|
Forums >
Photography Talk >
Novatron...
Does anyone novatron lighting? I primarily shoot outdoors and want to try to over power the sun let me know if you have any experience with this lighting. Mar 04 08 12:52 pm Link i own a novatron flash pack unit and heads -- not the best unit on the market. i also have a dynalite and profoto set up -- much much better than novatron. be careful with the novatron in terms of you ALWAYS must have one head set at full power, otherwise you will burn out the capacitors -- its one of their many many bad design flaws. also, hard to control the stops of light in smaller increments like say a dynalite or profoto. Mar 04 08 12:57 pm Link Thank you very much that's pretty much all I needed to know not what I'm looking for Mar 04 08 12:59 pm Link BC photos wrote: I agree that novatron aren't very good. The control and features are poor. There are also very difficult types of gizmos to attach lightboxes and so on that are a headache. Mar 04 08 01:02 pm Link I use some novatrons and havent ever had a problem, then again I only use them when I'm in "risky" situations, not overly worried about them getting banged up or knocked over. Although to overpower the sun you would need a very high powered unit, at least something like 1600ws or something. Stephen Eastwood on here has some very good charts you could reference in what exactly is needed to overpower the sun. You could message him for the info, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to share. Mar 04 08 01:07 pm Link Midwest Photographic wrote: Ok I'll check into that thank you Mar 04 08 01:41 pm Link James R Williams wrote: Ok thank you for your response by the way your avitar is Hot! Mar 04 08 01:41 pm Link I have used Novatron for over 20 years and have had no problems at all. They are very reliable and just don't wear out. Mar 04 08 01:47 pm Link Gary Eaton Studios wrote: I agree with this too, the ones I have used are like tanks. The only complaints I have are the power, but thats because of the ones I have. And the fact that finding accessories is difficult to fit. I find using ones based on "umbrella" attatchements work the best. Mar 04 08 01:52 pm Link You do need some power to overcome the sun... but not that much to just fill-flash. At least modern digital cameras have a decent sync speed. My Nikon can sync as high as 1/500. This will really darken the ambient light. I've used Nova-bombs off and on for 25 years. They're ok, inexpensive but not very flexible. But they keep on working, tho... amazing. They also make a decent monolight series which have removable reflectors, my biggest peeve with the pack & heads system. You could probably pick up a small set on the cheap. I got mine while living in Dallas, since Novatron is located there - so they had the market covered. But if possible, try to find some battery powered strobes. Best bet for location work. Mar 04 08 01:54 pm Link DTPhoto - Austin wrote: This is true,, and funny I bought my Novatrons in Dallas as well. Mar 04 08 01:58 pm Link DTPhoto - Austin wrote: That makes no sense. basically it doesn't matter what shutter speed you use for outdoor shots, in each case you still have to use the correct aperture to get the correct exposure. For instance, in bright sun with a clear sky, for an exposure index of 100, you exposure would be 1/100 sec at f/16. Increasing the shutter speed to 1/500 simply means that you lens has to be opened to f/8. I see no reason to underexpose the outdoor lighting and then to make up for that with a flash. Mar 04 08 02:00 pm Link I can match (or overpower) the sun with an AB1600/silver umbrella at around 10-12 ft, which is far less expensive and cumbersome then a Novatron 1600 power pak and a head. The range is slightly farther with a bare tube/reflector. The AB is more portable, and has the groovy slider for watt second control. I used Nov's back in the 90's, but eventually all the packs blew out and the repairs were in the $400-500 range (if the packs were over 800ws). Mar 04 08 02:03 pm Link Midwest Photographic wrote: Well, yes, they last and for umbrellas only, they're fine. And yes the accessories are difficult to find, expensive and a pain to attach. Mar 04 08 02:07 pm Link GMP Photography - Heinz wrote: If you have a powerful flash, you will light the subject but make the background darker at f/16. No need to open up to f/8 to get the desired effect. Mar 04 08 02:09 pm Link Photografx wrote: Are you saying that you rather lug around a flash to get the correct exposure instead of opening your lens to do so or are you talking about key shifting? Mar 04 08 02:26 pm Link GMP Photography - Heinz wrote: It makes perfect sense if you want to darken a background which isn't being lit by the flash. Situations where a daylight sky goes dark blue or black, for example. Mar 04 08 05:05 pm Link I am not worried about overpowering flash... But if I HAD to use fill flash ... I would rather have the quality that a a strobe in a 5 or 7 ft octodome will give me... Then the harder light of a small on camera flash... Also if you want to be able to keep a consistent F-stop and shutter speed through out the whole shoot... using a large powerfull flash as your main light source makes sence to me.. GMP Photography - Heinz wrote: Mar 04 08 05:16 pm Link GMP Photography - Heinz wrote: Ok - you have never heard of the term "Key Shifting" for outdoor flash photography....??? Mar 04 08 05:19 pm Link Thanks for all the good info here guys Mar 04 08 10:09 pm Link I've used Novatron for over 20 years and never had a problem with them. The newer units are digital and adjustable in tenth of a stop increments. When I sold them I only saw two power supplies go in for repair. One had been under water the other used daily in a pro portrait studio of ten years. Both were very inexpensive repairs. I have 5 power packs (120ws to 1600ws) and 15 heads and recommend them without reservation Mar 04 08 10:50 pm Link Novatron is all I've ever used....starting with their 400w "hobby set" many years ago. I now shoot with their 1500w power pack. Since this is all I've ever known, I can't really comment on other brands. I just know that I've been very satisfied with Novatron, especially since I can go right over to their factory and get any parts, repairs, that I might need without having to send my equipment off somewhere. As far as durability.......they are great. I do wish they had a better system to attach barn-doors and other accessories......but it works OK. Bottom line....while I'd like to try some other brands........I'm very satisfied with what I have and figure my work probably wouldn't change much if I used something else. Jun 19 08 07:04 am Link i have a novatron 1500ws unit....have 4 heads and i have probably shot 150,000 shots with the unit...only have had one flash tube fail and the on/off switch gave out...asside from that..its a good, though heavy system Jun 21 08 01:57 am Link I've been very pleased with my Novatron set up. It's far from the best out there but for the price it's a damn good deal. I got an older set off ebay for $300 (550 with 3 heads) They are pretty reliable and do a good job, although if I had 2k to spend, I wouldn't pick up a Novatron set. Jun 21 08 02:24 am Link BC photos wrote: I have had a novatron set since 1996, and it works like a charm! Jun 21 08 02:27 am Link BC photos wrote: I used 3 of these pack along with 10 heads for over 15 years with a few minor repairs THEN sold them for about 3/4 what i paid for them new. Real workhorses. Hundreds of rolls a week thru them back in my shooting for agency models days. Never used their monolights...just packs and heads. Older heads worked on the older brown line packs as well. Jun 21 08 02:28 am Link GMP Photography - Heinz wrote: Ever hear of equivalent exposure? And think Leaf shutter too. Syncro sun does NOT have to be done at f/16 in these cases. New cameras and their branded strobes can play that game too. My #2 image on my profile was shot around F/4.5 becasue the shutter speed was way up like 1/2000 if memory serves me right. Jun 21 08 02:35 am Link |
