Change strobes for SB600?

[anne_paula]

<p>Hi there!</p>

<p>I'm not a pro photographer, I'm very far from it, but I'll get there! So, I still have so many doubts... I'd very much appreciate if someone could help me, one of my doubts is:<br>

I'm using a Interfit kit EX150, 2 strobes (1 umbrella and 1 soft box), my dimmer wasn't working, I had no control of the light at all, so, I decided to open the light and try to fix it, and of course, I broke it.<br>

So, I'll have to get another one, but I was thinking to use a SB600 instead of a strobe, so I could sync it on high speeds if I want.<br>

I already have one SB600, and i love it. So, if I get another one, I could use them with the soft box, umbrella, and also try some other effects...<br>

But i actually never see any photographer using flashes instead strobes... i'd like to get an advice about it.<br>

It seems a stupid question for me sometimes, because, as far as i know, the strobes are "flashes" right? But I just want to make sure that this logical makes sense. </p>

<p>Thanks in advance!</p>

<p>Jessy Drumond</p>

 

[Hector Javkin]

<p>You might want to look at a book, <em>Minimalist Lighting</em>, by Kirk Tuck, which discusses hotshoe flashes in multi-flash setups. He concentrates on location shooting, however.</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>The main thing to understand is that hot-shoe speedlights (flash units, like your SB-600) simply don't have as much power as studio-style flash units ("strobes," "monolights" etc). This doesn't mean you can't get by just fine with the smaller speedlights in a lot of situations - but it does mean you have some limitations. For example: <br /><br />1) The speedlights eat up batteries. Not the end of the world if you use quality rechargeables, and buy a good "smart" charger. During a busy day of shooting, this could mean having to stop along the way to swap out batteries - sometimes an annoyance if you have the flash buried in a softbox or up on a boom, being used as a hair light, etc.<br /><br />2) The power isn't there, necessarily, to handle the large light modifiers you might want in order to light certain kinds of scenes. Say... a large octabox you're using to light a full-length bridal portrait. <br /><br />3) The SB-600 doesn't have a PC connector, which means you have to either use a hot shoe adapter to trigger it using a radio slave, or you need a simple optical slave hot shoe adapter, or you're going to be using Nikon's CLS system. Speaking of which:<br /><br />4) The CLS approach (very handy, sometimes!) means you're either going to use an infrared controller like Nikon's SU-800 (which costs as much as another speedlight), or you're going to use a flash like the SB-800/900 mounted on the camera as a controller, or you're going to use your camera's pop-up flash as a controller. You don't mention what camera you're using, so I don't know if that last option is valid for you. Regardless, the CLS means that the slave flash units have to be able to "see" the controlling flash/pulse from the commanding device. This can sometimes be a problem when you've got the slaves inside softboxes, or when you're using them at longer distances or in bright sunlight. It's a great system, but has natural limitations that can crop up when you least need surprises on a shoot.<br /><br />Before narrowing things down more, it will help if you describeb the type of shooting you're doing, or intend to do. That really helps to differentiate between one approach and the next.</p>

[anne_paula]

<p>Thank you Hector, I'll research about this book.</p>

<p>Thank you Matt! <br>

I'm using a Nikon D700. I want to do portraits, fashion, children, pregnant.<br>

I'm very surprised to know that the flash units don't have the same power as strobes. I actually thought they would have more power.</p>

<p>Thanks one more time</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Well, not all strobes are the same, obviously. For example: a simple, under-$400 monolight from Alien Bees will have <em>many</em> times the power of an SB-600. There are inexpensive "studio" lights that you'll see for cheap on eBay, etc., that are barely as powerful as a decent hot shoe speedlight.<br /><br />When it comes to power, a decent monolight or other studio-style light is (in practical terms) going to be so much more powerful than a speedlight that it's not usually reasonable to try to compare them, apples-to-apples. I will sometimes use one of my speedlights in conjunction with studio lights, but only when I'm using the whole rig at lower power. Once I need to shoot at low ISOs and with a stopped-down lens, the speedlights can't keep up with their bigger cousins. This really comes down to shooting circumstances.</p>

[anne_paula]

<p>Thank you so much Matt!<br>

I'm reading more about the monolights, and I'll definitely go with them, since one of my main needs is to be able to light evenly a white background for high key.<br>

The prices are a bit more than expected for the really powerful ones, but from what I've been reading, these Alien Bees are really good for a reasonable price. I don't have a big budget for the lights right now, and I'm basically between 2 deals, I'd appreciate so much an advice from a pro, because I don't want to regret after!<br>

So the 2 options crossing my mind right now are:</p>

<p> A kit with 3x 300W, that comes with soft box, umbrella and filters, you can check it out here:<br>

(http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/900W-STROBE-STUDIO-FLASH-LIGHT-KIT-LIGHTING-SET-3x-300W_W0QQitemZ170470893546QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Photography_StudioEquipment_RL?hash=item27b0db67ea#ht_2463wt_1167)</p>

<p>OR</p>

<p>2 Alien Bees (I'd try to fit in my budget the B800) but nothing else. (I have 1 stand avail, 1 soft box, 1 umbrella.)</p>

<p>What would be your advice? Would the Alien Bees be that much better than the kit, that makes it wort it?</p>

<p>Thank's in advance!</p>

<p>(By the way Matt, I just felt in love with your work! I tried shooting dogs couple of times... But it wasn't successful... just could get the moment+right settings at the same time at all!)</p>

<p>=D </p>

[anne_paula]

<p>Hmm.. I just read that they don't ship outside US...</p>

 

[Matt Laur]

<p>They do have <em>some</em> representation outside of the US. Where do you live?<br /><br />(oh, and, thanks for suffering through my dog-infested gallery!)</p>

[anne_paula]

<p>I'm currently living in Albania, but I used to live in the UK, so, everything I get from the internet, is delivered there, I don't really trust the post office in Albania...</p>

<p>=D</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>That's a shame. Looks like it's only the Australians, at the moment, who have an easy way of buying that brand outside of the US and Canada.<br /><br />But there are plenty of other manufacturers of mid-priced studio strobes. The point is to avoid the poorly made, low-power stuff. You probably can't go wrong with Elinchrom's gear - they have some lower-priced (for their brand, anyway!) studio lights that are well liked, and sold throughout Europe, I belive. They're a Swiss company.</p>

[devon_mccarroll]

<p>Hi Jessica,<br>

Another option if you're interested in Alien Bees is to start watching Ebay over the next few weeks (assuming someone would be willing to ship to you and the cost of shipping wouldn't be prohibitive). Since Buff just came out with the new Einsteins, there will likely be a flood of Bees and White Lightnings on the market. I personally won't be giving up my White Lightnings though--I love them!<br>

Also, whatever monolights you decide to purchase, you will need a speedring to fit your current softbox to them. Some softbox makers have speedrings for other light brands, and others don't.</p>

[mariosforsos]

<p>Jessica, for my 2 cents: I have been using a fully portable SB-based system for some time now and I'm almost certain I would not be easily persuaded to move to a monolight system and let me explain why:</p>

<p>- My system is so fully portable that ALL my lights (2xSB-600s, 2xSB800s, 1xSB900 and the SU800) and my 3 stands, 3 dual umbrellas and 2 softboxes fit into one shoulder bag which weights just over 5kgs and is pretty much portable everywhere.<br>

- I can install my system without ever having to worry about extension cords, sufficient power, cables, etc.<br>

- It all runs directly through CLS solving 70% of my lighting issues for me without me ever having to resort to countless minor calculations and adjustments<br>

- I can command them either though the SU800 or (and this is where Matt is slightly wrong) with the VERY inexpensive Cactus radio frequency system (which came for free with my stands...!) in case I don't have line of sight.<br>

- They are small enough to hide pretty much EVERYWHERE, even right between the subject's legs or inside their hair (have done that!), something you cannot do with any monolight.</p>

<p>In terms of power, I've never found myself in a situation where I did not have enough light. Never. Of course you may have power problems if you want to place your lights 20ft or more away from the subject, but you need to ask yourself whether you're likely to do that in your photography... I've shot in broad daylight and even lit a small area of a forrest at night using nothing more than my speedlights and bungee cords...;-)</p>

<p>However, Matt does have a point when discussing batteries and modelling lights - plus you might indeed come to a point where the power is simply not there, I'm not going to hide this from you...the question you need to ask yourself is one between convenience, portability, cost and power.</p>

<p>Also, since you live in Albania, have you thought about sourcing things from Greece? Just south of the border? There are shops which can send you items by courrier directly to your door...;-)</p>

[chuck_albertson1]

<p>If you haven't gone there yet, take a look at strobist.com, and in particular the "Lighting 101" tutorial.<br>

If you're going to buy another SB flash, go whole hog and get a -900. You can do a lot more with it than a -600, including controlling the -600 you already have.</p>