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Flash vs Strobes
I'm thinking about making a purchase. This would be for shooting in a studio environment or various locations - a home for instance. I'm thinking about buying strobe system, but I'd like to have far less weight to carry and storage space is a bit of an issue. I've been thinking about getting a pair of speedlites and a remote. Is this a huge mistake? I wnat to be able to shoot at an ISO of 100 or 200 without natural light. Feb 20 08 07:33 pm Link you can get 2 photogenic 320b lights with battery packs for $1000 , then you can use large soft boxes. wich is better than anything you can diffuse or bounce a flash off of. they have battery packs , so totally portable. Feb 20 08 07:36 pm Link Mike Caffrey wrote: Canon or Nikon speedlights? Or some other brand/? The Nikon system is very good. A pair of SB800's in commander mode creates amazing results. much of my new work is done this way. In studio I use a trio of 600 w/s Photogenic Powerlights (NOT the baby lights mentioned above..their modeling light looks some oversized Xmas tree light bulb and the flash tube is equally tiny). I do have batteries to power them on location but it's a huge deal to drag them out. I use the AB800 Ring light in studio, in environments and in nature with the Ab V2 battery pack. It's between the powerlights and the Speedlights in weight and hassle. Feb 20 08 07:41 pm Link You can get more from the strobes and they all need stands and reflectors etc to change the way the light looks. So get something that will let you grow! Feb 20 08 07:45 pm Link Check out Strobist. http://strobist.blogspot.com/ It's a great resource on using speedlights instead of bulkier lighting systems. And today's post is on Platon and all the great covers he's done using ONE light. Cheers Feb 20 08 07:46 pm Link If going with flashes, forget the TTL and go with low-cost units like Sunpak 383's or Vivitar 285's. Buy a good light meter and radio slaves with some of the savings. Feb 20 08 08:00 pm Link I just bought an AB 800 for more flexibility indoors, but I've had great success with a pair of Sunpak 622 flashes and Amnova brolly boxes. The flashes run off C batteries or I have the AC adaptors. Recycle time at 1/4 power (enough for shooting in a hotel room, for example) is about one second and I get around f/11 at ISO 100. Feb 20 08 08:01 pm Link The off the camera flash system ( the speedlites w/ remote) doesn't work as well as you may think. I would go for the strobes before you buy and then sell the speedlites. The remotes don't ever seem to fire perfectly, maybe 7 of 10 times if that. I tried 2 brands and both were not perfect by any means. I was using them for BMX shots and I was almost worthless w/ the remotes... my .02 Feb 20 08 08:07 pm Link http://www.alienbees.com Great lights for cheap... They are workhorses, and portable. Another great purchase is used speedotron.....they've been around forever and are tanks, they'll take a beating and keep on working....cheap and easy to repair as well. I recommend packs for studio setup, and monolights if you travel to location often as it is easier to travel with monos. Feb 20 08 08:23 pm Link Mike Caffrey wrote: It'll be more difficult to visualize the results you're going to get, but speedlites or similar are certainly legitimate choices if portability is critical. Feb 20 08 08:38 pm Link I was really hoping people would tell me to go with the sppedlights. Inadequate syncing hadn't occurred to me and the recycle time is probably going to drive me nuts as well as changing batteries every 100 shots or so. I haven't been using a flash or a strobe because I like to be able to shoot without having to wait, but it's hard to get enough light for certain shots or if I want to get up above f11. I'm leaning towards a pair of AB800s at the moment. Feb 21 08 05:13 pm Link Different power for different purposes. I bought a speedlite for shooting events and photojournalism, and I use it off-camera as a hair or edge light to complement my alienbees b1600 light (usually my key) and a sunpak 383 (fill, hair or edge). Strobes are less portable but much more power. You'll not enjoy lugging them around if you do decide to, but they are better at beating the sun when you want that effect. I think that sunpak 383s or other inexpensive lights are a good way to start with learning the basics, and you can grow with them until you find that you need more expensive equipment to accomplish a certain task - at which point you're only out less than $30 per flash after using them for a while. At $80 each, you can probably sell them for $50 or $60 each used, or continue to use them as background, hair, or other lights even after you bought those more pricy ones. I'm by no means an expert fashion or glamour photographer, but I can do headshots and a few other things fairly well. Feb 21 08 05:22 pm Link When photography boils down to essentially recording light, it's better if you have all you need, and can see it and control it. The new Nikon D300 can control speedlight output for a couple speedlights right from the camera somehow. If you don't have a camera like that...and my Canon's aren't, then I'd go with the AC powered studio lights. I've used Photogenics all my life and love 'em. They are work-horses. Alien Bees work too. Something with a modeling light makes life happier, generally. Feb 21 08 05:25 pm Link Norman makes good stuff too. Feb 21 08 05:25 pm Link Disclaimer: I use a remote Canon speedlite setup. This is for portability and cost. I would suggest getting used studio strobes if you can afford it. Used battery powered studio strobes if you really want professional portable gear for a good price (who doesn't?) The light quality, intensity, coverage, and most importantly recycle time is superior on a strobe, even the battery powered ones. The only downside is with such a big capacitor, they simply have long flash duration. You wont be freezing a popping balloon or shattering wine glass with a studio strobe. Flashes work great indoors and close to the subject. They usually have fancy metering which some people like. The biggest pluses are portability and cost. If I were rich I'd have both, but flashes will do just fine for now. 3 second recycle times are not the greatest, but I live. A flash in a softbox is possible, and produces great results. If you can find a studio strobe for $100 used, get it! If you have to drop $4000 on a hensel porty... maybe you should just get the speedlite for 1/10th the cost. It all depends. Feb 21 08 05:45 pm Link When I started using 3 Nikon SB -800 in my studio I saw great photos being created @ $360.00 a peice the flashes added up to $1020.00 which worked well for me in my studio, for about a year. As I got more clients wanting fashion portfolios, I found that I needed something faster with out changing batteries, or having one of the flashes die during a good shot and under expose it. I bought a Calumet Travel Lite kit 750 watt mono-lite with a DC battery with you can take anywhere beach or park or indoors. Also AC power is great in my studio. Cost me $1100.00. with stand, umbrella and refector. Battery cable and charger. Then my life changed so I bought another 750 watt lite then my life began. The lites are sold by Calumet photo and are really Bowens. As for my SB 800s I still love the they got me to where I'm today with my photography and I still use them on camera and as fill and hair lites with my travel lites. I just had to crawl before I walked. Flash and strobes are both needed and have there strong and`weak points. Feb 21 08 06:36 pm Link When I started using 3 Nikon SB -800 in my studio I saw great photos being created @ $360.00 a peice the flashes added up to $1020.00 which worked well for me in my studio, for about a year. As I got more clients wanting fashion portfolios, I found that I needed something faster with out changing batteries, or having one of the flashes die during a good shot and under expose it. I bought a Calumet Travel Lite kit 750 watt mono-lite with a DC battery with you can take anywhere beach or park or indoors. Also AC power is great in my studio. Cost me $1100.00. with stand, umbrella and refector. Battery cable and charger. Then my life changed so I bought another 750 watt lite then my life began. The lites are sold by Calumet photo and are really Bowens. As for my SB 800s I still love the they got me to where I'm today with my photography and I still use them on camera and as fill and hair lites with my travel lites. I just had to crawl before I walked. Flash and strobes are both needed and have there strong and`weak points. Feb 21 08 06:37 pm Link get the strobes. for quality, power, versatility and accessories strobes beat flash no contest. Feb 21 08 06:47 pm Link Mikes Images - Mike #4 wrote: No they dont ! Feb 21 08 07:08 pm Link Mike Caffrey wrote: You can't really go wrong with either AlienBees or Speedlites. I use both, and they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Feb 21 08 07:34 pm Link I use both, but I use my off camera flashes a lot more. 3 SB-25's using remote triggers. I just put in an order for Pocket Wizards. My current triggers are not quite up to my standards. My light modifiers essentially consist of gobos, snoots, umbrellas, gels, bounce cards, and some reflectors. The set up is relatively inexpensive...around $1,300. Half of that is the pocket wizards. Allows me to shoot virtually anywhere and be set up in 5 minutes or less without any need for an outlet. I just did a shoot tonight. About 350 shots with the flashes at 1/4 power no need to change the batteries. If you're worried about changing batteries get a battery pack or just change them midway through the shoot. You probably need a 5 minute rest at that point anyways. There's no way I could've taken my strobe set up into some of the places I've shot. Feb 21 08 10:22 pm Link I've ordered an AB package with two AB800s, remote and a few other things they throw in. I may try to find a clamp with a C-Stand mount and shoot with a single AB800 and a roll of tin foil for "portable situations." Or get sucked in to buying a portable set up too. Feb 23 08 04:04 pm Link Well I think I am going the hot shoe flash route, I was going to get the Sigmas, cause they have good recycle times and high guide numbers, but they aren't as sturdy. Instead I think I will opt against them and get the more expensive Pentax flash units, for the build quality and so that I can use the power packs, which give you about 800 shots i think, as well as a 4 second recycle time. There are power packs for nikon and canon flashes which get the recycle time all the way down to 2 seconds. Feb 23 08 04:40 pm Link Mike Caffrey wrote: good choice Feb 23 08 04:42 pm Link I get good results with Canon 580 speedlites and the ST-E2 transmitter, firing with or through umbrellas. And, as some have pointed out, this outfit ain't exactly cheap cost wise. Still, if I were 10 years younger, allowing time for amortization and the learning curve, I'd go with the best strobe kit I could afford. Feb 23 08 04:49 pm Link |
