Witch flash should I get?

[SrBiscuit]

No one wants to know what I want to use my setup for?

i sure as **** do...looks like youve got plenty of lighting equipment, but you've sparked my curiosity.

whatchya doin VI?

 

[Village Idiot]

Original post says I need 3 lights. Deadly srs. :meh:

Well I didn't know you had all those strobes and speedlites already.

My impression was that you wanted to get 3 speedlites to create enough power for 1 strobe or something. Anyway I guess I won't be much help on this. I guess a little more details on what you're doing would help.

It's always good to ask what equipment a person has before making a recommendation.

No one wants to know what I want to use my setup for?

i sure as **** do...looks like youve got plenty of lighting equipment, but you've sparked my curiosity.

whatchya doin VI?

Out door portraits, about half probably involving a wide angle and automotoive photography.

 

[MohaimenK]

It's always good to ask what equipment a person has before making a recommendation.
[/quote=Village Idiot;2034699]


....or since you're the one asking for help, it's easier for you to just put what equipments you have :er:

 

[Overread35]

I have a feeling VI is trying to educate some of the newer members into the usefulness of posting more detailed questions - the downside being that I'm in a "$%£@ the torpedoes full speed ahead with advice" mode

 

[ghache]

I currently own

1 X sb-600's
3 X Vivitar 285HV
2 X OPUS OPL-K250
1 X OPUS OPL-L150

I use my vivitars and the sb mostly off site. They are powerfull enought to overpower the sun but its hard on batteries and recycle time is slow. In overcast day or cloudy or inside i manage to use the vivitars at around 1/4 so recycle time is great.


if i had the money right now. i would buy at least an AB800 or AB1600 with a vagabonII and a beauty dish! IMO its a great powerfull setup for outdoor !

the ab ringlash is also a great flash for outdoor.

 

[Village Idiot]

to overpower the sun,

I currently own

1 X sb-600's
3 X Vivitar 285HV
2 X OPUS OPL-K250
1 X OPUS OPL-L150

I use my vivitars and the sb mostly off site. They are powerfull enought to overpower the sun but its hard on batteries and recycle time is slow


if i had the money right now. i would buy at least an AB800 or AB1600 with a vagabonII and a beauty dish! IMO its a great powerfull setup for outdoor !

From my experience: 1 Alien Bee B800 with large softbox is not enough to overpower the sun when using it to light 2 subjects, one sitting on the edge of a flatbed truck and the second jumping a bike off of the flatbed truck. It's barely enough for fill with the distance you need to create light without significant fall off.

The one piece of equipment that I know I will be buying (unless there is a suitable alternative) is a Tronix Explorer XT.

 

[Village Idiot]

Seriously, I'm stumped.

I was looking at Elinchrom Style 600RX lights, but three of them would run me $2,500 and wouldn't leave me with money for modifiers or the Tronix Explorer.

I've looked at pack and head systems, but with the cables being limiting factors, I'd probably need multiple packs and that's starting to get very expensive.

I've even looked at the Paul C. Buff Einsteins, and I could get 3 with modifiers for $1700. I could then sell my B800, still use the beauty dish I have for it, keep my ABR800, and spend less than my total budget after buying the Tronix Explorer.

But then, how doesn't the quality and light of a $500 640w/s Einsteing compare to the light of a $900 600w/s Style 600RX?

And what other option are out there with companies that have affordable, but good (I didn't say cheap) modifiers, rather than having to spend nearly $500 on a soft box.

Profoto monolights anyone?

 

[Derrel]

Sunpak 622 Super Zoom handle-mount speedlights were the most powerful handle mount flashes ever made,and are discontinued but still available as new old stock or NOS, from some retailers. They have different heads available....two types of bare-tube or omnidirectional heads, 7 auto f/stops, and incremental manual power, plus they offer two 1/4x20 mounting threads per flash and built-in bracket, plus a way to mount another accessory onto the bracket using a standard 1/4x20 screw or spigot...LOTS of power for $199 to $250 per flash, run off of C-batteries or Quantum Turbo packs,and in actual side-by-side tests, have the same f/stop power as quite a few "400 watt-second" monolights. These flashes have built-in threaded handles for lightstand and tripod mounting, with no need for accessories that can be lost or forgotten.

Quantum and Lumedyne and Norman 400 watt-second battery powered flashes are nice, but run about $1,000 for the same f/stop output as a $250 622 Super...so...something to think about in terms of enough flash to overpower the sun in a portable, battery-capable form factor that will also work well with clamps, and other threaded accessory mounting things like umbrella brackets and so on.

Monolights...how about Adorama's Flashpoint monolights? and some eBay softboxes?

 

[ghache]

Lumahawk also have some nice 1200ws monolights for a decent price and softboxes for real cheap.
LMX-XL1200ws

 

[Village Idiot]

My buddy at Calumet recommended the Travelite 750r lights. This looks like a nice deal for 3 lights:

Calumet Travelite 2250Ws 3-Head Radio Enabled Kit - CE1325 - CE1325

And any further upgrades can be Bowens lights/modifiers.

That and the 5 year warranty is always a plus.

 

[Derrel]

My buddy at Calumet recommended the Travelite 750r lights. This looks like a nice deal for 3 lights:

Calumet Travelite 2250Ws 3-Head Radio Enabled Kit - CE1325 - CE1325

And any further upgrades can be Bowens lights/modifiers.

That and the 5 year warranty is always a plus.

Yeah, those look like high-powered monolights. If you want the Calumet radio triggering system though, you'll need to spend another $109 for each of the three lights. They weigh 7.5 pounds each, without modifiers...so three will weigh 22.5 pounds. GN of 350 at full power at ISO 100 means you will be using these dialed way down for most indoor work. In fact, these will be overly powerful for most portraiture of one- and two-person stuff indoors.

This is the problem with monolights; powerful monolights cost a lot of money, and you are always paying for the "maximum power" of a big light, when or if you want or need only a lower-powered light to use with a grid or beauty dish, so you end up spending more money than you would going with those awful cords and separate packs and 4 separate flash heads...which would give you even-higher output through 1 or 2 heads than almost any monolights...

 

[Village Idiot]

My buddy at Calumet recommended the Travelite 750r lights. This looks like a nice deal for 3 lights:

Calumet Travelite 2250Ws 3-Head Radio Enabled Kit - CE1325 - CE1325

And any further upgrades can be Bowens lights/modifiers.

That and the 5 year warranty is always a plus.

Yeah, those look like high-powered monolights. If you want the Calumet radio triggering system though, you'll need to spend another $109 for each of the three lights. They weigh 7.5 pounds each, without modifiers...so three will weigh 22.5 pounds. GN of 350 at full power at ISO 100 means you will be using these dialed way down for most indoor work. In fact, these will be overly powerful for most portraiture of one- and two-person stuff indoors.

This is the problem with monolights; powerful monolights cost a lot of money, and you are always paying for the "maximum power" of a big light, when or if you want or need only a lower-powered light to use with a grid or beauty dish, so you end up spending more money than you would going with those awful cords and separate packs and 4 separate flash heads...which would give you even-higher output through 1 or 2 heads than almost any monolights...

Your posts are useless. I'm not going to buy the equipment you own. Stay out of my threads.

 

[ghache]

ohh burnnn

 

[SrBiscuit]

:lmao:

 

[Village Idiot]

It's always good to ask what equipment a person has before making a recommendation.
[/quote=Village Idiot;2034699]


....or since you're the one asking for help, it's easier for you to just put what equipments you have :er:

Didn't you post a thread about an ND filter? I'll say, that would be pretty useful to cut down the light if I had too much of it, eh?