Which strobes should I buy? - DPChallenge Forums

11/21/2014 10:07:46 AM · #26

They're on the truck for delivery!! I'm solo excited. :)

11/21/2014 11:09:45 AM · #27

Originally posted by vawendy:

I'm solo excited. :)

does that mean you're the only one that's excited?

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

11/21/2014 11:20:30 AM · #28

Originally posted by smardaz:

Originally posted by vawendy:
I'm solo excited. :)

does that mean you're the only one that's excited?

Hehe, it means that I'm sitting at the computer reading the manual and looking up posing while having a very bad migraine. :(

sooooo excited!

Off to create a posing threadâ�¦.

tanguera

Nikon D750

11/21/2014 11:27:32 AM · #29

Originally posted by smardaz:

Originally posted by vawendy:
They get here on Friday!!! For as many years as I've been on DPC, I've been kicking around the idea of getting them. It may have been a dumb waste of money. But I'm still really excited!!

A few years ago I spent $1600 on 2 500w Hensel strobes. Waste of money? Maybe, but I've never regretted it for a minute.

I'm looking at the Hensels now, Jason. Soooooo tempted...

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

11/21/2014 11:40:10 AM · #30

Originally posted by tanguera:

Originally posted by smardaz:

Originally posted by vawendy:
They get here on Friday!!! For as many years as I've been on DPC, I've been kicking around the idea of getting them. It may have been a dumb waste of money. But I'm still really excited!!

A few years ago I spent $1600 on 2 500w Hensel strobes. Waste of money? Maybe, but I've never regretted it for a minute.

I'm looking at the Hensels now, Jason. Soooooo tempted...

Well the great

njsabs has Hensels, that should be enough for anyone....but if that doesn't seal the deal maybe the fact that I took this shot with them will:

tanguera

Nikon D750

11/21/2014 02:22:49 PM · #31

Originally posted by smardaz:

One of my all time favorite sendups

11/21/2014 02:49:43 PM · #32

Originally posted by tanguera:

Originally posted by smardaz:

One of my all time favorite sendups

+100 :)

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

11/21/2014 02:54:15 PM · #33

They're not here yetâ�¦. *sigh*

UPS come late here.

MattO

Nikon D4

11/21/2014 07:06:38 PM · #34

Originally posted by vawendy:

They're not here yetâ�¦. *sigh*

UPS come late here.

Because of the snow storm on the east coast UPS trucks have been very late here. UPS just delivered a new camera and 2 lenses here about 5 hours later than their usual delivery time.

Matt

Sony 24-70mm F4 Vario-Tessar T* FE OSS

11/21/2014 10:40:23 PM · #35

Ok -- they came and I started playing, but it doesn't seem like this is any brighter than my flashes. :(

I used one alien bee 400w in a soft box with the extra baffle inside.

the light was 6' away from my husband.

I was set at f8, 1/200sec, iso 100

I thought I could use somewhere maybe around 1/8 power.

I needed to push it to full power, and my light meter said I was still underexposed and I should open to f7.1.

I was really hoping that I could use these a bit farther away for full length shots. but the fact that I have to max out the power at only 6' with a soft boxâ�¦.?

Please help! Do I need to return these and get the 800s? It sounded like the 400s would be ok. Sure, I'll be using a second one for fill frequently, but I like playing with one light setups quite a bit.

Bear_Music

Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

11/21/2014 11:39:22 PM · #36

Those AB400s are 160ws units, and that's way marginal for portraiture. A normal minimum power range for portrait lighting would be 250-350ws. Personally I wouldn't be interested in the AB400; the 800 would be minimum for me and the 1600 would suit me far better. But then, I'm USED to really powerful strobes; back in the day I worked with 2000ws Normans that drew their power from transformers on the floor, not htese self-contained units. The world has changed since then...

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

11/22/2014 02:28:41 AM · #37

Originally posted by vawendy:

Please help! Do I need to return these and get the 800s? It sounded like the 400s would be ok. Sure, I'll be using a second one for fill frequently, but I like playing with one light setups quite a bit.

It's always easy to spend other peoples money but if it were me I would keep them for fill/hair lights and get the 800's. I've been kicking around the idea of getting 3 more Hensels for quite some time. It wasn't long for me before I was wishing I had more than 2 lights.

MattO

Nikon D4

11/22/2014 02:35:52 AM · #38

Originally posted by vawendy:

Couple of things, Why are your lights 6 feet from the subject? Soft light means big source, the closer it is, the bigger it appears. Second, I have NEVER used the other baffle inside my softboxes, it cuts light(a lot actually) third. Softboxes really aren't meant for full length portraits, unless you have really big ones. Asking one light to give you ISO 100, F8 in a softbox is a lot to ask. I ran 4 AB800's at 1/4 power inside my studio all in Medium softboxes. And my studio was small.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

11/22/2014 08:15:29 AM · #39

I'm such an idiot!!

When looking at the cowboy studio cheaper strobes, the watts were in the name of the strobe.

When looking at the Einstien640, it was 640 watt!

I looked at too many strobes and decided too quickly that day and thought that alienbee400 was 400w.

I never would have bought 160w strobes. :(

Covert_Oddity

Nikon D700

11/22/2014 09:26:48 AM · #40

Originally posted by vawendy:

Be worth checking if you can return them, we have a law here that lets you return anything mail order within 2 weeks so long as it isn't custom made. Could also try calling the place you bought them and see if they'll exchange for an upgrade, sure they'll be happy to have you spend more money if the ones you bought are in re-sellable condition.

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

11/22/2014 10:14:28 AM · #41

They have a 60 day whatever reason guarantee. So that's good. The question is whether the 320w is enough or if I really need the 640. The 640 is a lot more expensive. The 320 is just a little more. I will want to use them for outdoor portraits.

tanguera

Nikon D750

11/22/2014 11:10:38 AM · #42

Everything Matt said. And why are you shooting at such a low ISO, and stopped down so far?
That being said, it sounds like you will outgrow these VERY quickly, even if you can make them work for now. When it comes to light, you can never have enough.

MattO

Nikon D4

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

11/22/2014 06:53:26 PM · #43

Check out a few of my photos and settings when I had my small studio. This is 4 AB800's at 1/4 power.

Cory

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

11/23/2014 10:17:35 AM · #44

Originally posted by vawendy:

If you have a Fuji X100s, or a Sony RX1 (both have leaf shutters) you can MURDER the sun with a single speedlight. Just a thought - it might be better to consider a leaf shutter camera if overpowering the sun at noon is your new goal.

(if only because packing around a shitload of lighting gear sucks!!)

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for Canon

11/23/2014 11:09:07 AM · #45

matt, how do you trigger your alienbees?

RKT

Canon EOS-60D

11/23/2014 03:35:42 PM · #46

Wendy...you might want to think about getting a beauty dish. Almost all of my portraits are done using one and I have the same lights you do. And I think Mike mentioned a PLM, which are really nice to have too.

11/23/2014 03:56:52 PM · #47

Originally posted by RKT:

I was curious about beauty dishes. I've only been to one lighting seminar, and it was a Joe McNally one. He was saying that beauty dishes were basically for beauties. That it's not the majority of faces that work with the beauty dish. Do you find that? Would it be hell on a face like mine? :)

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for Canon

11/23/2014 03:59:00 PM · #48

this is truly a wonderful, wonderful site.

One of the member here just lent me a massive amount of equipment to play with for a couple of days to see what I think, what I like, and to just plain experiment. So I know to keep the 400s or return them for an 800 and a 1600.

What a giving, caring, wonderful place.

Thanks for all of the responses, I'm read and taking in them all -- I'm just not responding much today because I have a massive migraine. But realize that I'm very appreciative for all of the advice. :)

RKT

Canon EOS-60D

11/23/2014 05:40:18 PM · #49

Originally posted by vawendy:

Originally posted by RKT:
Wendy...you might want to think about getting a beauty dish. Almost all of my portraits are done using one and I have the same lights you do. And I think Mike mentioned a PLM, which are really nice to have too.

I was curious about beauty dishes. I've only been to one lighting seminar, and it was a Joe McNally one. He was saying that beauty dishes were basically for beauties. That it's not the majority of faces that work with the beauty dish. Do you find that? Would it be hell on a face like mine? :)

These were all lit with a beauty dish. For portraits I mainly use a beauty dish and reflectors( bounced light )...silver reflectors...I like contrast.

I have no idea who Joe McNally is, but if that's what he thinks about about dishes...he's missing out. And "it's not the majority of faces that work with a beauty dish."...I don't get it. That was a pretty silly thing for him to say. Someone like this teaches seminars? Beauty dish light is perhaps a less forgiving light than the soft diffuse light from a soft box, but that's what I love about it. I do like soft/octa boxes too, but use them mainly for still life. Actually, the more I think about it, I use the 7" standard reflectors and grids more than I use the soft box. I don't use my soft box all that much. But again, maybe that's just my taste in lighting.

All that being said, just experiment and figure out what you like! And try some beauty dishes!