The monolights are much more powerful than the Sigma 500. It's tough to compare. With the monolights at about 12 feet from the subject, I can fire them into the umbrella reflectors, set them at 1/2 and 1/4 power, and shoot at ISO 200, f11. The Sigma on camera would probably give me about f8 at that distance with direct light. I would guess that two of the sigmas aimed at reflectors would give about f 5.6 at that distance. But that's full power. The monolights still have at least two more stops to give. So I'd guesstimate the difference at about four stops.
I do have an AF 400T in addition to the Sigma, so I've occasionally used that with the Sigma on location. The AF 400T has to be on-camera of course, but it can be coupled with the Sigma as a slave. I also have a generator, and I used it once with the monolights. that worked out rather well. But most of my location shoots that require lighting are indoors Night shooting in open spaces is difficult with anything short of a big Fisher box hanging overhead. Paul > At 11:53 AM 9/28/2005, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >Since the units are monolights they have integral power supplies. They are > >fully adjustable from 1/16th power to full power, so I can achieve any > >lighting ratio I wish. T! > > hey recycle almost immediately. It's a far better solution than > > on-camera strobes doubling as wireless units. > >Paul > > Studio strobes are at a huge disadvantage when you want multiple flash on > location and don't have AC power available. (I sometimes shoot in > situations like that.) Lugging a 120 Vac generator around isn't very fun or > inexpensive. (I also don't already own a generator.) It's largely because > of this, that I'm considering multiple battery-powered flash units such as > the Sigma and Pentax models. > > However, if the studio monolights had a LOT of extra power compared to the > Sigma or Pentax flashes, and I could get them cheaply enough, I would still > consider them. Also, having modeling lights is a huge advantage with the > monolights. > > It's been awhile since I actually used studio monolights. Could you do me a > favor, and try to give me some idea about the power difference between your > monolights and your Sigma flash? What would be the difference in aperture > when switching from the Sigma on-camera flash to the monolights? (I know > this is somewhat awkward to compare, but just assume your "typical" > monolight configuration, whether it be with reflectors, umbrellas, soft > box, whatever.) I wish more monolight manufacturers would publish GN > specifications, or that on-camera flash makers would give watt-second > ratings for their flashes. It's really hard to know how much difference > there is in the strength of two flashes without actually buying them and > comparing for yourself. (Which is something I can't afford to do.) > > thanks, > Glen >
