Square perfect strobes?? Need Advice...

[malsech]

Hey guys, its been a while, but I had a question. I have never ventured into the world of studio photography and would like to get my feet wet. I found these on ebay and I am curious if anyone has any feedback regarding these strobes. They are made by a company called square perfect. I won't be using them real often, but I want to do some family portraits and see how well I can do. I don't have a whole lot of money to spend right now either, with christmas coming and all. Anyone have any feedback or suggestions?

 

[Sw1tchFX]

It's a good kit, except the strobes themselves are not powerful enough in my opinion. some are 45WS, or 160WS. Considering a singe SB-600 is about 60WS, that's not very strong for a studio kit, and it doesn't give you much in the way of controlling the ambient light ESPECIALLY if you're using them on location and are going to be using the softboxes and umbrella's. 20x28" isn't exactly big either for a softbox when in portrait work.

$300 though is a pretty sweet price for what you get though. f/32 or 22 at ISO 100 might need a few pops, but it would be do-able.

 

[pellepiano]

That was quite cheap =)

It is probably rebranded chinese strobes, does not mean they are bad though. I too use cheap china strobes ( brand QiHe ) for my images. They work very well, in my small home studio.

Be careful when using the modeling lights when you attach gels or snoot to the strobes. My snoot was not made to stand the heat so it started smoking.

When considering if strobes are powerful enough, its all about distance to the subject. For instance, my two 120 ws strobes, with shoot thru umbrellas gives me F8 at ISO 100 , two meters from subject. Umbrellas are good in smal places as they spread the light very good, so you can do full body shots at close range.

But if I wanted to move my strobes and have them 4 meters from subjectm, I would need 4 times the light to get the same F8 for exposure. Light fades fast.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

But if I wanted to move my strobes and have them 4 meters from subjectm, I would need 4 times the light to get the same F8 for exposure. Light fades fast.

Exactly, and the inverse square law will affect falloff. These lights at 1 meter aren't going to provide as even of coverage on the subject than if they were 6 meters and turned up.

 

[malsech]

The room I have to shoot in is about 12 ft from my subject. With 320 w/s is that going to be effective enough at about 6-8 ft from my subject? Will I get even light coverage at that distance? Will the strobes be enough power to light up the area? Or should I be looking for something with a higher watt strobe? I guess I am really unsure now of what to do?

 

[Flash Harry]

Its the lights distance to subject you have to work with, your shooting distance matters not one iota, any strobe can be used. I personally use pro hi power stepped lighting, as the output can be in/decreased allowing total control over a studio situation, the downside is that this type is very expensive. Learning to work with the lights you have/can afford is the key. H