Small home studio lighting

[Pablo]

Hi guys,

I am after some advice on lighting (Studio flash type).

This is for a small home type studio (about the size of a decent lounge room)..

Can someone suggest a type and power rating (xxx Watt) flashes that is suitable for use with the Canon 20D.

Any suggestions and setups appreciated.

Thank you in advance

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

err... the more the merrier? ;p

anyway, depends on the type of coverage you need. full body, half body? portrait? landscape? number of flashes? type of effect? etc

 

[catchlights]

If you are shooting a single subject or small group, I think 250ws~300ws is good enough, I use Bowens 2k power pack with one head (think only 1500ws) with minium power setting have to shoot at f22 in a small area. another light is a 500ws Bowens mono block, also over kill.

 

[Pablo]

err... the more the merrier? ;p

anyway, depends on the type of coverage you need. full body, half body? portrait? landscape? number of flashes? type of effect? etc

If you are shooting a single subject or small group, I think 250ws~300ws is good enough, I use Bowens 2k power pack with one head (think only 1500ws) with minium power setting have to shoot at f22 in a small area. another light is a 500ws Bowens mono block, also over kill.

Hi guys,

The situation is for Full Body, Half Body, Small Group.

I was guessing 300-500ws and therefore 1 of each should cover most things ???

I will look into the Bowens brand also.
There is a lot of cheap stuff advertised here, but I don't want cheap.
Mind you, "SUPER expensive" is not in my league either.

Talking to a Rep yesterday, he said that units like the Elinchrom 500 "that they sell" are not good for digital.
His meaning being that they were inconsistant. Not enough for FilmSLR, but enough for DSLR.


Any more you guys might like to add ?

Thanks again

 

[Pablo]

Hi guys,

Whilst looking around I found this company here in Australia that makes Monoblocs.
I was wondering if you have any opinions on their specs etc.

I am thinking of the PS600 (overkill I know, but it can be adjusted down).

http://www.photopro-electronics.com.au/index.htm

Appreciate any comments.

Cheers.

 

[Fiip]

Upz ! As I'm interested in exactly the same stuff.

Though for myself I also don't know where to find this kind of equipment in SG at an affordable price. (I know that there are some shop proposing stuff in Peninsula but price is killing there)

Any good advice would be welcome

Thks !

 

[Pablo]

Hi Fiip,

So, we are one the same track in life

Anything you can come up with I am happy to hear.

Maybe you can explain something to me (I have no idea about studio lighting...my photography has bee outside work)

My question is this :-

You have Studio Flash units ....... OK

You also have Studio Constant 5400K units

Why would one use a flash rather than a constant controlled K light ??

I appologise if the question is so simple that I shoud know the answer.

Cheers

 

[vince123123]

If I understand what you're saying correctly, you're asking why flash is better than continous lighting.

Both has advantages and disadvantages. Flash is short burst and you can't see the results accurately until you fire. Conventional continous lighting is good to see what you shoot is what you get, but can get rather hot.

Hi Fiip,

So, we are one the same track in life

Anything you can come up with I am happy to hear.

Maybe you can explain something to me (I have no idea about studio lighting...my photography has bee outside work)

My question is this :-

You have Studio Flash units ....... OK

You also have Studio Constant 5400K units

Why would one use a flash rather than a constant controlled K light ??

I appologise if the question is so simple that I shoud know the answer.

Cheers

 

[catchlights]

Hi Fiip,

So, we are one the same track in life

Anything you can come up with I am happy to hear.

Maybe you can explain something to me (I have no idea about studio lighting...my photography has bee outside work)

My question is this :-

You have Studio Flash units ....... OK

You also have Studio Constant 5400K units

Why would one use a flash rather than a constant controlled K light ??

I appologise if the question is so simple that I shoud know the answer.

Cheers

Studio Constant 5400K units
1. generate heat
2. the bulb will change color when aging.

 

[Pablo]

Hi catchlights.

Hello there. Thank you for your reply so soon.

I do understand the ageing of the constant lights now that you mention it.

I imagine that therefore there is much recalculaction involved to take the correct shot.

Apart from the lamp unreliability as in colour temp... is there any other reason why flash is chosen over constant controlled light.

Please excuse my ignorance in this manner... and thank you again for your reply

 

[student]

Pablo.

I use only continuous lights for my "studio" photography.

In the beginning, I photographed with color films, and the lights had to be of the right temperature. But my recent works were all B&W, so color temperature did not matter. Now that I also photograph digitally, being able to set the correct WB means that the color temperature also does not matter.

About continuous light as a whole. Now I use anything from 1000 watts to 2600 watts. (not temperature corrected) Now that generates a LOT of heat. Since I work in a airconditioned environment, the heat also was not a problem. In fact sometimes the models complained that the "studio" was too cold!

But the advantage of using a continuous light is that you can see the effects immediately, much much better than a modelling light. To reduce the heat, I use the light source in "steps", before finally switching them on for the final exposure.

A major disadvantage of temperature corrected lights is that they are usually quite modest in power. There might be improvement in manufacturing now, but when I first started, I often had to use shutter speed at around 1/15 seconds. The non-temp corrected lights are capable of much higher wattage.

One other disadvantage

 

[catchlights]

Hi catchlights.

Hello there. Thank you for your reply so soon.

I do understand the ageing of the constant lights now that you mention it.

I imagine that therefore there is much recalculaction involved to take the correct shot.

Apart from the lamp unreliability as in colour temp... is there any other reason why flash is chosen over constant controlled light.

Please excuse my ignorance in this manner... and thank you again for your reply

For constant lights, you can't change the intensity of the light without modify it (I mean without modify the quality of the light), so you have to change you camera speed and aperture to get you exposure correct.

Second, you can't freeze any movement when using constant lights. unless you can archive the shutter speed at 1/1000s for you camera.

Third, constant lights is also call hot lights, very very hot. You can't shoot for long hours,well should said it is very inconvenient to shoot for long hours.

Hope this help

 

[student]

For constant lights, you can't change the intensity of the light without modify it (I mean without modify the quality of the light), so you have to change you camera speed and aperture to get you exposure correct.

Second, you can't freeze any movement when using constant lights. unless you can archive the shutter speed at 1/1000s for you camera.

Third, constant lights is also call hot lights, very very hot. You can't shoot for long hours,well should said it is very inconvenient to shoot for long hours.

Hope this help

1 I change the intensity of the light by moving the position of the lights relative to the subject. In the context of the studio lighting, the inverse square law applies.

2 For the purpose of a home studio photographing people, a high shutter speed is not an important consideration.

3 I frequently photograph for two to three hours at a stretch. As mentioned, sometimes the "model" complained of cold. Knowing when to switch on & off helps tremendously. And of course aircondition!

 

[catchlights]

1 I change the intensity of the light by moving the position of the lights relative to the subject. In the context of the studio lighting, the inverse square law applies.

2 For the purpose of a home studio photographing people, a high shutter speed is not an important consideration.

3 I frequently photograph for two to three hours at a stretch. As mentioned, sometimes the "model" complained of cold. Knowing when to switch on & off helps tremendously. And of course aircondition!

Agreed with you that if you know what you want and what the lights can do for you, using hot lights is more econ way of starting home studio.

Just one thing, if you use hot lights for b/w, you can add a dimmer to dim down the light, but not able to do it to color photography.

 

[Pablo]

Hi there,

Thank you catchlights, student, vince123123 for your replies.

You have explained what I need to understand very well.

I thank you again.

May 2006 be an excellent year for you