Need my first lighting setup for outdoor/ on location

[SHaller]

I've been searching around the web for the past week trying to decide what would work best for me and I've narrowed it down to either a monolight or speedlight. I know that the speedlights are a whole lot easier to carry around, but im not really concerned about weight. My concern about the mono light is the battery. Will it last all day, and what if I eventually go to a 2 strobe setup. Will I need another battery? I love only having to carry around some double a's to power the speedlights, but what is the power difference between them? I was looking at a flashponint monolight (thttp://www.adorama.com/FP320MP.html) and a used 430ex, 430 ex ii, or 580ex. Let me know what you think, and feel free to make recommendations and add anything I overlooked or missed.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Personally I think monolights are the way to go for portrait type photography.

I use THIS Bowens Gemini kit and I am very happy with it. They are portable. And you can get a battery pack for them to make them even more useful on location where there is limited/no power available. You can get them single or in pairs; and they come in 200ws or 400ws (and up) power so you cam choose what you need. There are other brands of course. Alien Bees have a good reputation...

 

[SHaller]

Thanks for the repsonse. I forgot to mention that I'll be using it for action shots along with portraits if that helps any. I also wanted to keep it around $250 before a lightstand, umbrella etc.

 

[D-B-J]

Thanks for the repsonse. I forgot to mention that I'll be using it for action shots along with portraits if that helps any. I also wanted to keep it around $250 before a lightstand, umbrella etc.

Well then you limit yourself to a speedlite only. No way you can get a monolight with all the accoutrements AND a battery pack for under 250.

 

[SHaller]

The link I have is for a monolight and battery for $200. I just wanted to keep the price of the light under $250 and get the accessories later.

 

[KmH]

How powerful is the monolight in the link you have?

If you're going to be shooting action you should be concerned about 3 things. How much power the light(s) has, the recycle time, and what kind of speedring the monolight uses. The speedring determines which portrait light modifiers (softboxes) you can get.

Monolights are generally more powerful than speedlights, and monolights generally recycle faster too. If you notice, the lights BuS_RiDeR referrred you to quaote a 1.2 second recycle time. A good speedlight with fresh NiMH batteries requires about 4 seconds to recycle after a full power flash.

This brand of light is compatible with Elinchrom Speedrings - Genesis 400 and Calumet has a Genesis 400, 2 light kit on sale right now - Calumet Genesis 400 2-Light Kit

 

[Village Idiot]

Are the Genesis lights bi-voltage digitals like the Elinchrom? If so, they may have issues with batteries like others.

A battery will run you $250-$400 for a cheap one.

I think the 320 is 160w/s? That's only about a stop and a half more than a speedlight. If you're shooting outside, you'll probably need more power. Toss a modifier on it and you're going to have to have the light right up in the subject's face to use it for anything other that fill.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

Are the Genesis lights bi-voltage digitals like the Elinchrom? If so, they may have issues with batteries like others. ...

Are you referring to the Gemini lights that I mentioned?

I don't know if they are bi-voltage. I do know that Bowens makes a battery pack specifically for these lights...

[video]http://www.isitetv.com/a79c355de9d3e65e23d1a763625fdade-p4.htm[/video]

 

[Village Idiot]

Are the Genesis lights bi-voltage digitals like the Elinchrom? If so, they may have issues with batteries like others. ...

Are you referring to the Gemini lights that I mentioned?

I don't know if they are bi-voltage. I do know that Bowens makes a battery pack specifically for these lights...

[video]http://www.isitetv.com/a79c355de9d3e65e23d1a763625fdade-p4.htm[/video]

No, I'm referring to the Calumet Genesis lights that KmH has the link for in his post. The ones that use the Elinchrom mount...

Reading, FTW.

 

[BuS_RiDeR]

No, I'm referring to the Calumet Genesis lights that KmH has the link for in his post.

Ah, I misunderstood sorry.

Reading, FTW.

True... But I am currently having some pretty serious health issues that are affecting my ability to read. I did not see his link. I appologize.

 

[SHaller]

Thanks for the responses. Any recommendations on a cheaper battery?

 

[Derrel]

Well, I still go back to your ORIGINAL idea...the FLashpoint 320 MP lights have a VERY affordable, roughly 15 ounce battery, dedicated to their system. The 320's are convection-cooled, so there will be no issue with a cooling fan sucking all your battery juice on-location. At the price of the Flashpoints, you can afford to buy one or two as spares....I mean, good gosh, they are LOW-priced monolights, but with user-changeable flashtubes and user-changeable modeling lights. These things have been made for almost 20 years now...there simply is no better value in an AC/DC monolight with a small and AFFORDABLE battery pack designed expressly FOR the MP-series Flashpoint monolights. These things cost less than 1/3 of what a Canon 580 EX-II or Nikon SB-900 speedlight costs...and if you go with "other" monolights, then you will be committed to buying a sine wave type battery/inverter ($200 to $450), or an expensive Quantum Turbo battery. If you want a light, umbrella, stand, and a location battery, there is NO OTHER system as affordable as the Flashpoint monolights.

The Calumets and the Elinchrom and Alien Bees will cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars more, for about the same flash power.

Adorama is probably the second-largest photo gear retailer in the USA. They have been importing and selling the Flashpoint monolights since the early 1990's, to my recollection. 160 watt-seconds of juice discharged through even a middling efficiency flashtube and with a decent reflector is going to put out PLENTY of light for many,many situations. Keep in mind, many speedlight flash unit makers describe the power of their units with the flash head zoomed toward the telephoto end, as a way to artificially inflate the power...while MOST monolights will have their power in Guide Number with a "standard" reflector which might very well cover 110 degrees. In other words, with the right reflector, a 25 watt-second Speedotron flash head's pop! will light half of a room, while a full-power flash from a $400 speedlight will just light the center of the kitchen table...

 

[SHaller]

I agree. I am really leaning towards the flashpoint. The only thing is that I'm having trouble finding a larger flashpoint battery if i wanted to upgrade later down the road.

 

[SHaller]

I agree. I am really leaning towards the flashpoint. The only thing is that I'm having trouble finding a larger flashpoint battery if i wanted to upgrade later down the road.

Well it aslo has to do with my lack of understanding about these power sources.

 

[Village Idiot]

The Alien Bees Vagabond Mini Lithium says it can do 400-500 shots at 640w/s total while the Adorama FP battery says 100 shots at 600w/s and the VML only costs $105 more. No contest on which I'd choose.