality products, retractable. In this universe, however, there is no way - NO WAY - to extract the feet from their storage positions inside the lights. You're left with no choice but to balance the lights on their spindly stalks, readjusting them after they topple over every couple minutes. The lights also become inordinately hot after only seconds of use - they're too dangerous to use around small children and represent a burn and fire hazard for even a cautious user. What's more, they're so bright that they overlight your items without a gigantic space allowance between the box and the lights. (Every time I use the studio, I discover I've only a useless series of overlit blobs to show for my efforts.) Cobalt blue is a poor choice for a supposedly neutral background - it's distracting and makes the white areas of an item look utterly washed out. Despite the billing, the background is not seamless. Furthermore, its rough woven texture is all too apparent in photos, particularly those of smaller items, making everything - the photo, your item - seem cheap. Why make the backdrop so shoddy and garish? Oh, right - so they can sell you the $20 black/white add-on backdrop that should've been included in the first place. I note that most of the positive reviews come from professed professional photographers with a wide array of lenses and add-ons to compensate for adverse conditions. Now, I'm not a master photographer - but I've gotten hundreds of decent photographs for my business with supposedly cruder material and lighting. It's not me, and I am not willing to spend hundreds of dollars on equipment simply to compensate for Studio-in-a-Box's myriad of shortcomings. This studio rips off both your time and money and is not worth a second glance.

On a camping trip, the center of your outdoor kitchen is usually the camping stove. When you select a camping stove, regardless of whether you are hiking or driving, opt for one that's big enough to cook for the whole group, yet portable enough to carry around.

If the group is limited to one or two people, a stove with one or two burners should suffice.

Also, what kind of meals do you plan to cook? For instance, if you plan to make bacon and pancakes, you are better off using a stove with a griddle attachment.

There are a variety of stoves available, some with as many as 6 burners. These are sufficient to cook for a family or two. A bit of advance planning will help you zero in on the right camp stove.

For hiking, portable stoves are preferable. Light aluminum stoves are light and easy to set up and clean. A stove with at least two burners makes a lot of sense, as it allows you to cook two things at once.

Coleman Camping Stoves come with 1, 2, 3 or 6 burners, and multiple fuel options. Coleman, the manufacturers of Coleman stoves, claim that their camp stoves have been a part of millions of hunting, fishing and hiking trips. They have been manufacturing for more than a hundred years. Their camping products include lanterns, tents, sleeping gear, and cooking gear.

Coleman stoves are available in 3 weight categories.

The 2 main types of fuels are propane and liquid camp fuel. Coleman has a range of propane stoves. Convenient self-contained bottles of propane are available in most camping stores.

Liquid fuel is less expensive, produces more heat, and performs better in cold weather. However, a liquid-fuel stove needs to be pumped, to pressurize the fuel bottle to help vaporize the fuel. Also, the fuel can spill and contaminate other things. Moreover, it is not easy to get the stove ready for use.

How many people will you have to feed? How many meals will you have to prepare? These are the primary questions you need to find answers to, before you select the right stove and cookware, for your camping trip.

Richard J. Runion is the President of Geostar Publishing & Services LLC. Rich loves net research & blogging. His new blog on the Coleman Camp Stove is fast becoming popular, as it is comprehensive and well-researched. Read his blog at: http://colemancampstovesreview.com/