I purchased three AB-800 lights, 13' stand, 10' stand and a 4' stand, 2 large (30"X60")softboxes, a 42" white umbrella that can also be used as a shoot-through umbrella and a smaller silver umbrella. The price was affordable compared to many of the other lighting sets. So far, I am happy with the set up. Now I am trying to learn how to be consistent with their use. I need to practice with my light meter and start using gobo's and reflectors. Anyway, I have enough equipment to not have excuses. I am very happy with the set up I purchased. But of course, I have no knowledge of any other lights. Basing a purchase solely on my recommendation would be a poor decision.
I did the same thing you are doing over on G1 and read a lot of opinions on lights. Based on all the postings I could find as well as information I could Google, I purchased Alien Bee's.
Here is some things I learned as a total beginner (never even seen a real flash set up in person.) that I did not understand when I was trying to purchase:
1. You definitely want the modeling lights...and it seems that most do offer modeling lights. Modeling lights are regular incandescent light bulbs like you would use in a lamp that are lit all the time so you can get an idea how the shot will look when the flash is used. Some flash units have variable flash intensity (dimmer or brighter). The modeling light should also dim or brighten too. I had no clue what kind of bulb it was. Just make sure the bulb is a US bulb and not a European bulb. You can get a replacement from your home lamp.
2. I didn't know that the flash units (at least the ones I purchased) did not need cables attached to every flash to make them work. Each flash unit will operate as soon as one flash is seen. So, it could be the flash on your camera, or in my case I have a hot shoe adapter on camera where a cable is ran to one flash unit. When I take the photo and the flash fires, the other two flash units automatically flash. So, don't buy the big cable kit.
3. Make sure you purchase really good light stands. Especially if you want to use attachments such as soft boxes. The 13' stand I purchased is very robust and it is my favorite. The 10' stand is tippy.
4. Don't forget to purchase a shutter release cable or remote shutter release. I was stuck behind my camera a lot until I purchased one. Now I can move around and be more like myself. Also, the folks I am shooting can inact with me better.
Anyway, I have purchased a little more than this and most of the people on this site will be shaking their heads at what I didn't know. (Notice I didn't talk all the technical jargon...others here can do that. I just took the best advice I read and ran with it.) (Looking back to last year when I bought the stuff, it seems dumb now.) But, the only time I saw flash units was at Olan Mills (please...no comments
). There are some things you just don't think of when you have no one else to share learnings with or handle equipment. I hope you are able to begin purchasing your lighting set up soon. I really love the ability to shoot indoors and out.
Good luck!