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I've shot quite a few photos for the hobby magazines (just over 800 published so far) including layout tours and how-to articles. All of my work has been done with much cheaper and simpler photoflood lights. I used plain 500 watt bulbs in reflectors for most of my work, but acquired two 600W halogen lights in the past few years. Simple stands that collapse into easy to transport sizes. Most of my shooting has been with film - slides then print film for magaines, and being able to see the effects of the lighting with photofloods was a benefit. Of course now with digital, you can see the results with your studio flashes right away. Whatever you use, keep in mind space is often restricted when shooting layouts, as they were probably not designed to accommodate lots of large fancy photo equipment such as soft boxes. And umbrellas, I can't imagine there being room and/or ceiling height to effectively use them. Many times I had a hard time placing my photoflood lights for effective lighting on the backdrops, mountains, etc. Most of my film photography has been done with 28mm and 50mm Canon lenses on film, and I don't think I've ever used anything longer due to the lack of depth of field. My layout shoots were usually done quickly, usually in an evening with not a lot of time for too much fuss. The lenses you listed should be more than enough for layouts. I haven't done any layouts with my digital equipment yet, just shots of my own HO and On30 models for possible submission to magazines. Whatever you choose, be sure to bring along your own extension cords as layout owners hardly ever have enough or ones of sufficient size to handle the current. I ran the cords for my photofloods into a power bar with an on-off switch which was draped over my tripod for easy access. Good luck! Bob Boudreau
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