Monolights: Profoto Compact 600 for key light?

[peter_martucci]

Hello all,

 

<p>Well the past two weeks have been agonizing as far as getting my lighting kit setup

properly. I apologize for the number of posts reagrding lighting but it's pretty much been

a nightmare.

 

<p>I bought a speedo brownline setup, it's a lemon. Taking it back. Bought a force 10

monolight to go with it as key light... it doesn't work with my battery / sine wave inverter

because it's got a CPU inside even though Speedo said upfront that it should work (before I

bought it) and the inverter company says the force 10 has been tested and verified to

work. Plus it may be defective and aside from sending it back to Speedo, my only option is

to return it as it's only a few days old. So although Speedo has a great reputation, not too

impressed so far.

 

<p>Anyway, I used a compact 600 special kit in college and really love the Profoto stuff. i

was hoping to avoid buying Profoto and just renting it when needed, but after this whole

"adventure" I can see the value of just sucking it up and buying the best.

 

<p>question is: will the compact 600 be enough power as a main / key light? Mostly for

digital capture. 90% of the time in a medium softbox, medium octobank or beauty dish.

I'm thinking of getting this kit: <a href="http://www.adorama.com/PP502247.html">LINK

TO PROFOTO</a>

 

<p>I will also be using it on location with battery for some personal location work as well.

 

<p>I searched and searched and could not find any info regarding people's use / reviews

of this item in a situation similar to mine. The guide number system appears to be

different than that of the Force 10 (which is plenty enough power for what I do) so I can't

directly compare.

 

<p> Any relevant info or even suggestions of how to better spend my money would be

appreciated. Thanks and once again sorry for the flurry of posts. This forum is

invaluable.

[peter_martucci]

Should probably mention that this is mainly going to be used for people work: 1 or 2 at the

most. Some table top work.

[brooks short]

Peter,

 

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences with Speedotron. Would these issues because you are buying used equipment ?

 

I've used Blackline Speedotrons for over 20 years and have never had a problem. But I've never bought used and I've never bought Brownline because it's doesn't have the same features or the same quality as Speedotron's Blackline lights.

 

I don't know much about Profoto's monolights but their Acute pack systems are very nice.

[ronald_l._marvin]

Hi Peter, this should be plenty of power for people photography and more. I just bought a

new Profoto 7b and had a chance to play with it over the weekend. Using a Photoflex NXT

24x30 softbox gave me f/45 at 2m (6.5ft) at full power. The 7b has a seven stop range and I

dialed the power all the way down and got f/5.6, I like shooting at wider apertures for

portraiture, so I moved the light back a bit for f/4. ISO was set at 100.

 

I hope this helps.

[ronald_l._marvin]

Should have mentioned: the 7b is 1200 WS, and I got f/45 as mentioned, a 600 WS unit

should

give you f/32 in a similar situation.

 

I've noticed that power output is very consistent across Profoto's line. In their published

specs they list the 7b into an umbrella at ISO 100 giving f/22, on the Acute2 1200 also f/22,

and on the D4 1200, guess what, f/22.

[peter_martucci]

Bought 2 compact 600 Plus's w/ zoom reflectors and case today... thanks everyone.