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12/18/2006 08:19:04 PM · #1 |
Hello all,
Ever since gaining access to a studio I've been dying to have my own portable lighting setup. I had my eye on alien bees but recently saw lots of great work done with multiple sb800's and sb600's. This would be much smaller and more portable as well as cheaper. Does any one have experience using this setup?
I've been considering buying one sb800 and two sb600's to start but I'm having trouble getting information on if this is enough. All the sites that give tutorials on this sort of thing always seem to be using all sb800's. I can fire more than one 600 from an 800 right? I would then just get light stands and perhaps a couple umbrellas. Does this sound like a good idea to you guys instead of dropping even more loot(that I don't have) to get studio strobes. Any advice would be much appreciated. Any direction towards other looks would also be very helpful. Thanks a bunch.
David
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12/18/2006 08:27:10 PM · #2 |
Well the thing is that the SB800 and the SB600 would be $500 together. Then when you add on the light stands and the umbrellas and what not, you'll probably tag on another $50-75. Alienbee sells a similar kit (2 - AB400 lights, stands, umbrellas, etc) for $600. So you're not really saving all that much (if any) by going for normal flash units. Now if you want to use these units for purposes other than a studio, then that changes the ball game. But for a studio setting, you might as well spring for the Alienbees in my opinion.
Oh and I don't know about firing multiple Nikon flash units, but I know you can fire multiple Canon flashes with one 580EX so I'm assuming it'll be very similar.
Edit to add: That's one SB800 and one SB600, add on another $185 for another SB600 unit.
Edit to add again: Another thing to consider is getting the alienbee kit for $600 and get a Sigma EF500 DG Super as a third light. This flash can be triggered optically by another flash and can be used as a background light or a fill light. The only catch to that is it needs to be manually set up for that. So no E-TTL...err...i-TTL.
Message edited by author 2006-12-18 20:31:29.
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12/18/2006 08:27:49 PM · #3 |
I have a set of profoto lights but I routinely use my sb800s as accent lights ... they will hold their own in a studio setting ...
The could be used as standalones ... but I am not sure that i would like the quality of the light as "primary" strobes .
SB800 used to backlight the ponytail
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12/18/2006 08:29:36 PM · #4 |
Part of this reasoning would certainly to be able to shoot out on location. I have one semester left in the mountains and I would like to be able to hike out to fairly remote locations and shoot well lit portraits there. That was part of why it would be cheaper because I wouldn't have to buy a standalone battery pack for true strobes.
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12/18/2006 08:31:27 PM · #5 |
Smaller and more portable, yes.
Less expensive, probably not.
An SB800 and 2 SB600's are gonna be right around $700. That doesn't include stands, umbrellas and you'll need something to set it all of unless you have one of those on-camera. All of the stands and umbrellas will put you in the $1000 range.
You can get a kit from Alien Bees that will include all of that stuff for less.
With the Nikon flash units, you'll be struggling to shoot at f8 once you put some diffusion in place. With the AB's, you'll be able to get f11 or f16 easily. |
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12/18/2006 08:37:39 PM · #6 |
you notice it is all of the Canon folks ...
The 800 and 600 WILL do the job that you need ... but the point is well taken it is an expensive solution... but if portable is what you need they will work for you
and BTW ... yes you will get F8 ... I normally power mine back to 1/64th power to use as a kicker
Message edited by author 2006-12-18 20:38:41.
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12/18/2006 08:52:02 PM · #7 |
Normally I would say go for the real studio strobes, but if you want to do long hikes there's no way you should deal with that stuff.
I can't for the life of me remember his name but in a recent PDN magazine they focused on a photographer who does just that, makes well lit portraits in the middle of nowhere.
His set up is usually a canon 580 ex or a Q flash I think, then uses a reflector maybe.
I would look at getting Q (quantum) glashes if money isn't a big problem. And I think it would be better to just have one or 2 of those instead of 3 nikon flashs.
Lumedynes are fairly light but fragile as well. That's what I use for most location portraits but I'm not sure I would buy a set for myself. Plenty of light, but you need to be careful with them.
When you are outdoors 3 lights for location portraits can be overkill, you can do such cool things with just one or 2, a small umbrella or softbox, and/or a reflector. Even just one well placed light with diffusion is often really nice, make use of the angle of the sunlight, or shadows in the environment around you, etc. |
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12/18/2006 08:55:30 PM · #8 |
I have got to agree about the Qs ... they are a outstanding system
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12/18/2006 09:17:09 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by nomad469:
you notice it is all of the Canon folks ...
The 800 and 600 WILL do the job that you need ... but the point is well taken it is an expensive solution... but if portable is what you need they will work for you
and BTW ... yes you will get F8 ... I normally power mine back to 1/64th power to use as a kicker |
One flash unit into an umbrella will give you f8 for a portrait?
And how long would it take to recycle? |
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12/18/2006 09:19:50 PM · #10 |
depends on what you have hung on it ... A quanntum turbo about 1 sec. 5 AA (fresh) about 4 sec.
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12/18/2006 09:29:31 PM · #11 |
the last two weddings i did, i used one sb-800 on camera along with 2 sb-600's off camera for lighting all the set up shots...
i'd like one more sb-600 for a background light next time...
very portable and very effective...
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12/18/2006 10:47:38 PM · #12 |
I use an sb800 and 2 sb600s for my studio work
They work great except the recycle times can be a bit of a problem. |
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12/18/2006 11:05:52 PM · #13 |
I've been thinking of doing the same thing you are. I already have an SB-600 and I was thinking of adding a SB-800 and another 600.
And from what I've read, three SB-600 or 800's will get you what you're looking for.
Check out this blog. Link This guy has an excellent right up called Lighting 101 and read his "On Assignment" blog. It's quite long, but very very detailed and explains everything very well. You'll be convinced that 3 or 4 flash units would be the way to go.
Good luck. Since you're ordering a few new flashes, go ahead and order me one or two also. 8-)
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12/18/2006 11:07:25 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by Megatherian:
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Dan, awesome poster! Very well done. |
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12/19/2006 12:03:18 AM · #15 |
Sorry, I was in a bit of a hurry so didn't have time to post much in my last post.
The versatility is great and if you don't shoot a whole lot of studio stuff they will work great. I do have a 45" umbrella that I use with 1 of them - silver lined - and it does a good job. CLS works 90% of the time which is great for fairly casual use but if you use them a lot that 10% of misfires can be a bit of a pain.
With that said some studio lights are on my wish list for my next purchase. I shoot ballet portraits almost exclusively and with the nature of teenage girls and looming parents in a hurry I need my lights to fire more quickly and reliably than get out of my flashes.
Don't get me wrong, it really is a great system. If I did weddings or the likes and wanted super quick set ups in various locations I would use the flashes in a heartbeat. I guess it's all about using the right tool for the right job.
Keep in mind with the D70 in commander mode the on board flash will not be included in the exposure and you can only control 1 channel with it. Often I wish I had a second sb800 to help control the power of all the other flashes and still have an sb800 firing into the umbrella. |
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12/19/2006 04:31:15 AM · #16 |
They're great little flashes, but they're not strobe replacements. They simply just don't match up with full strobes in terms of output, modifiers, recycle times, etc. That being said, they're excellent for location work, situations where you don't need much output, and where convenience and portability are important.
They're not cheap either, but look around hard enough and you can get some good deals. I picked up a pair of used SB-600's for $150 each. And I've seen used SB-800's go for $200-$225.
Lit with a pair of SB-600's from frame right and used a tripod for long exposure to grab the background.
Recommended reading
Message edited by author 2006-12-19 04:33:14.
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12/19/2006 09:52:29 AM · #17 |
here are more examples using two sb-600's off camera and one sb-800 on camera : headwear outtakes
800 was pointed up and had the lightsphere on it. one 600 was shot through and umbrella off to the right and the second was to the left as a fill (i think i had the omni-bounce on it)
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12/19/2006 10:05:51 AM · #18 |
this dude does all kinds of remote lighting with SB800s. i don't know if he mixes in 600s or not, but he gets great results and it sounds like exactly what you want to do.
fwiw, i rented a 600 a while back for a shoot, using my 800 as a master and it worked just fine. |
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12/19/2006 04:18:46 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by muckpond:
this dude does all kinds of remote lighting with SB800s. i don't know if he mixes in 600s or not, but he gets great results and it sounds like exactly what you want to do.
fwiw, i rented a 600 a while back for a shoot, using my 800 as a master and it worked just fine. |
I saw that guys stuff and it is great. Do you think I can do the same thing using just one 800 and multiple 600's, from the looks of it I think I could. |
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12/19/2006 04:43:03 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by trnqlty:
Originally posted by muckpond:
this dude does all kinds of remote lighting with SB800s. i don't know if he mixes in 600s or not, but he gets great results and it sounds like exactly what you want to do.
fwiw, i rented a 600 a while back for a shoot, using my 800 as a master and it worked just fine. |
I saw that guys stuff and it is great. Do you think I can do the same thing using just one 800 and multiple 600's, from the looks of it I think I could. |
yes. There's not a whole lot of functional difference between an sb600 and sb800 when used as slaves. The sb800s would just be a bit more powerful and have faster recycle times. |
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