I just finished a location shoot with my studio lights. It was in an
old factory. I brought two of my Studio Pro Excalibur 3200s with
umbrellas. I used a twenty foot PC cord on one light and set the other
to slave. I shot 200 frames with no problems whatsoever. These are
inexpensive monolights. I believe I paid about $700 for the two 3200s
(300 watt), a 150 watt hair or background light, three stands, two
umbrellas and a snout. Prior to buying this set I used a number of
electronic flash units that were meant for on-camera use. No
comparison. Even these inexpensive monolight studio strobes are easy to
use and very reliable.
Paul
On Jan 14, 2006, at 4:24 PM, 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
