WOW 600W softbox is bright!
- Thread starter booggerg
- Start date
J_Barnes
Veteran
Re: WOW 600W softbox is bright!
You MAKE a dimmer or BUY a dimmer...you don't cut into your light's power cord to add a dimmer!
And yes, dimming any 120 volt filiment light results in a reduced color temperature. Lowering a lamp to 90% of maximum voltage results in a 100 degree Kelvin loss, while only reducing the lumen output by about 30%.
Beyond 15% reduction, color begins to dip dramaticly towards yellow.
You MAKE a dimmer or BUY a dimmer...you don't cut into your light's power cord to add a dimmer!
And yes, dimming any 120 volt filiment light results in a reduced color temperature. Lowering a lamp to 90% of maximum voltage results in a 100 degree Kelvin loss, while only reducing the lumen output by about 30%.
Beyond 15% reduction, color begins to dip dramaticly towards yellow.
Terry_Lasater
All about the Caption
Re: WOW 600W softbox is bright!
Besides the dimmer method...
You could add some density to the lightbank's diffusion material with a large piece of 216 or other diffusion material and some C-47s (clothespins). Also, you could use flags and C-stands to control the spill.
Besides the dimmer method...
You could add some density to the lightbank's diffusion material with a large piece of 216 or other diffusion material and some C-47s (clothespins). Also, you could use flags and C-stands to control the spill.
J_Barnes
Veteran
Re: WOW 600W softbox is bright!
I'm going to have a DIY dimmer tutorial on my website, hopefully by the weekend. If you felt confident in your handyman skills, you could build one easily using the instructions.
Most low-end dimmers out there really won't suit your needs, as their either aimed at using lower then 600 watts or don't allow for a ground through the unit. The Impact, Cool-Lux and Smith Vector dimmers people link to at B&H aren't suitable for production work, as none of them permit a ground.
Terry's advice about controlling the light will probably do more to help you anyway. If your softbox is blasting your other lights, you're probably going to run into significant color shifts when you try and dim it far enough to compensate. Past 15% reduction, a 3200K biased light is not going to look anything close to white. If you're trying to emulate a campfire then you're fine, but if you're trying to maintain accurate color rendition...forget about it.
I'll post a notice when I put up the tutorial and you can build your own dimmer if you choose. They're usefull for many lighting setups where you may need minor luminance changes.
I'm going to have a DIY dimmer tutorial on my website, hopefully by the weekend. If you felt confident in your handyman skills, you could build one easily using the instructions.
Most low-end dimmers out there really won't suit your needs, as their either aimed at using lower then 600 watts or don't allow for a ground through the unit. The Impact, Cool-Lux and Smith Vector dimmers people link to at B&H aren't suitable for production work, as none of them permit a ground.
Terry's advice about controlling the light will probably do more to help you anyway. If your softbox is blasting your other lights, you're probably going to run into significant color shifts when you try and dim it far enough to compensate. Past 15% reduction, a 3200K biased light is not going to look anything close to white. If you're trying to emulate a campfire then you're fine, but if you're trying to maintain accurate color rendition...forget about it.
I'll post a notice when I put up the tutorial and you can build your own dimmer if you choose. They're usefull for many lighting setups where you may need minor luminance changes.
Re: WOW 600W softbox is bright!
[quote author=booggerg link=board=lighting;num=1097645489;start=0#0 date=10/12/04 at 22:31:29]Maybe it's just because my living room is small, but the 600W softbox Briteks I got seems really bright! Don't know know much use they'll be because it entirely overpowers the 250W light that came in the kit.[/quote]
Which kit did you get? It sounds like you mixed a 250 watt model with one of more of the 600's. Hopefully I'll be picking mine up soon.
Greg
[quote author=booggerg link=board=lighting;num=1097645489;start=0#0 date=10/12/04 at 22:31:29]Maybe it's just because my living room is small, but the 600W softbox Briteks I got seems really bright! Don't know know much use they'll be because it entirely overpowers the 250W light that came in the kit.[/quote]
Which kit did you get? It sounds like you mixed a 250 watt model with one of more of the 600's. Hopefully I'll be picking mine up soon.
Greg
angrymexican
Active member
Re: WOW 600W softbox is bright!
Hey Guys,
I actually chickend out of purchasing these last night. I used the coupon by typing in dvxuser and got over 5 dollars off. ANyways, my question is: will these be enough for wedding shoots at churches and banquet halls. Eventually I would like to do wedding to pay off the camera. any advise is welcomed.
THanks,
Angrymexican
Hey Guys,
I actually chickend out of purchasing these last night. I used the coupon by typing in dvxuser and got over 5 dollars off. ANyways, my question is: will these be enough for wedding shoots at churches and banquet halls. Eventually I would like to do wedding to pay off the camera. any advise is welcomed.
THanks,
Angrymexican
Re: WOW 600W softbox is bright!
Good luck finding weddings where they would actually "perfer" you to setup lighting.
Also thinking about this, for a wedding church/banquet hall, common sense would dictate that you place the lights at the outer edge of the room/space. With the lights that far apart, the benefit of these lights being controllable is diminished and you might as well just have them turn up the house lights.
Good luck finding weddings where they would actually "perfer" you to setup lighting.
Also thinking about this, for a wedding church/banquet hall, common sense would dictate that you place the lights at the outer edge of the room/space. With the lights that far apart, the benefit of these lights being controllable is diminished and you might as well just have them turn up the house lights.
GRRRR...Barry_Green
Moderator
Re: WOW 600W softbox is bright!
Try asking briteklight@yahoo.com. I think that's the corporate e-mail address. They may have some international distributors that we just don't know about yet.
Try asking briteklight@yahoo.com. I think that's the corporate e-mail address. They may have some international distributors that we just don't know about yet.