Upgrading lights

[Nwcid]

I recently purchased a pair of NIB Flashpoint manual strobes in a local deal for $60 for the pair. These run on 4 AA batteries and have a GN of 196'.

Today at a shoot I took 185 images in under 3 hours so these were getting a real work out. I was shooting at 1/1. About halfway through the shoot the lights quit working due to batteries, and I am surprised they lasted that long. The major thing is that when I took the batteries out, they were almost too hot to touch. The thermal protection did not come on, but is this hard on the lights?

I am shooting team pictures for a small local school and I will have at least 1 more of these shoots before the end of the school year.

I was originally considering "upgrading" to a pair of AD200's as they seem like a good all around light and they work with my trigger system. However, I feel like I am missing something.

A stand alone AD200 is $299, but you can get it in a kit with small softbox, barndoors and some gels for the same price. It has a GN of 196', recycle time of <2 seconds, and is good for 500 shots.

A Flashpoint Zoom Li-on manual is $139 has a GN of 196', recycle time <1.5 second and is good for 650 shots.

Why advantage would the AD200 have?

 

[tirediron]

I would NOT want battery-powered strobes for I&T work. Battery-power is great for remote locations, but if you can connect to mains power, you're much better off. For only a few dollars more than one AD200, you can get a three-head Speedotron Brownline kit or a four head Blackline kit. This is real professional gear and the kind of stuff that will give you full power pops all day long and not break a sweat ('though full power on your AD200 will be more like 1/8 power on a kit like this).

 

[Derrel]

It looks to me like the advantage the AD200 has over the Flashpoint Lithium ION speedlight is that the AD200 offers bare-tube flash as an option, where the shoe-mount flash does not offer that option. Conversely, the AD200 appears to me to be a stand-mount-only flash, without a camera-hotshoe mounting option. I did not do extensive research on either unit, just looked at the specs on Adorama.

 

[adamhiram]

You get 4 improvements with the AD200:

• Higher max flash power by almost 2 full stops at 200Ws
• Faster cycle times at comparable power
• More flashes per battery - estimated 500 full power pops vs. 230 at much lower power, even more at comparable output
• Bare bulb option for better dispersion in many modifiers

Mounting is easy - just use an S-type Bowens Mount from Godox/Glow/Neewer for $20 to clamp it in. The. Use any Bowens mount modifiers.

 

[Nwcid]

Thank you for the input. While I can see the advantages to a wired unit that is not a practical option for the majority of what I am shooting now. Maybe in the future.

With a little more research I think I found out I was using the GN wrong. The AD200 with bare bulb has a GN of 196 vs the speed light having the GN 196 with it zoomed to 200mm. I had assumed the AD200 was more powerful, but using the "specs" on the website they looked the same. This would also account for the longer recycle time.

The light stand mount is not an issue as my stands are all set up for just about any configuration.

As far as cycle time the specs show the Li-on speed lights are good for 650 shots with a 1.5 second recycle vs the AD200 at 500 shots with a 2 second recycle time at full power. The less shots and longer recycle make sense if it provides 2 more stops of light.

 

[adamhiram]

FYI - Adorama has a 1-day sale on the AD200 today (Dec 19) for $250 ($50 off). It would already be in my cart if I didn't just buy some other gear during cyber week!
https://www.adorama.com/fplfev200z.html

 

[Nwcid]

FYI - Adorama has a 1-day sale on the AD200 today (Dec 19) for $250 ($50 off). It would already be in my cart if I didn't just buy some other gear during cyber week!
https://www.adorama.com/fplfev200z.html

I did 2 of these last night, https://www.adorama.com/fplfev200bf.html I had about $400 in "rewards" from my business CC so I thought that would be a good use of that money.

 

[adamhiram]

I did 2 of these last night

Very nice, I think you'll be very happy with those! I use a Glow ParaPop as my favorite key light modifier, and it's pretty awesome how quickly it sets up and collapses, without even needing to remove any of the diffusion material. One additional accessory you might benefit from is a Godox/Glow S-type adapter for holding the strobes. They're pretty cheap, and make mounting the light really fast and easy by simply clamping it in. Let us know how you like the new kit!

 

[Nwcid]

I do have an S mount, I got it when they had a black Friday sale and I picked up a 48" Glow EZ Octo Box for my AD600 Pro and a pair of 9.5' light stands.

Here is a behind the scenes image from the shoot on Monday.

 

[ronlane]

I just picked up a used evolv200 (adorama brand of the Godox AD200) this week and tested it out a little with my 38" parapop Octabox and a foam board reflector. While I would normally shoot at f/5.6 or f/8.0, I tested it at f/2.8 and used hss to blur our the curtains because I didn't set up my backdrop. Further testing will be going on but I am honestly impressed and think I will be using this more and more for outdoor portraits (mainly for Seniors).

Here is one of the examples.

 

[Nwcid]

I just picked up a used evolv200 (adorama brand of the Godox AD200) this week and tested it out a little with my 38" parapop Octabox and a foam board reflector. While I would normally shoot at f/5.6 or f/8.0, I tested it at f/2.8 and used hss to blur our the curtains because I didn't set up my backdrop. Further testing will be going on but I am honestly impressed and think I will be using this more and more for outdoor portraits (mainly for Seniors).

Here is one of the examples.

The nice thing about the 200's is that they are light, powerful, have a long life battery and are no larger than most speed lights. I have mostly been using mine for lighting the background or as a hair light as I have been using my 600's as my main lights.

Here is a cell phone, behind the scene image from one of my last shoots, and an image I took at the time.


View attachment 169260

 

[ronlane]

Thanks Nwcid. I plan on using it for a key a lot of times for that very reason. But I have the Streaklight 360 that I can use a key, the 200 that I can use for fill, background or hair and a streaklight speed light that I can use for the other. I have to tape the barndoors on the speed light but I get the benefits of that, so I have in essence 3 lights. with no wires to plug in.

 

[ronlane]

@Nwcid, I want that muslin backdrop you have. Well I'd take the space too, lol. Looking forward to trying my 200 on location for seniors and photowalks.

 

[Nwcid]

@Nwcid, I want that muslin backdrop you have. Well I'd take the space too, lol. Looking forward to trying my 200 on location for seniors and photowalks.

I am happy with the backdrop so far. I have only had it a week and was recommend to me by a great photographer. They are great to work with, I had a session come up that I was not expecting and they were able to rush order it to me. You can check them out here, Ash Craig Lamere Gold Series Background mine is a 10x20.

The flooring is a piece of remnant from a hardware store. The 6'x8' piece cost $25.

I am fighting with my space. It is taking over my shop space. Trying to find a happy balance.

The 200's are nice and easy to transport. Get a light weight stand and a small modifier you are set. You had talked about barn doors. You can use something like this with your 200 or speed lights, https://www.adorama.com/glbdsm02.html

 

[ronlane]

I have that s-type mount. I use it for my 360 barebulb but I will be getting another one pretty soon. They are handy.