Maja Stina
Posts: 3,598
London, England, United Kingdom
Sorry about this. I have a really stupid question...I'm trying to buy lights and things and was wondering, when buying softboxes, if I need to buy a specific type to fit the flash head I'm getting?
Most if not all have a variety of Speed Rings that fit most if not all of the Mfg. light sources. The speed ring is what couples the softbox to the lamp head.
cy be rea n
Posts: 2,715
Vatican City, Holy See, Vatican City
Maja Stina wrote: Sorry about this. I have a really stupid question...I'm trying to buy lights and things and was wondering, when buying softboxes, if I need to buy a specific type to fit the flash head I'm getting?
no you don't ...
as long as the s/b maker offers an appropriate
speed ring adapter for your chosen flash head
Mikail Borgia wrote: Most if not all have a variety of Speed Rings that fit most if not all of the Mfg. light sources. The speed ring is what couples the softbox to the lamp head.
Better explained.
OP, for example I have Bowens mount lights. When I buy my softboxes, I use Bowens mount speedrings to mount it to my lights.
wiseleo
Posts: 1,681
Castro Valley, California, US
You need a compatible speed ring to connect the light modifier to your strobes.
Some vendors sell cross-brand compatible speed rings.
Some modern vendors sell light modifiers compatible with older brands. Paul C. Buff/Alien Bees/White Lightning use the Balcar mount, for example.
I have White Lightning Ultra and Zap series monoblock strobes, so I am more familiar with that collection. I also have an ancient but very functional Ascorlight 1200ws pack/head system.
I will tell you that just as cost of lenses typically exceeds the cost of cameras except for the very high end of the range, so does the cost of light modifiers as compared to light sources to which they attach.
Among the least expensive solutions would be a used Pack and Head combination. They are less popular than monoblocks on the used market but can get heavy.
You may need a safe sync cable to trigger older strobes.
Monoblocks tend to sell at a premium.
Speedlights cost similar to a monoblocks, depending on features.
Go to http://www.strobist.com and do some research. It will help you better understand what you need.
I love my collection of shoot through umbrellas and my 64" convertible umbrella (converts to a shoot through for silky light), for example. My beauty dish is also very handy. I don't own softboxes at the moment, but they are readily available for my system at a low cost.
Depending on space in your studio, you may find build a Tinker Tubes set of light modifiers to be most cost-effective as they would work with every light source you can throw at them.
Mikail Borgia wrote: Most if not all have a variety of Speed Rings that fit most if not all of the Mfg. light sources. The speed ring is what couples the softbox to the lamp head.
True that... at the double room SM studios I have 11 heads for my Speedotron Brownline system (4 power supplies) with Speed Rings that fit a variety of stripboxes, softboxes and beauty dishes...
True that... at the double room SM studios I have 11 heads for my Speedotron Brownline system (4 power supplies) with Speed Rings that fit a variety of stripboxes, softboxes and beauty dishes...
Maja Stina
Posts: 3,598
London, England, United Kingdom
So my next question is if anyone can recommend any good two head lighting kits that have those handy rings that will be compatible with things like Bowens softboxes and whatnot? I plan on buying a moderately crap kit that does its job (just) and investing a bit more into a beauty dish and some softboxes, filters, etc and then slowly getting Bowens heads...
Maja Stina wrote: So my next question is if anyone can recommend any good two head lighting kits that have those handy rings that will be compatible with things like Bowens softboxes and whatnot? I plan on buying a moderately crap kit that does its job (just) and investing a bit more into a beauty dish and some softboxes, filters, etc and then slowly getting Bowens heads...
Maja Stina wrote: So my next question is if anyone can recommend any good two head lighting kits that have those handy rings that will be compatible with things like Bowens softboxes and whatnot? I plan on buying a moderately crap kit that does its job (just) and investing a bit more into a beauty dish and some softboxes, filters, etc and then slowly getting Bowens heads...
Used Blackline Speedotrons are always a good deal. I use Calumet and have for years. 28 years and not a single failure. I have also used the Black line Speedo's with out trouble. I find Norman lights a pain in the ass for coupling modifiers. I have never heard anything good about the Brownline Speedo's. But thats just my opinion.
edit: Bowens and Calumet have the same interface as far as speedrings go.
If your studio is small I recommend using clamps and poles rather than lighting stands, which are going to be knocked over anyway. Clamps are cheaper than lighting stands if there is no architectural feature to clamp on to, use an autopole.
Maja Stina wrote: Sorry about this. I have a really stupid question...I'm trying to buy lights and things and was wondering, when buying softboxes, if I need to buy a specific type to fit the flash head I'm getting?
Was going that route, I even got two constant light softboxes, man those just ate up space in the room, and even the picture above you notice they become the room
I'm using flash benders too at the moment :-) as a way to ..soften up the light, happy with them that I wont bother with soft boxes and they're pretty cheap too
Maja Stina
Posts: 3,598
London, England, United Kingdom
I decided not to go cheap on lights because it seems that there isn't any middle ground. You can either get crappy bollocks lights for a couple of hundred, or get decent lights for £600ish. I didn't wanna fuck around with the speed rings being different and whatnot.
So I got that kit, a beauty dish with honeycomb diffuser, rectangular softbox (120xm I think) with grid diffuser and a normal sort of softbox.
The only thing you have to remember is that the soft box is universal. The speed ring is not. You just need the right speed ring for the "light".
I have Speedotron Black line lights but I use the same exact softbox with them as I do with my AB monolights. I just use the AB speedmount with the same Chimera softbox. Most speedrings for any brand run about the same price so it really doesn't matter if you have two different brands of light and need two speedrings. Heck, I know a very successful portrait shooter who uses a three light setup. All three lights are of different makes! I prefer the same but it really doesn't matter much. Depends on what you shoot.
Actually there is middle ground. There are very cheap crappy ebay type lights that work but I wouldn't trust them nor are they powerful. Then you do have mid level, if you want to categorize them such as AB's/Einstein/WL, certain Elinchromes, Bowens, Calumet, etc. I will say even a next tier such as Speedotron, Hensel (though they are up there a bit more), Dynalite, Balcar and perhaps even Photogenic although they have cheaper versions. Then you have I guess what people will label top shelf such as Broncolor, Profoto.
Just about any brand from the mid level and up will work fine. Just depends on your preferences and needs. Every light I have mentioned is used in professional circles everywhere.
photoimager
Posts: 4,111
Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom
The usual entertainment of some needless complications.
Glad you seem to be sorted now Maja. For general compatibility and being UK based Bowens are the obvious choice. Their modifiers are generally cheaper than Elinchrom, ProFoto & Hensel and there is a lot of 'third-party' alternatives for modifiers that are compatible.
Maja Stina
Posts: 3,598
London, England, United Kingdom
Raw and the cooked wrote: Also they will last a lifetime, I have bowens older than you Maja!
That's why I went for it.
I was considering the 3 head version of the 4 head kit that was just posted but I would get pisssed if it didn't work fucking perfectly. Pointless having ANY lights if they are gonna break when you need them! So yeah, fook that.
Got my kit which comes with triggers (which I assume are good and won't do that dodgy wiring thing so much) and good lights so what the hey. When I get new lights that are upgrades, I can use these ones for less important jobs or whatever, if I even need better ones as I am really quite lazy and hate walking so wouldn't do much location stuff so don't have much of a need for higher power lights.
Most people really dont need or use their power to full settings most of the time. You should be able to find many modifiers very easily being a Bowens light. Sometimes the modifiers are more important than the light itself.
Flick
Posts: 1,568
London, England, United Kingdom
Maja Stina wrote: Sorry about this. I have a really stupid question...I'm trying to buy lights and things and was wondering, when buying softboxes, if I need to buy a specific type to fit the flash head I'm getting?
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