Lighting for Medical Photography

Hi everyone,

I am searching for smaller, more compact lighting to shoot medical before and after photos. I'm afraid I'm so accustomed to my White Lightnings that I've had forever, that I'm at a loss as to what is available that is high quality and very consistent. I need some decent power to be able to accommodate an f-stop of at least 8.0, ISO 100, and shutter speed of 125 with no lag time. It's a small space, so compact is good. It would need to handle a softbox with minimal diffusion. I'm not too keen on Speedlights- we'd have to change the batteries too often, and I don't love the results in this particular situation. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Rachel

If you are a Nikon user, you might consider checking this out. They have become relatively inexpensive, less than many lights.

medical nikkor | eBay

I appreciate the thought- it looks like the Nikkor's are for close up issues. While I sometimes have to shoot close-in, I more often have to shoot full body issues, and need a bit more spread. But thank you!!

"I'm not too keen on Speedlights- we'd have to change the batteries too often, and I don't love the results in this particular situation."

 

- Rechargeable NiMh 'ready to use' cells give at least 50 full-power pops and keep their charge for weeks.

 

The results are indistinguishable from any other light source when stuck in a similar softbox. So I think it's a mistake to dismiss speedlights out of hand when you're looking for a compact and fairly low-power flash source.

 

"..a softbox with minimal diffusion."

 

- That's a bit of an oxymoron. What about silver umbrellas? They give a semi-hard light, and are very efficient, portable and quick and easy to set up.

If I were shooting full body subjects with a softbox using AC power and wanted small, compact lighting I would choose Alien Bees.

Echoing @greg, my first thought was Digibee's. Another option would be externally powered Phottix Mitros + or similar. I think they'll cost about the same but the DBee's will provide more light and easier to deal with mod's. I've got a bunch of both. The Phottix make for a great little travel kit when weight/space are tight but otherwise DBee's and Einstein's win.

 

With medical photography a huge soft box is not always the best option. Many times a very small softbox/brelly or even bare bulb does a better job of conveying information.