Buying my first lighting kit: flash or strobes?

[studio460]

I'm glad you're enjoying them! I sort of use these opportunites to sort out my own thinking on new gear. The Dynalites are 320Ws when used in DC-mode, but 400Ws when powered by AC. I'll re-post a quick tutorial on the Quantum Turbo that I wrote on another site . . .

 

[studio460]

WARNING--RISK OF ELECTROCUTION--PROCEED ONLY IF EXPERIENCED WORKING WITH HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRONICS:

If you own a Quantum Turbo, replacement batteries only cost between $16-$20 each. If you have an older Turbo, and it isn't recycling like it used to, replacing the battery will make it recycle like new. To replace, remove the three screws on the exterior of the leather case, and carefully pull the electronics pack from the top. Pull the spade connectors off the terminals using a pair of insulated needle-nose pliers. WARNING! High-voltage inside! Be careful not to touch any conductors! If you don't feel up to it, a local BatteriesPlus will do the replacement for you at no charge if you buy the batteries there.


Quantum Turbo replacement battery: Power-Sonic PS-832 8V 3.2AH SLA with F1 terminals.

 

[Derrel]

Yeah, I am gonna order a battery for my old Turbo. I bought it in '86, and t was dead in 1992. Oddly, I bought my Quantum Battery 1 the year before,in 1985, and it is STILL working on the original lead acid cell, even with about a decade's worth of neglect over fifteen years ago...I have no idea how that is even possible.

 

[studio460]

. . . I think I'm going with the Bowens Gemini 250R now instead. Why? Mainly because of Bowens' unique yoke design, making boom-mounting a breeze. All of my boom-mounted Dynalites have to be hung upside-down.

Here's a picture of my Dynalite Uni400 Jr./PlusX trigger, mounted upside-down on a Matthews boom:

 

[studio460]

About the Uni Jr 400...it it's too powerful, why not fit it with some neutral density material, rather than buy a whole new $499 monolight?

Yeah, I've done that in the past. In the meantime, I'm going to try to order another diffuser and baffle from Profoto to knock it down without having to fuss with gel and C-47s. What I was attempting to do in this whole exercise was to simplify my set-up, and reduce the number of components (i.e., potential "failure points"), so if I forget to change batteries in one trigger, or forget to bring some ND, the shoots still works. I'm still mulling this over since there's so many trade-offs to consider. The Einstein E640's extremely wide power range is very tempting, yet the Elinchom RX is nice because the Rotalux modifiers are so quick and easy to use. The Bowens makes inverted-mounting a breeze, and has excellent power controls . . . decision, decisions.


AC monolight comparison:


Dynalite Uni400:

• Minimum power setting: 50Ws.
• No integrated PocketWizard solution.
• Lightweight: 3.6 lbs.
• Fast recycle: 1.4 sec.
• t=0.5: 1/675th at max power.
• Compact and robust build quality.

Einstein E640:

• Minimum power setting: 2.5Ws
• Available integrated PocketWizard receiver, PowerMC2 (supports HyperSync).
• Moderately lightweight: 4.3 lbs.
• Fast recycle: 1.7 sec.
• t=0.5: 1/588th at max power [plus, pre-optimized HyperSync settings in PocketWizard firmware].
• Widest power-range available: 2.5-600Ws
• Difficult to use inverted.


Bowens Gemini 250R:

• Minimum power setting: 7.5Ws.
• Available integrated PocketWizard receiver, GEM (though, HyperSync is not supported).
• Moderately heavy: 6.4 lbs.
• Fast recycle: 1.0 sec.
• t=0.5 value: 1/1,100th at max power.
• Side-mounted yoke permits inverted-mounting without inverting controls.
• Easy-to-use dual power controls, plus large LED power-level display.
• Robust steel housing.
• Bulky (15" in length).


Elinchrom D-Lite 200RX:

• Minimum power setting: 12Ws.
• No integrated PocketWizard solution.
• Very lightweight: 2.9 lbs.
• Fast recycle: 0.8 sec.
• t=0.5 value: 1/1,200th.
• Directly mounts Elinchrom Rotalux modifiers (up to 53") with no additional speedring required.
• Compact form factor.
• Less-robust plastic construction.

 

[Derrel]

I use Speedotron Brown and Black line, and use Manfrotto boom arms, so I can put the mounting spigots into the boom arm either "on the pointy end-part", or "cross-shaft" mounted...maybe I am dense, but I do not quite understand why the Uni Jr. needs to be mounted upside-down...I have never had to mount a flash head upside down. What's the issue that necessitates this upside-down mounting?

And yeah, 50 W-s minimum....man...that's a lot of light sometimes. I like about 15 to 25 Watt-second for hair and rim lights in a typical 4-light setup. I am used to 15 W-s actually as my low-end. With an 11.5-inch 50 degree refelctor with silver interior, that necessitates a grid AND a mylar diffuser when aimed from around back, so, yeah, 50 W-s would be a PITA as the bottom end...

 

[studio460]

I use Speedotron Brown and Black line, and use Manfrotto boom arms, so I can put the mounting spigots into the boom arm either "on the pointy end-part", or "cross-shaft" mounted...maybe I am dense, but I do not quite understand why the Uni Jr. needs to be mounted upside-down...I have never had to mount a flash head upside down. What's the issue that necessitates this upside-down mounting?

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but top-hung seems to be the method which "spins" the least. If I mount the Dynalite directly onto the boom's 5/8" spud (oriented horizontally), it simply won't hold any tilt-angle (the Dynalite's baby screw just won't tighten with enough tension). Although I think I know what you mean by "cross-shaft," do you have a picture you can post of that? Thanks!

 

[Derrel]

Okay, I know what you mean that the screw will not tighten with enough tension to hold the light. Maybe you could wrap some tape around the spud? That can work on a small screw that does not have a lot of bite. Plain masking tape has worked for me on that. Two or three wraps of m asking tape allows a weakish screw to bite down through the layers and kinda' "stick" in one spot. I had some old umbrella adapters that had the problem of weak screws that would not hold tension, so the tape-wrap on the spuds (spigots) worked great. The Speedo screws have a lot of gripping power, but the Bogen/Manfrotto boom's end allows longitudinal axis mounting of the spud (spigot) or cross-axis or "anti-twisting" mounting option, or "on top" or "on the bottom:" mounting of the spud (spigot).

 

[studio460]

Thanks for posting those! Yeah, the baby spud on my Matthews boom doesn't articulate like that. Cool!

 

[studio460]

And yeah, 50 W-s minimum....man...that's a lot of light sometimes. I like about 15 to 25 Watt-second for hair and rim lights in a typical 4-light setup. I am used to 15 W-s actually as my low-end. With an 11.5-inch 50 degree refelctor with silver interior, that necessitates a grid AND a mylar diffuser when aimed from around back, so, yeah, 50 W-s would be a PITA as the bottom end...

Yeah, now that I think about it, I actually don't need an AC monolight, per se, for my portrait key--I just need an AC-powered Speedlight. The last headshots I did were at f/9, where f/5.6 would've been fine. So, I only need just over a stop less light output at the distances I'm positioning my upper-key. If my Dynalite's 1/8-power setting is really putting out 50Ws, then all my SB-800 has to deliver is the equivalent of about 20Ws (though, Watt-second ratings aren't directly comparable between Speedlights and monolights). Certainly, some tests are in order, but all I think I need to do is order three Tronix SpeedFire AC power supplies to solve this "too much light" issue.

 

[studio460]

100% Nikon Speedlight portrait set-up:

Well, for all you "strobist" fans, on second thought, I think I may actually build my headshot lighting set-up with all Speedlights. My current portrait set-up is for clamshell lighting, which I've outlined previously. I'll be replacing my main key, a 400Ws AC monolight, with an AC-powered Nikon SB-800 Speedlight. Previously, I was using a Quantum Model T through a 4' x 4' silk for the lower-key (which works great), but I'll be replacing that as well with another Nikon SB-800 for the purposes of this test. Heck, I may even be able to get away with triggering everything via CLS instead of PocketWizard TT5s, using my Nikon SU-800 CLS commander. I'm fully aware of CLS' limitations, but in a controlled studio environment, it should work (though, it may be tricky to get the lower-key and backlight to "see" the SU-800). Yeah, I'm liking this idea . . .

• Nikon SU-800 CLS Commander [on-camera, hot-shoe mounted].
• Nikon SB-800 + SpeedFire + Profoto RFi 3' octa [upper-key].
• Nikon SB-800 + SpeedFire + 4' x 4' Polysilk [lower-key].
• Nikon SB-800 + SpeedFire + Profoto 1' x 1.3' gridded softbox [subject backlight].
• Nikon SB-800 + SpeedFire + Nikon diffusion dome [background light].

Benefits:

• Tronix AC power supplies eliminate Speedlight battery changes.
• Lightweight Speedlights make boom-hung sources easier to position.
• Fewer total system components.
• No PocketWizard transceiver batteries to change/firmware/switches to set.
• No PocketWizard "boot-sequence" to follow.
• No PocketWizard sync cables to connect.
• CR123s are the only "weird" batteries I'll have to carry.

 

[studio460]

Here's a shot using my original Dynalite/Speedlight/PW clamshell set-up:

Nikon D800E + Sigma 150mm f/2.8 OS.

 

[studio460]

About the Uni Jr 400...it it's too powerful, why not fit it with some neutral density material, rather than buy a whole new $499 monolight?

Yeah, I've done that in the past. In the meantime, I'm going to try to order another diffuser and baffle from Profoto to knock it down without having to fuss with gel and C-47s.

I just called Profoto US (New Jersey) at 973-822-1300, and I am able to order a replacement baffle and front-diffuser for my Profoto RFi 3' octa. It's called a "spare diffuser kit" (#464272), and you get both the baffle and the front-diffuser for only $21.61. There's no online ordering--you have to e-mail a parts request to: us-orders@profoto.com.

The recessed Velcro strip on the front of the octa is fairly wide, and the Velcro edge of the diffuser is fairly thin, so I should be able to attach a double-layer of diffusers onto the octa's front. I think the interior baffle uses small steel clips to attach, so I should be able to add a second baffle there as well. Using both, I may be able to knock my Dynalite down by perhaps two stops.

 

[studio460]

In any case, just to sum up, what I attempted to show here is that you have a number of ways you can go when building your first lighting kit: Speedlights, monolights, or a combination of both (although, I didn't discuss used head-and-pack systems, which can often be found at significant discount). My first portrait lighting set-up consisted of just two Nikon Speedlights, an SB-800/SB-600, and a cheap umbrella. Before I invested in RF triggers, I fired everything via CLS using a Nikon SU-800 commander. For the shot below, I used a $27 Photoflex 45" umbrella for the SB-800, and aimed my SB-600 directly at the wall with a blue gel on it:

 

[studio460]

Hybrid Elinchrom + Nikon Speedlight set-up v2.0:

Well, I did want to try going 100%-Speedlghts/SpeedFires for simplicity's sake, but I found that I just like Elinchrom modifiers too much. After trying to figure out the exact Kacey Enterprises' adapter components I would need, just to be able to mount Elinchrom Rotalux modifiers onto a Speedlight, I've finally decided that the easiest way to enable me to use Elinchrom softboxes is to just buy Elinchrom strobes.

Here's the new hybrid set-up:

• Elinchrom D-Lite 200RX + 39" x 39" Rotalux + PlusX [upper-key].
• Elinchrom D-Lite 200RX + 26" x 26" Rotalux + 39" x 39" 1.25-stop ScrimJim diffuser + PlusX [lower-key].
• Nikon SB-800 + SpeedFire + Profoto 1' x 1.3' gridded softbox + Flex TT5 [subject backlight].
• Nikon SB-800 + SpeedFire + Nikon diffusion dome + Flex TT5 [background light].

Total PocketWizard RF triggers required:

• Flex TT1 transmitters [x1 per body].
• Flex TT5 transceivers [x2]
• PlusX transceivers [x2]