Need a portable, compact strobe w/ HSS and ~400w/s

[tirediron]

I have a project in mind for which I would like a compact, portable strobe with high-speed sync and preferably around 400 w/s. Flash duration and recycle times aren't important. I have a Godox AD360II which is a surprisingly good unit for the money, but it doesn't have quite enough oomph. I've looked at the Elinchrom Quadra Ranger HS, which has plenty of oomph, but the footprint is a little larger than I would like ('though I could live with it), it's also a bit pricey.

I know there are a hundred traditional monolights, but they're all a bit big. Is anyone aware of something that might do the trick?

 

[Destin]

Do you need battery power?

Or is AC power fine?

 

[Derrel]

Waiting for responses on this one. Speaking of around 400 Watt-seconds, the Godox 360 you have is rated at 360 Watt-seconds, but do you feel like it's not very efficient at turning its stored energy into actual, usable flash power? Not all flash systems or units are equally efficient. What one manufacturer calls a "600" can be about what Speedotron calls a "200".

How is the Godox 360's actual flash output, compared to say a Speedotron Brown Line 402?

 

[tirediron]

Do you need battery power?

Or is AC power fine?

Battery is a must!

Waiting for responses on this one. Speaking of around 400 Watt-seconds, the Godox 360 you have is rated at 360 Watt-seconds, but do you feel like it's not very efficient at turning its stored energy into actual, usable flash power? Not all flash systems or units are equally efficient. What one manufacturer calls a "600" can be about what Speedotron calls a "200".

How is the Godox 360's actual flash output, compared to say a Speedotron Brown Line 402?

My grossly unscientific testing indicates that the true output of the Godox is more like about 250 w/s. It's a really good speedlight, but for outdoor work it's not quite 'there'.

 

[Derrel]

Ohhhh...that's quite a drop-off from "360 Watt-seconds", down to a sort of Speedo-like 250 W-s.

 

[tirediron]

Yeah... I was a little disappointed; it's still a healthy belt of light, definitely a a good bit more power than my SB800s, but not quite as much as there should be...

 

[Destin]

A friend of mine has two of these and swears by them. It's what I plan to buy when if/when I need more than what my speedlights can handle.

For now though, I've been doing quite well with just four speedlights.

 

[Don Kondra]

With the dollar exchange, you might as well go for one of these

Strobepro X600II HSS M Battery Powered Wireless Strobe

Cheers, Don

 

[dcbear78]

Not sure on how it compares with pricing but you might be able to use two of the Godox AD200's that are about to be released. Early tests show they are roughly a third of a stop below a AD360. But you can link them somehow. Yet to see how this feature works.

 

[tirediron]

A friend of mine has two of these and swears by them. It's what I plan to buy when if/when I need more than what my speedlights can handle.

For now though, I've been doing quite well with just four speedlights.

With the dollar exchange, you might as well go for one of these

Strobepro X600II HSS M Battery Powered Wireless Strobe

Cheers, Don

Both of those would do the trick, but I'm hoping for a more compact solution.

Not sure on how it compares with pricing but you might be able to use two of the Godox AD200's that are about to be released. Early tests show they are roughly a third of a stop below a AD360. But you can link them somehow. Yet to see how this feature works.

Those look very cool; they're more than a third of a stop less however at a rated 200 w/s; the AD360II is rated at 360 w/s. 2-3 banded together might do the trick... I wonder when they'll hit the street.

 

[WayneF]

My grossly unscientific testing indicates that the true output of the Godox is more like about 250 w/s. It's a really good speedlight, but for outdoor work it's not quite 'there'.

Just idly curious, but did you try to verify their GN 80?

Watt seconds is not measured energy, it's computed from capacitor size and voltage. None can actually expend 100% of it.

Guide Number is computed from a metered exposure, but what is metered depends on reflector angular area coverage... When comparing "power" in two reflectors, a simple exposure metering would see a wider coverage as a lower reading, which could vary without being wrong.

But their spec that could be checked is GN 80. f/16 at 5 meters. Seems incontestable if using the same reflector their spec used. They say standard reflector at 28mm.

 

[tirediron]

My grossly unscientific testing indicates that the true output of the Godox is more like about 250 w/s. It's a really good speedlight, but for outdoor work it's not quite 'there'.

Just idly curious, but did you try to verify their GN 80?

Watt seconds is not measured energy, it's computed from capacitor size and voltage. None can actually expend 100% of it.

Guide Number is computed from a metered exposure, but what is metered depends on reflector angular area coverage... When comparing "power" in two reflectors, a simple exposure metering would see a wider coverage as a lower reading, which could vary without being wrong.

But their spec that could be checked is GN 80. f/16 at 5 meters. Seems incontestable if using the same reflector their spec used. They say standard reflector at 28mm.

I actually based my w/s estimate off of GN calculations which came out to be somewhere in the 60-65 range vice 80, using two different meters and multiple tests. I expressed it as w/s simply because most people are more familiar with that measurement now than they are with GN.

 

[Derrel]

Brown Line D604 power supply lists the "old" standard, non-grid-capable 11.5 inch, 65-degree beam spread reflector as their "Standard Reflector", and cites a GN of 64 in Feet at 100 ISO with a mere 37.5 Watt-seconds run through an M-11 flash head. This is a large, volumnous reflector bowl, with fairly high polishing, but no faceting, and is NOT a "mirror finish" type internal finish as are some of the new MIC reflectors.

A picture from a cheap cellphone being worth 857 words...

 

[tirediron]

Unlike almost every manufacturer today, I've always found Speedotron to be on the conservative side in their exposure estimates.

 

[table1349]

Here you go. Made just for you. Elinchrom Announces ELB 1200 Battery-Flash System