Monolight Suggestions

[Hillsong]

Hey all,

I know this issue has come up 1001 times, but i was hoping for some advice when it comes to purchasing some monolights.

Where my issue arrives is my interests. I typically don't do as much portraiture as much as I do Dance and Automotive Photography. Because of this, I'm hesitant towards purchasing some of the more common "go-to" strobes such as AlienBees 400/800 because of their relatively low output. I've used Interfit's 600W/s digital strobes before and wasn't extremely impressed with them, but they did the job and i haven't tried much else. While i'm looking for something powerful, i'm also pretty firm on trying to stay at $1000

I've been looking quite a bit at the Calumet Travelites.

(Calumet Travelite 1500ws 2-Head Kit with 3-Head Light Case and Wireless Trigger Kit for Nikon Flashes)

I've heard good things of the travelites in the the past, and I like their compatibility with Bowens battery packs, but i want to hear any other recommendations.

Because I'm looking specifically at Automotive photography, a 3 light setup would be nice, but I would rather have 2 monolights that can really push light rather than 3 that struggle.

Thanks!!

-DJ

 

[tirediron]

Bowens is good gear, but when it comes to lighting, more is always better. This kit will let you build your own sun!

 

[Derrel]

Guide Number for the Travelite units you are considering is 350 at ISO 100 in feet, so at 10 feet, f/35 is the proper f/stop; this is a pretty powerful flash pop! Travelites are well-regarded. They look professional, and are built well.

Just as a comparison, the cheapie SP600A monolight is sold thru e-Bay retailers, and even Walmart's on-line arm, and has a Guide Number of 269 at ISO 100 in feet, so the f/stop would be f/26.9...almost f/32...for $139. These are priced VERY low and have just a little bit less power. If you want FOUR of them, it would be $556. Five is $695. Six is $831. The two Travelites are priced at $840 for the pair, with stands and umbrellas and a case.

If you want sheer power, Speedotron Black Line 2401 or 2403 packs are available cheap. A pair of older 102 or 103 heads could deliver up to 2,400 Watt-seconds through one flash head, or up to 1,200 Watt-seconds through two heads. A 2,400 Watt-second pack could drive three heads at up to 800 Watt-seconds each. The advantage here is the total power of 2,400 W-s through ONE,single flash, if desired.

DynaLite is really nice for pack-and-head, and is smaller physically than Speedo packs and heads.

I would look at Paul C. Buff's Vagabond portable sine wave inverter/battery units as an affordable power supply for monolights.

Flash gear is mostly about "system", price, and power. There are a lot of choices. Kind of depends on what you want to use them "with", and how much money you want to pay,and for what degree of robustness.

 

[Hillsong]

Bowens is good gear, but when it comes to lighting, more is always better. This kit will let you build your own sun!

Man, what I would give to be close enough for local pick up for those!

Flash gear is mostly about "system", price, and power. There are a lot of choices. Kind of depends on what you want to use them "with", and how much money you want to pay,and for what degree of robustness.

For me, robustness of the design is a fairly important factor. Whatever gear I end up purchasing will never stay set up in a studio, just due to the nature of the shoots. It'll be packed up, put into my car, set up at the shoot, torn down, back into my car, then wash, rinse and repeat.

As far as the pack and head system, while the portability is nice, I wouldn't consider it a necessity. I'd be more interested in fine controls over the power output.

In regards to the SP600A monolights, the price seems very good, but because of this i feel slightly uneasy about their build quality, etc. Are there any known issues with them in terms of reliability?

I've been poking around some more in the used marketplace, and i've found a set of 2 White Lightning X3200 monolights for ~$700. Would that, plus perhaps a smaller AlienBee Unit, be a strong investment that would last? or am I better off investing that money into another brand, etc.

Finally, If i do pick up a set of heads, is there a go to brand for solid stands that wont break the bank?

Thanks so much for all the advice

-DJ

 

[Hillsong]

another question:

I haven't been able to quite figure it out, but are the speed ring attachments for White Lightning X3200s the same as The standard AlienBees?

I've seen mention that White Lightning WL mounts are different, but do the x3200s have the WL mount?

Thanks!

 

[Derrel]

Yes, they both use the standard Buff "4 finger" or "4 claw" system of reflector attachment. Paul C. Buff - White Lightning X3200 Look down and see that they ALL use the same reflectors. In terms of the weakest part of the ENTIRE Buff system..it is the cheezily-engineered "4-finger" reflector retaining system...but it's not their fault; by the time Buff came onto the market, almost all the other good, reliable, sturdy reflector and speedring systems had been patented by earlier companies, or were much more-costly and more difficult-to-machine systems, so Buff went with a system that was cheap to make, and which was capable of holding on small,lightweight reflectors. Unfortunately, fast forward 25 years, and MUCH bigger, heavier, and more-expensive modifiers like beauty dishes and octaboxes, and softboxes, and so on, are now in vogue, and that is where much more-sturdy,and secure reflector mounting systems like Bowens, Elinchrom, Speedotron, Profoto,etc. have a decided advantage.

Two, very powerful 1320 Watt-second monolights for $700 seems like a decent price I guess. Each unit weighs a bit over 7 pounds. But the price seems okay. Stands? I like Manfrotto, but I think there are some off-brand models that are probably pretty good. I like the Avenger C-stand style for heavy duty use.

 

[Hillsong]

Yes, they both use the standard Buff "4 finger" or "4 claw" system of reflector attachment. Paul C. Buff - White Lightning X3200 Look down and see that they ALL use the same reflectors. In terms of the weakest part of the ENTIRE Buff system..it is the cheezily-engineered "4-finger" reflector retaining system...but it's not their fault; by the time Buff came onto the market, almost all the other good, reliable, sturdy reflector and speedring systems had been patented by earlier companies, or were much more-costly and more difficult-to-machine systems, so Buff went with a system that was cheap to make, and which was capable of holding on small,lightweight reflectors. Unfortunately, fast forward 25 years, and MUCH bigger, heavier, and more-expensive modifiers like beauty dishes and octaboxes, and softboxes, and so on, are now in vogue, and that is where much more-sturdy,and secure reflector mounting systems like Bowens, Elinchrom, Speedotron, Profoto,etc. have a decided advantage.

Two, very powerful 1320 Watt-second monolights for $700 seems like a decent price I guess. Each unit weighs a bit over 7 pounds. But the price seems okay. Stands? I like Manfrotto, but I think there are some off-brand models that are probably pretty good. I like the Avenger C-stand style for heavy duty use.

Thanks for the input!