Flash - volume control

[clive_murray_white]

<p>Some of you will remember that I sold my non-Nikon compatible flashes recently and was going to buy a decent replacement but..............research has led to gross inactivity.</p>

<p>The reason for this is quite simple, I've become annoyed at how complicated flashes seem to be and to a certain extent even the language used to describe functions seems overly complicated and even misleading. (I do appreciated that other flash users do need i-ttl etc but not me)</p>

<p>I have worked out that all I actually need is reasonably powerful flash or flashes attached to light stands (with or without light modifiers) that are remotely controlled from my D800. The only control I need for the flash is the ability to deliver more or less light to my subject (lets not worry about the mechanics of how this is actually done) I think of it as a volume control or dimmer.</p>

<p>Remote control is simply a safety device to save me from accidentally tripping over cables.</p>

<p>Do such animals exist - if so what are they?</p>

<p> </p>

[chriscourt]

Alien Bees with Cyber Commander?

[clive_murray_white]

<p>Thanks Chris - looks promising, possibly a bit of overkill for my use with 16 channels - I'd guess the smallest alienbee monos would be enough - what do you reckon?</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>For the "strobist" route I don't think you can better a Nikon SB-25, 26 or 28. Any of these will give you a <em>true</em> GN of 28 (metres/100 ISO) @ 35mm coverage and that's about as powerful as any hotshoe-style flash gets. They'll all allow controlling their output over a 7 stop range - full to 1/64th power - with 1/3rd stop fine-tuning if needed.<br>

Any of those three speedlight models can be bought used for around 1/10th the cost of an SB-910. They're all just as powerful as a 910 but feel to me like they have a better build quality. ..... And then there's the Yong Nuo 560 and similar pretenders to the throne.</p>

<p>FWIW, I have 3 SB-25s and find that they have more than enough power and flexibility for a portable head-and-shoulders portrait session when fitted in a softbox or snooted down as a hairlight/kicker. Outdoors as fill, in a shoot-through they'll do a full length shot at a reasonable distance in full sunlight, and in silver brollies they'll light a moderately large group.</p>

<p>If you want monolights there are dozens of options to meet almost any budget. Most of them have built-in optical or radio slaves these days, so at most you only need to add a simple transmitter attached to the camera and one or two slave receivers. Unfortunately the latest monolights all seem to show their output in some obscure digital-stops format. So instead of a simple power ratio you get, for example, f/5.6.8 - which is stupid speak for "two tenths of a stop under f/8". Personally I'd avoid any flash that indicated its power output in some ridiculous decimal stops language.</p>

<p>What I would definitely look for in a monolight is the ability to use the common Bowens S type speedring fitting. Otherwise you might be scratching around to find suitable reflectors/modifiers, or they'll simply fall off or be awkward to fit.</p>

[pete_s.]

You can trigger the flash remotely with radio (no wires) but to be able to control the "dimmer" remotely makes it infinitely more complicated. So use your feet for that.

 

If you do it like that you can also use real strobes without any changes to your setup. And you can mix and match any and all brands as long as the flash/strobe has a manual power setting ("dimmer").

[pge]

<p>As Chris suggests, real strobes are the answer. Your needs may grow in the future, and you will likely be quite impressed with what a real strobe can do. SB's are limited in terms of modifiers and power, strobes are not. My strobes are old 70's machines so Rodeo would be happy, no decimal stops language, just dials and switches. Buying a set of older strobes can be cost effective and modifiers are readily available at good prices. Modern strobes are more versatile. I prefer power box and lamp style strobes because the actual lamp heads are lighter, less strain on booms and stands. In terms of modern stobes, Chris' suggestion is what I would have said.</p>

[jonb]

<p>If you are comfortable using speedlights, it is possible (but not exactly inexpensive) to set up things such that you can control flash power remotely from the camera. You would need:</p>

<ul>

<li>Reasonably modern Nikon speedlights (SB-800 or SB-900 units, or the lower-power units SB-600, SB-700, SB-400).</li>

<li>PocketWizard radio units Mini-TT1 (camera) and Flex-TT5 (one for each flash)</li>

<li>PocketWizard AC3 zome controller</li>

</ul>

<p>Frankly, that solution makes the most sense only if your lighting setup needs to be portable. For fixed studio work, I'd be more included to use something like the Alien Bees solution.</p>

<p>If you are comfortable making the power adjustments at the lights, almost any flash that is manually adjustable can be used, then triggered by an inexpensive radio or optical trigger.</p>

[clive_murray_white]

<p>As this story unfolds, I'll have to admit that I haven't become "comfortable" with speedlights and would say that I'm much more adept at seeing light rather than making it.</p>

<p>This is true only up to a point because much of my work involves taking installation pictures in our own art gallery lit by a modern low power system which I'm very good at using. Even though I know it's counter productive I keep seeing this lighting quest as an auxiliary to our fixed gallery system.</p>

<p>I have no objection to manually controlling speedlights or strobes and even have a very good tall step ladder!</p>

<p>Since anything I get is likely to be bought via that auction house we never name the easy route seems to be to pick up a couple of SB-26s and radio units to match (or new Yongnuo to do similar but understanding which YN is a problem for me)</p>

<p>The strobe course is probably the smart way to go Alienbee never seems to come up on the auctions here in Australia - so its looking at other brands and all the freak-out stuff to do with compatibility etc, so far Bowens has been mentioned but which models etc? Which other brands?</p>

<p>Thanks for your help so far.</p>

<p> </p>

[pge]

<p>Norman.</p>

[clive_murray_white]

<p>Hi Phil - Norman doesn't seem to be an option in Aus as far as I can see in the quick search I've done since you posted - Bowens, Lowell, Elincrom? most common on that auction site.</p>

<p>There is a pair of Bowens 1500s that look interesting but don't know what else I'd need to make them work</p>

[rodeo_joe1]

<p>Clive, if those Bowens 1500s are in good "nick" then you'll probably be very pleased with them if you can get them at a good price. You shouldn't run out of power with them anyway! In fact they might be a bit of overkill in a small studio. I'm guessing at you being able to use f/32 at 6ft and 100 ISO with just one head in a small softbox on full power.</p>

<p>The only drawback (IMHO) is the power indication method. The Bowens units were exactly what I had in mind with my rant about decimal stops. Still, if you can get your head around that, then good luck!</p>

<p>If these are the latest Gemini Pro 1500s, then they're compatible with Bowens own "Pulsar" trigger; a reasonably priced trigger system that (I believe) lets you control the power of the flash(es) from a camera top transmitter. So no step ladder needed. I haven't yet managed to try out the Pulsar system, so don't take that description as gospel. Perhaps someone else can give a more hands-on report?</p>

[clive_murray_white]

<p>Thanks again Rodeo Joe,</p>

<p>The space I'm dealing with is not that small, as you can now see, my fixed lighting system is primarily led spots/floods + a small number of controllable (focus and spread) spots that seem to have about the same K rating as the leds. There is also uncontrollable daylight.</p>

<p><img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5333/9615948807_6815e52259_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="531" /></p>

<p>As the conversation goes on, I kind of think that I should have real long think about what will actually help my situation rather than end product first.</p>

[clive_murray_white]

<p>Update - I decided to get cheap Nikon Flashes on that auction site, SB-20 & SB-27 + a wireless controller set, so far only the SB-20 has arrived, perfect mint condition, looks like fat toad but works perfectly. And what it is even nicer is the controls, a simple slider for output - as close to a volume control as you can get, nice.</p>

<p>I rationalised that these 2 old flashes would get me to understand flash lighting basics and then if I really felt the need for more features I could upgrade accordingly.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

Lowell does not make flash equipment. What you want essentially is a LumoPro LP180 QuadSync flash but with an ability

it lacks: adjusting power levels remotely.

 

If you go the Paul C. Buff route skip the Alien Bees and go for the Einstein 640. More maximum power yes, but I think

lower minimum power as well. Other Einstein advantages: 250 watt modeling light, 1/10th stop increment control over

output, far better color consistency from power setting to power setting, and very short flash duration once you have

energy set less than full.

 

The CyberController works very well but I use the PocketWizard ControlTL system to control outpurt from camera (but

only in 1/3rd stop increments and only over a 6 stop range (controlling output requires the MC2 transceiver for the flash

and an AC-3 module for the transceiver on the camera.

[clive_murray_white]

<p>Thanks Ellis - I guess it's one step at a time for me now that I've committed to the old SB route and am rapidly collecting all the bits and pieces I need to get it working nicely.</p>