Home studio, what to get? Flash & sync for 5dmk2

Is this constant lighting? I absolutely LOVE it. Just had a "oh snap that's how they do that" kind of moment. Because it looks like spiral bulbs and I got loads of these for filmmaking... but, i've seen strobes looking like that to soooo here goes another wishful-thinking question.

edit: Well, not a big fan of ring lights, just never thought of it being bulbs with spacing in between... Sorta. Err.
edit2: This!! http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/6990173017_200788bff8_b.jpg

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(oh, nevermind the censor... I wasn't, you know, checking out lightly-clothed chicks or anything like that)

 
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ICD Films said:
Is this constant lighting? I absolutely LOVE it. Just had a "oh snap that's how they do that" kind of moment. Because it looks like spiral bulbs and I got loads of these for filmmaking... but, i've seen strobes looking like that to soooo here goes another wishful-thinking question.

edit: Well, not a big fan of ring lights, just never thought of it being bulbs with spacing in between... Sorta. Err.
edit2: This!! http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7187/6990173017_200788bff8_b.jpg

View attachment 59234

(oh, nevermind the censor... I wasn't, you know, checking out lightly-clothed chicks or anything like that)
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Yep, it's constant. You can see the ring of light in the models eye in the second pic as the only light source. Also, pm me a link to the original pic. No reason. :thumbsup:
 
Another question. When people stand really close to the background, is this a painted wall? Gonna try it with the paper background but figures it's hard to get close enough.

Like this shot:
 

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First time doing group shots, I have to say, the power out of the 580ex2 is more than plenty in my studio. Was worried a 30" softbox would be too much diffusion but worked great. However I need a strobe to lit up the background, used 80w constant from the side + reflector but will have to be able to get a "clean" background in the future. Learning fast but still don't know what the hell I'm actually doing, lol. Looking foward to be able to work with "intuition" the same way I do in filmmaking.

iso 100, f4, full power on the speedlight (wich, I noticed, grealty increases recycle time... had 50% black shots this time around *with* new batteries... in a stressfull shoot on a real job, I imagine a speedlight just going on my nerves... probably going for a strobe instead of another speedlight, i guess they would work as a combo with the radio triggers).

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In my experience a painted wall works better than the white paper roll backdrop if you are doing lower light on the background - for me a lot of pattern shows up in the paper if you light it 25-75% even if it is white. On the other hand if I blast it with another 580EXII then it shows pure white and looks fine.

I don't like shadows on the background but that's just me. I can tell from your shadows that your light looks lower than your models eye-line thus casting a shadow upwards. It is generally more appealing to have those shadows lower than your subject so you need to raise your light if you wish.

I also notice a redish tint in color to your image, maybe your white balance is off but if you are shooting RAW on your Canon and using a good program like Lightroom or plugin for Photoshop you can fix your color temperature in post and cool it down towards 5600 a little to see how it looks.

Next week I am also doing a group shot of three people with some products on them and I plan to use a couple 580EXII's with small softbox for harsh contrast, or I might try shooting through an umbrella (instead of bounced) to do the same effect.

Anyway, you are learning fast and good thing is you didn't blow thousands on professional studo heads which will always be waiting for you at the store once you are ready and decide you need them. They certainly have their benefits, but in the end i'm glad you decided to go for a flash so you can experiment with pretty good results and decide what you need going forward.

As for me, I'm perfectly happy with my 580's...
 
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Yes, going to need a flash to put on the camera anyway so no remorse on that part.

Since I did the shoot today and well i'm a bit like the speedlight, in need of some recycle time... I tend to do the same with photos as with video, go back a few days later and finish the post work with fresh eyes... however the girls needed the shot asap so this is the delivered ones.

The shot's a bit warm I know, but people tend to like it. Also, we're a bit into september now and living in Sweden that means pale skin and end-of-summer remorse... they don't need to feel more pale than they are! :)

Well I'm a shadow guy... shadows create emotion. Even if they're bad ones, on a technical level... :P But yeah, would have wanted clean background on these shots.
 
Speedlights has it place, both manual and TTL this all depends on what and how you shoot.

Personally for studio work i find it cumbersome to deal with them, they lack power, slow recycling, and won't seamlessly go with studio modifiers.

For location work where i don't need much power they are a life saver. Light, portable and easy to setup.
 
vainlord said:
Speedlights has it place, both manual and TTL this all depends on what and how you shoot.

Personally for studio work i find it cumbersome to deal with them, they lack power, slow recycling, and won't seamlessly go with studio modifiers.

For location work where i don't need much power they are a life saver. Light, portable and easy to setup.
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Thank you for backing me up on this one! better late then never!
 
You are welcome! :smile:

To clarify when i use my speed lights on location i usually bounce them off walls, ceilings, or a CSB. I rarely use modifiers on them. For that purpose they are to weak and to flimsy.
 
vainlord said:
So anything changed in the almost two years ? :D
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two years later, I'm still using 580ex's with an array of modifiers for location work. Just so easy I couldn't see using anything else. Power is a bit on the low side for sure, but mostly does the job for me and what I need to do.

In this image I have two 580ex's going. One in massive umbrella for subjects, one for background wall/shelving.

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Here's a Behind the scenes from a photoshoot I did a couple months ago for a custom made wig company. 4 Einstiens (one for the backdrop, one for the hairlight, one for the 82" umbrella (white bounce) and one for a Beauty dish that I used to get some nice highlights in the wigs. The modeling lights were crucial, the recycle time was crucial, the power was crucial, and the color consistency was crucial. The key light was 1 stop under full power (320w/s) (the rest of the strobes didn't need as much power but still more than a speedlight) and I was only able to achieve an f-stop of 4 at about 5 feet from the light source @ 100iso.

[video]http://www.eliecreative.com/freeda07232012/media/maya_bts_teaser.mp4[/video]

I'm told the 580ex II is about the equivalent of 60w/s which means if you wanted the same DOF you would need to bump your ISO up to 800. Shooting a group as the one above, you would need an f-stop of at least 5.6 although probably 8 (iso 1600/3200), you would also need to move your umbrella at least 7 feet back which brings your iso up even more.

My point is that circumstances can change very quickly where you are struggling for more juice out of your speed-lights. I occasionally feel that even 640w/s is a bit low and whish I had a couple extra stops. Try to open those shades and expose for a blue sky and you will be out of luck for a proper fill (even with 4 speedlights into a large umbrella) no matter how good your camera looks when shooting at 3200ISO unless it has 18+ stops of dynamic range.

Unless I was shooting action with ambient light and needed hypersync shutter speeds I would much prefer to only carry around one strobe on a stand with a battery pack. The trade off of price, dealing with tons of AA batteries, recycle time, and limited power is just not worth it for a four square. Shoots that truly require just a little fill from a speedlight are a different story.
 
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Sure, it all depends on the modifier you plan on using and type of work. If you're going to use a 82" umbrella I don't think 580's are going to be enough. But it you're using a beauty dish you don't need a ton of w/s and you can compromise a little on ISO/f-stop.

Here's a few I did using a beauty dish, single 580exII;

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Love the attitude in this one;

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starcentral said:
But it you're using a beauty dish you don't need a ton of w/s and you can compromise a little on ISO/f-stop.
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For me it depends on what kind of BD and what f-stop you need.

A strobe is better suited for BD due to it's flashtube, if you use deflector it's however of less importance. The main reason i don't bother with speedlights for real BD's (or any larger modifier) is that a BD weigh's and take up space so I'm not lightweight and portable anymore. So the compromise of a speedlight and the extra mounting brackets/speedrings isn't worth it anymore. My 400ws Quadra hybrid weighs next to nothing and outperforms any speedlight by quite a margin.

I rarely use BD's my 27" Elinchrom where a beast and the grid's where a pita to mount. :-) For most of my corporate portraits i use 1m Deep Octa.

Single strobe with the 1m Deep Octa mounted.
corporate_portrait.jpg



This is a typical situation where i would use my speedlights, a small office no room or time to setup stands etc. Two speedlights triggered wireless of camera bounced of ceiling/wall.
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Definitely love the high w/s look but I invest more in film equipment and related lighting so can't afford the "good" stuff.

I would buy a Quarda kit in a heartbeat over anything else if I had the money.
 
I hear you Dennis end of the day it's what YOU need and what WORKS for you. My point where merely that if you do have all the tools available (strobes and speed lights) you can get the best of both worlds. Far from everyone will need it though, like your self that invest more into film gear.
 
I can put in a solid word on the adorama monolights, we have the dg400 and dg600, and for the money i think they have probably the best bang/power for the buck. around $200 for 200/300ws
 
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