Looking For Off Camera Flash/Studio Strobe Recommendations

[Dave Colangelo]

So I have been thinking about playing around with off camera flash and working on my portrait skills. As such I have decided its time to get something I can use that is a bit less hap hazard than some of the gear I have. Lets say a rough budget is under $200 but I could push that if there is a clear reason to.

NOTE: I am doing this all with a Hasselblad 500C/M so I have unlimited flash sync speeds available to me and I need to be able to trigger the flash with a PC cord or some interface that ultimately terminates to a PC port.

Anyway, I came across the Godox 4ooII and its pretty fairly priced and more or less what Im looking for. Does anyone have any experience with their stuff? Any good things, Any bad things? Any competing units that are similar?

I currently have an original Nikon SB-16A/B that works with the blad but its less than optimal. It lacks any kind of power control when Im not using it with my F3.

Side note: Im also looking for fair priced softbox recommendations. I think a 24 inch square box will fit my requirements fairly well.

 

[ac12]

You are talking about studio strobes, not what most think of as off camera flash (shoe flashes).

I went the route of a Speedotron Brownline. I think you can find a 400WS pack + 2 or 3 heads for about $250 + shipping.

For portraiture, I would get a 2x3 foot soft box. You can use it in vertical mode to more evenly light the upper body, waist up.
I think of a square soft box as a head and shoulder box.
The Chinese soft boxes are very affordable.

There are a few books on portrait lighting, and it sounds like it would be worth your reading, before you go shopping.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

@ac12 ahhh my mistake, I have updated the title. I see a lot of people using speed lights off camera now which is what prompted it.

 

[ac12]

Different tools.
You can use a shoe flash in a studio, but to me, it isn't ideal. Though some will argue, with digital and the higher native ISO, you don't need as much power as we did with film, and they have a valid point. And for a beginner, the shoe flash will work for both studio and on location shoots. Thus saving $$$ This is what I did, before I got my Speedotron.
I just prefer AC powered studio flash in a studio setup.

 

[Christie Photo]

Lets say a rough budget is under $200

Uhh... The thing is...

you're gonna need more than one of these... at least three.

And then, they all need stands and modifiers. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just helping you think this through a bit more. I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions here.

Good luck!
-Pete

 

[ac12]

Lets say a rough budget is under $200

Uhh... The thing is...

you're gonna need more than one of these... at least three.

And then, they all need stands and modifiers. I'm not trying to rain on your parade, just helping you think this through a bit more. I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions here.

Good luck!
-Pete

Well you can start with one and a reflector.
But I agree.
You will start to add strobes and end up at 3 or 4; main, fill, hair and background lights.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

you're gonna need more than one of these... at least three.

I had found similar advice around the internet as well and figured I would eventually end up with multiple. Lets say same budget but add a "per light" addendum to that with the notion that I will most likely buy them one at a time (although I have been known to splurge on photo stuff before...).

 

[ac12]

Dave,
A caution about monolights.
Each light sucks power individually. Put 3 or 4 monolights on the same circuit, and they could pop the breaker, when they ALL recharge at the same time. Like many, I only have ONE circuit in my garage.
I don't use monolights, so I don't have first hand experience with this issue. Is it a theoretical issue/problem, or is it real. Maybe someone who shoots with monolights can comment on this.

If you get serious about portrait shooting, you should have your studio rewired to provide enough circuits/power for your strobes and other gear.

 

[Christie Photo]

I have a set of low end mono-lights. I keep them as an emergency backup or when I need an additional setup at another location. They're not what I consider to be professional lighting, but will do in a pinch. Each lamp is a 400ws strobe with a modeling light. I use three at a time; one as a fill, another as a main (key light) and finally a background light. I have not had a problem with tripping breakers in any room as of yet. I think you'll be fine.

Some systems have a fast/slow recycle switch that will reduce the chance of tripping any breakers.

-Pete

 

[Dave Colangelo]

Looks like the unit Im looking at has a 5A fuse so 3 of them would require no more than 15Amps lest they blow their internal fuses anyway. Ill be sure to run them all of a 20Amp fuse circuit should I get into that situation.

 

[Derrel]

I looked at the specs of that Godox flash; overall, the flash looks great on almost all specs, but the worrisome thing is the accessory mount of "fit", as the British call it. In the Q&A somebody asks what speedring/accessory mount it uses, and the answer given is "Excalibur". Now, it looks to me like it's a Bowens 3-lug mount; the Q&A section that B&H maintains on this unit, going back to at least 2015,is pathetic. The mount or fit is very important. If this is, indeed, Bowens S-type fit, then yeah, it's a fine thing to buy, but if it's Excalibur mount, I'd be less-enthused.

Power is pretty high, GN of 213 in Feet at ISO 100 I guess it is. So, with the standard reflector in place, at 10 feet, it ought to deliver f/21.3 with ISO 100; that is, in my opinion, TOO powerful for most indoor, close-range work...you'll be dialing it down in power with the light under 15 feet from a subject...which messes with your useful,actual power range. YES, it's common with monolights, to have units that are, in daily use, TOO powerful, and which must be turned down all the freaking time. Having the to power be 400 Watt-seconds means you "waste" a lot of your adjustability on the top! And that "waste" also carries over to a fill light, which needs to be HALF the power of the main light when deployed at the same distance as the main light, so...

I would step down to 150 or 200 Watt-second light units for portrait work indoors...

I use Speedotron pack-and-head flashes, and often like to split a 400 Watt-second pack down to four lights, so, 100 Watt-seconds per light unit, or less!, is pretty common, and I usually shoot in the f/5.6, f/6.3, or f/7.1 or f/8 range with those amounts of light. It's common to have a Main, a Fill, and two accent lights fitted with grids, and sometimes a fifth light, on many types of studio portraiture shots.

I really do think that THREE lights is about the minimum I like to have for a studio-flash type shot....very,very common to need three flash units.

Anyway...consider the "fit" of the flash brand....Bowens-fit, often called Bowens S-fit, is a common, somewhat near-generic, 3-lug system,.and this looks like Bowens-fit to me; you want to know for certain, because you will one day, absolutely WANT and NEED to have access to barn doors and other bayonet-on stuff that attaches to the front of the flash unit itself. Maybe Excalibur _is_ Bowens S? Again, not impressed with B&H's lame Q&A section there on the page you linked us to; some lame answers in that, some supplied by "users",not official B&H people.

Anyway...I'd rather have four, 150 Watt-second units rather than 1,2,or even 3, 400 W-s units; I think having MORE, individual flash heads is more critical than power, especially NOWADAYS, now that we're shooting at ISO 100 to 400 with digital, and NOT with ASA 64 or ASA 100 films, like we were 30,40 years back, when power levels were typically much higher, due to the slooooooow speed of films used for studio work.

Modern monolights are very nice; I like the 150 Watt modeling light power, and the 1/3 stop click control this offers (40 settings, from Full to Low Power),and the built-in trigger that needs only a $46 transmitter. This WILL trigger using a PC cord!

ADDENDUM: yeah, looks like it's Bowens fit. Godox OCTAGON 95cm Grid Honeycomb Softbox Studio Strobe Bowens Mount Speedring for | eBay

THIS is a good, umbrella box,and pops open and mounts on the umbrella system of the lights of ANY brand. No speed ring needed! Steve Kaeser Enterprises. Pairs of 2 are $34.95, singles $19.95. PBL Softbox Umbrella Photo Studio 40in New Steve Kaeser Photographic Lighting | eBay

 

[Dave Colangelo]

@Derrel great info! many thanks!

If the 400W is a bit much for indoors it looks like they also offer a 300W of which I could get two for $220, not a terrible deal. I would still need some stands and soft boxes but all told under 300 I would think.

FWIW I will be shooting film with these, I generally shoot ilford FP4 125ISO or 100 Delta and on occasion HP5 in 400 speed.

 

[Derrel]

I had a 300 Watt-seco monolight, a JTL. I had to use it turned way,way down, all of the time. Inside of 5 feet, it was way too potent...it just ran me out of f/stop, so to speak. Yeah, two 300 Watt-second monolights for $220 is a decent value. Flashpoint has a 300 W-s mono priced at $99.95 each after $20 instant discount. Similar features....

Flashpoint Studio R2

 

[tirediron]

I like a range; say 1 400 or 600 w/s, a couple of 300 and one or two 150s make a nice package with a LOT of flexibility.

 

[Dave Colangelo]

@Derrel it looks like Flashpoint and Godox are one in the same (one is a rebrand of the other and I would think both are a rebrand of some overseas build). The Flashpoint 300Ws may very well be the way I end up going as of now. Indoors is mainly where im looking to use these.

@tirediron I would love a setup like that, but its a bit out of my price range right now.