Jens,
With modern Wireless flashes from the camera manufacturer, all you have
is stands, umbrellas/softboxes and the flashes themselves. With Canon,
you need to add a ST-E2 wireless transmitter, but it's a good addition
if you shoot low-light as most Canons don't have an IR AF assist lamp,
and the ST-E2 is one, with Nikon i-TTL or Pentax P-TTL bodies you may
have the option of using the pop-up flash as a wirless commander on
certain bodies, or you'll need a wireless master flash in Commander
Mode. No cabling, sensors, power supplies or extra hassles, and of
course you can use the flashes on-camera as well. It's relatively cheap
and completely portable. essentially you're paying for a second flash
(Which can usually be a cheaper slave-only flash) the stands and
lighting modifiers and maybe a wireless command unit. All told, your
extra cost is about that of one monolight, a radio trigger and the
stands (Which can be a lot cheaper than monolight stands, camera flashes
are lighter) and modifiers.
As to my Camera club, well we're a very low-budget affair. The only
thing the club owns is it's space on meetup.com, which costs around
$10USD a month. We pass the hat when the account starts running low.
Great bunch of people though, and we're very active.
-Adam
Jens Bladt wrote:
I see, this is different/special.
I our camera club, the club owns the strobe-outfit consisting 8 Courtney and
Visatec strobes - including sofboxes, honey comb filters, snoots etc. It's
mounted in special rails in the cieling and there's several rolls of
background paper. It's true that this would be too expensive (and
unnecessary) for one person to get.
In my experience, however, a strobe outfit consisting of several camera
flashes is in fact more expensive and less reliable than an old an fashioned
strobe outfit. A 2 or 3 oiece outfit is often cheaper (used) as a single
camera flash, which has a lot of automatics, you don't really need for
studio work.
I myself own an outfit made out of 4 old Metz CT 45's and 1 Metz CT 60.
It's a PITA to use because of all the cords, sensors, power supplies, pilot
light arrangemenst etc. But I still use it from time to time for assignments
outside the studio.
Before Chrismas I had an assignment (26 portraits and one group shot). I
rented a 3 piece (Two 600 Ws and one 1200 Ws) Elinchrome outfit for 1 day,
for which I paid 100 USD. It was well worth it. The Rotalux softboxes are
simply brilliant. Likewise the electronic controled flash units. They are
however, rather expensive. One 600Ws is appr. 2000 USD! But I could buy a 3
piece Chinese outfit (Walimex) for less than the cost of one Pentax AF500
FTZ flash!
In stead of infrared triggering, I often use a cheap 3 piece radio trigger
device, I got off ebay. Works rather well. And it's wireless too.
Regards
Jens
Jens Bladt
http://www.jensbladt.dk
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: Adam Maas [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sendt: 14. januar 2006 18:47
Til: [email protected]
Emne: Re: new AF system soon (when D2 arrives)?
Jens,
We're mostly amateurs, using wireless flash one stands with umbrellas,
not full-on studio strobes (Which only a couple people in a group of
several hundred own, many more happen to own EX series flashes and the
necessary accessories). And a D will not trigger a ST-E2, I've tried.
It's actually surprising how well multiple wireless flashes works as
long as you don't run out of power.
-Adam
Jens Bladt wrote:
Adam wrote
<different one can cause problems for you at certain events, like studio
<shoots, when you can't take advantage of gear sharing).
My *ist D works perfectly normal with an Elinchrome strobe outfit. No
problems.
Some flash units requires, that some cameras (not just Pentax) are
connected
after reversing the polarity of the flash cord.
That's not a real problem. Easily solved, and invovleves several camera
brands. My camera club just invested in an extra cord, so the members can
choose the right cord for the right camera.
Jens Bladt
http://www.jensbladt.dk
-----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
Fra: Adam Maas [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sendt: 14. januar 2006 06:59
Til: [email protected]
Emne: Re: new AF system soon (when D2 arrives)?
--SNIP--
But There is a major performance gap, and it's one reason I've left
Pentax for AF/Digital bodies. Not the main reason though (That was
logistics. When everyone in the club shoots one brand, having a
different one can cause problems for you at certain events, like studio
shoots, when you can't take advantage of gear sharing).
-Adam
