I thought long and hard about whether to do a minimum budget cutting corners or to do a budget that would do the job of shooting more than the basic GF or Amateur content. This is 2010 no 2000 and if it's not done right the odds of selling it are long.
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Originally Posted by Davy
The camera is not so important. If you want to shoot fancy fish-eye photos, you need a full-frame camera, of course.
But having a good lens is more important than the camera. You'll be shooting at ISO 100 the whole time, anyway.
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Good stills are needed for tours, affiliates and even inside the site to bulk it out. Members do look at sets and do enjoy them. Yes the lens is important and the prices for good pro lenses will send the budget higher.
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Seems to be much too high. It's a two-light kit, with 400 Ws each.
I have one 500Ws flash, and I kind of regret purchasing it. Indoors, I always use it at 1/8 of its power (the lowest setting) which limits the things I can do with it.
I'd say rather get more smaller flash units @ 200 or 250 Ws than bigger ones.
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I looked at some of the cheaper ones and found nothing I was comfortable with. Multiblitz are work horses and will last decades. I know I've still got some I had 20 years ago. Also cheap ones do not give out the same quality light or regeneration time.
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I've never done video lighting. But what keeps you from buying some cheap daylight bulbs and screwing them on a plate of wood?
I test-ordered a $15 5400K bulb. Didn't last very long (I used it to light my room). But still, it's only a matter of buying enough of those things to get some light into the scenery.
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Daylight bulbs are not essential, you can balance a video camera to shoot in Tungsten. As for screwing lights to a piece of wood, I best not comment on that. ;)
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For somebody who's starting out, I would actually advise to drop the studio flash equipment and go with video lights only.
1) Flash lighting needs more experience.
2) You have no immediate results with flash lighting. With constant light, you can see the effect of the light immediately.
Depending on the type of pics that you want to shoot, video lighting could already be sufficient.
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IMO both are needed.
1) Yes flash needs experience, which will never come if you don't do it right.
2) That's why you need a flash meter, to learn about light, see the power and set lights. Then view test shots on your laptop or computer before the model comes in.
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I am leaning out of the window again with the following comment.
But is a flash meter really necessary? You'll see the histogram on your camera's display, so you should be able to correct the exposure without the meter rather quickly.
Far more important is a gray card, imho.
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Come back in from the window. A flash meter will give you the reflected light reading, which is essential to know and eliminate in video and stills. Unless you want fuzzy pictures.
Yes a grey card is cheap and a good investment.
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What about wireless clip-on mics? Are they used in porn? Probably not, with people being naked all the time. 
But using a mic with boom also means having the need for an assistant. Okay, if you are not shooting in your home studio, you'll be in need of an assistant anyway to set up and move the equipment. But still, it's additional costs.
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Not sure where to clip a wireless mic. LOL
Freestanding booms are available and yes cheaper than an assistant. But a good assistant helps to move the shoot along and keeps an eye on everything.
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Before all that equipment is bought, one should have a clear idea on how to sell the produced content.
I see a lot of people doing mainstream photoshoots with models from modelmayhem etc. and I have no idea how they sell their pics.
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Above all have a very good idea where you will sell the content.
If not hire the equipment as I said in a previous thread.