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Help with portable lighting...
Greetings all, this is my first post here. I'm hoping to get some insight from some of you guys as I'm having a bit of difficulty in figuring out just what I need. I've been shooting mostly existing light and a little bit of stuff using some rigged/borrowed lights from friends, and I'm looking to go ahead and get myself some kind of lighting setup. I do alot of shoots in abandoned buildings and industrial sites, and have lately been getting alot of people interested in me taking portraits of them, so that is what the lights will be used for. My two main concerns in the rig are portability and price. I'd prefer to keep it under $300 if possible. I shoot with a Nikon D70. I've heard good things about the SB-800/600 system and have played around with it, but at around $650 for one SB-800 and two SB-600's it's a bit inaccesible for me right now. It would be best if the entire rig could run off of battery power and be as compact as possible (I need to be able to haul this into some risky locations). A friend suggested getting a few cheap strobes with high GN numbers off of ebay, like 2 umbrellas, and a few stands. This sounds like a pretty good idea, but I wouldn't have the slightest clue of where to begin putting together something like that, nor how to trigger it from my camera. I don't mind having to learn to shoot everything manually and calculating exposures, etc, so automation isn't a big concern. Hopefully this is enough info for someone to offer some usefull advice, it would be greatly appreciated. I've looked over the web and not found much information on a setup like that... Jun 30 05 08:21 pm Link I don't care what you get... I will not help you carry it.. ;-) Because you are shooting digital you have more leeway in the types lights you can use. If you go with strobes, you can trigger them from the hot shoe to a pc adapter. If you would rather go with hot lights you can use a bunch of different types of lighting. Look at the "Poor man's Studio lighting?" to get a few ideas. It is in this same forum. Mike Jun 30 05 08:43 pm Link Posted by Mike Cummings: Yeah, I took at look at the thread, but I really don't want to be tied to AC power as most abandoned buildings lack that. As far as strobes go, what should I look for? Do I need special stands/adapters to use them with umbrellas? Is that even a good idea? Jun 30 05 08:46 pm Link Posted by DivineSpiral: Posted by Mike Cummings: Yeah, I took at look at the thread, but I really don't want to be tied to AC power as most abandoned buildings lack that. As far as strobes go, what should I look for? Do I need special stands/adapters to use them with umbrellas? Is that even a good idea? I don't know... I am cheap/broke so I use car shades for reflectors. Jun 30 05 09:06 pm Link Dear Divine Spiral, I am the only one who is going to give you this advice so you may not believe it. I do lots of editorial (magazine) work which involves taking pictures of people outside. Even when I travel I always take: A small hard case with two ancient Norman 200Bs, with two heads and one spare flash tube. In another long canvas case I take my tripod, two light stands and two soft boxes (both medium/small). One of them is an efficient Plume that is silver inside. I remove the inner baffle and I gain a stop. One of my Normans has been modified to be a 400 watt second unit. Since I shoot medium format film I always have a box with 5 rolls of Ektachrome 200. That gives me an extra stop over my normal Ektachrome 100G. You can fire these flashes with whatever remote divice you want to use. And Normans are like Jeeps (American made and they never will fail you). You can find Normans on ebay all the time. Now if you have more money then my suggestion is to buy NEW Normans! Alex Jun 30 05 10:31 pm Link In response to alexwh, "Friends don't let friends use Norman", page 122 Adventures in Location Lighting by Jon Falk. Sorry, I couldn't resist. :-) Divinespiral, the way I see it you have 2 choices: Vivitar 283's/285's with lots of rechargable NiMh AA's (cheaper than a Quantum or Jackrabbit battery), or bite the bullet and get Lumedyne stuff. I love Lumedyne and right now it's all I have (sold the White Lightnings). Either way, you will need lightstands, umbrellas (cheaper than softboxes) and some Bogen or Photoflex umbrella adapters to mount the heads to the stands. The Photoflex ones come with shoes to mount the Vivitars if you go that way. Personally, I'd get the Lumedyne stuff even if you can only afford one 200ws pack, one head, and one battery. That's how I started. Comb the internet for used stuff. This place rebuilds batteries for cheap if you can't do it yourself: www.dasaga.com Good Luck! Jun 30 05 11:04 pm Link Tom doesn't like my Normans! I won't argue that but I will argue the umbrella/softbox one. Umbrellas are almost always used far away and they produce that even/glossly look that can be seen in so many of the pics on this site. After seeing a few pictures they all look efficient and no more. An umbrella is more directional and when used close (as they should be) they give tremendous modeling and dramatic shadows. And don't go for the gold umbrellas for that "healthier skin" look.White skin is back with a vengeance. The wealthy don't to to beaches to tan themelves any more. Give me a readhead with pristine white skin and I am in heaven. Jun 30 05 11:55 pm Link And the last piece of advice (but the best) I will put in here. Buy yourself a used Minolta IV-F flashmeter (unless you want to pay more for the V-F). And play safe like me as I have two in my camera bag. Alex Jul 01 05 12:03 am Link Posted by DivineSpiral: Why wouldn't 1 SB-800 work? That's what I use. Jul 01 05 12:03 am Link For $300 for 1 or 2 battery powered heads, I think your out of luck. Even a hot shoe mounted speedlite, and one that can be used as a slave will run around $300 each. That's probably your best bet. I'm using a Hensel Porty, which is one of the ultimate battery powered setup's, but you have to add a zero to your budget. I also use the porty for studio. Merle Jul 01 05 07:10 am Link Some nice suggestions here, I looked into the Vivitar 283/285's and those seem pretty nice. I definitely don't mind buying used gear and going through ebay or local shops for that stuff. I also in the process of looking at the 285 saw some reccomendations for the Sunpak 383 which also swivels. From what I understand, with a hotshoe to pc adapter and a buncha cables, I should be able to trigger 2 or 3 other flash units without having to have one mounted on my camera body, right? Should all the flash units I get have the same GN number? I suppose I don't even need a tilt/swivel head flash if I'm pointing them into umbrellas, any suggestions for relatively powerfull units that wouldn't be too expensive? Thanks again for all the help and advice, I really appreciate it. I've gone to a few camera stores and tried talking to some people, but most seem unwilling to help with even the most basic advice/suggestions. Jul 02 05 09:21 pm Link Well, for $300 your options are limited. The Vivitar 285's you mentioned are your best bet. The 283's are good but the 285's are better, they have a selector where you can set the power output full.1/2,1/4,1/8,1/16 the 283's don't do this without buying an extra doohickey. And the best thing to control them would be Wein peanut slaves, they plug into the PC sync cord for the flash and when a flash goes off they "see" it and fire the flash connected to it. BTW, get a couple extra peanuts, sometimes they are temperamental, especially if they are cold and haven't been used in a while. I still have a 3 flash setup like this that I put together years ago and it still works like a charm. I don't use it that often anymore though; I got an Elinchrom Ranger for location work for the extra power I was wanting. If just one light will do JTL has a light called the mobilight that is 300 watt seconds and costs about $300 at www.adorama.com. It's cheaply made but it works pretty well. You can often get used peanut slaves and used Vivitar 285s pretty cheaply, especially at large photo stores that have used sections (most good ones do), eBay is also a good place to look but the prices always vary. Hope this helps, Ernie Jul 02 05 10:12 pm Link >>I don't know... I am cheap/broke so I use car shades for reflectors Jul 02 05 10:16 pm Link To clarify on the Vivitar283/285. Yes, the 285 has manual settings built in, but you can purchase a VP-1 Vari-Power Adapter unit for the 283 for full manual control ($30). You pull out the Auto Thyristor unit from the front of the flash and plug in the VP-1 for manual control. The abilty to remove the thyristor unit also allows you to use an auto thyristor extention cable (if you like that sort of thing). The Sunpack 383 super is not a bad choice either, but the Vivitars are more durable in my opinion, and if you use these as location lighting tools on lightstands, being able to swivel the head is not that important. On camera use is another issue. The 283 & 285 give you 4 auto f-stops, the 383 gives you 3 auto f-stops. The Wein peanut will plug into the side of the 283/285 but it will also plug into the end of the short PC cord that comes with both brands. Both brands will work for what you need. The choice is yours. Jul 02 05 10:26 pm Link why not start with a single sb600 and a set of pocket wizards? SOOOOO much can be done with a single strobe. I come from the world of monolights, but have been scaling down to some sb800's for 'road' shoots mostly due to the pain of traveling on planes with all my gear.... have had some nice early success. Jul 02 05 11:05 pm Link Posted by DivineSpiral: There are some real deals on shoe mounted flash units on Ebay. I have bought several on ebay for under $10.00 ea., and a couple of nice ones for under $5.00. The shipping is often more than the closing price. You can trip the lights by using a shoe mount vivitar slave, or another brand.( I bought the cheap flash units to show in a lighting guide that I sold on ebay Jul 02 05 11:45 pm Link I went garage selling and picked up some old flashes, mounted them on lighting stands with the umbrella holders. I have not tested it much, but all indication suggest it will serve its purpose quite nicely. Although slightly better flashes would be nice. Jul 04 05 03:02 pm Link |
