 Rick |
New Flourescent Studio Lights??? Hi, I'm new, maybe not posting this question in the right spot. I'm about to buy some continuous lighting. As everyone knows, the choices are tungsten or flourescent. I'm interested in the flourescent because it is much cooler (thermometer-wise). I'd love to have people's opinions on the subject. This will be my first cont. lighting purchase. Am prepared to spend $500-1000. If I get tungsten, I'll get softboxes with them. If flourescent, not sure I need softboxes, but most kits come with umbrellas too to soften the lighting. I want to take GREAT portraits, and I will get at least 3 lights (main, fill, hair), and perhaps 4 to have a background light. I'd love everyone's thoughts on whether to get tungsten or flourescent. Thanks
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Mark Feldstein |
Hey Rick: If you're prepared to drop up to 1000 bucks, start thinking flash/strobes. We don't use flourescent lighting for studio work because of the color shifts they cause shooting color film. Use tungsten and you can cook your subject. I think by law, they have to all be done at least medium well these days. For that kind of dough you should be able to get a clean, USED portrait set-up with a 2 or 3 heads and a couple of light modifiers like umbrellas. Or, get a couple of used monolights, (I prefer Bowens) say in the 500 -750 Watt second range, or even just one and a couple of fomecore fill cards. You can do great portraiture with one light. Take a look at B&H to see what kind of studio lighting kits they're selling for your price range. You might even have a few bucks left over for a flash meter. http://www.bhphotovideo.com Dynalight makes a good pack system too, so does Norman and you can find them used, in good shape for reasonable prices. Also look for used gear including a flash meter at http://www.keh.com. Very reputable dealers, both of them. If you find something interesting and have questions about it, let us know. We'll help ya out...or REALLY confuse you. Take it errr...light. ;>)
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Rick |
Mark, Thanks for the quick feedback - I appreciate it. I have a fear with strobes. That I can't see exactly what I'm going to get with film. I haven't yet got the D70s or better to go digital yet. So I was looking for something that I could work with that was WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get). I've had trouble with my two umbrellas and strobes getting the light right, but I HAVE just gotten a Sekonic flash/ambient meter but haven't worked with it yet. Also, with flashes, you can't always see the shadows will be. About B&H I've used them as well as Adorama. I also keep an eye on ebay, and there's amvona_com, a seller selling Dynaphos tungsten kits (Russian brand), and there's skaeserbackgrounds, a seller selling some flourescent kits. You mentioned the color shift with flourescents and I can certainly believe that over time the temperature morphs as the tubes age. Thanks for that tip. I've used tungsten in the distant past (and I do mean DISTANT), and remember how hot they are, but thought with softboxes the direct thermal heat wouldn't be too bad. Your opinion? With strobes, how do you deal with the lack of ability to see the final outcome? I *do* have a polaroid back for one of my N90's but use it sparingly. Maybe I now HAVE to go digital to see the instant replay. *sigh* Rick
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Mark Feldstein |
Greetings. So you're "strobophobic" eh? I hear they're working on a cure for that. Actually, flourescent tubes cause color shifts/casts right out of the sleeve. Some types of tubes are better or worse than others and when working in color, they can be a real nuisance to correct. Most flash heads these days, other than the on-camera portable units, have a modeling lamp that gives you a pretty good idea of your lighting set-up. Sure, you can use a polaroid back as a lot of us do. But when you're shooting digitally, just blast it and look at the image. Oh oh...Rick, are you afraid of wasting pixels??? I happened to be looking through a new Shutterbug mag. this morning. Geez man, there are some very good deals at B&H on new lighting equipment, including Elinchrom and Speedotron packs with heads, light modifiers and cases, for really reasonable prices. IMHO, both are really solid manufacturers (I use a number of older Speedotron packs in the studio). And btw, light your subjects one light at a time. Use a fill card to move light around the subject too. As I said, you can get some great portrait lighting with a single light. Geez, I can't even remember the last time I used a multi light set-up to blast a portrait. Even a single strip bank at 750 W/s, is more than sufficient for a portrait. When you use umbrellas, adjust the position of the umbrella so that the modeling light fills up to just a few inches from the edge of the umbrella. That gives you the most bang for your flash pop and the most control of your light using that particular device. But again, set your lights one at a time. Tungsten lights get awfully hot. I don't recommend them for people work unless it's video. Take it light.
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Andrew Laverghetta |
about that WYSIWYG, I noticed that AlienBees (alienbees.com) have a setting to where you can set the modeling light to reflect the intensity of what the flash will be. I was thinking that in brighter conditions this might not be as helpful but I'm sure that if alienbees has it, you can find it other places too. I think it might be better to get a better pair of strobes and take a lot of test shots to figure out where you need to put the lights to do what. Then, if you got something else at this point, you might want to switch over later which would cost you another wad of cash. Food for thought? -Andrew
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Rick |
Hi, Just to follow up, I bought a set of 4 Bowens Travelite 750's from a fellow who is getting out of the business. So thanks for your advice - I think you guys are right and I'll be happier with these. I exceeded the budget a little that I mentioned, but looking at the current prices of the Calumet units, I got a very good deal. Here's to the cure for Strobophobia! ;-) Thanks
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Pete H |
Rick, I gotta' go and echo what Mark has said. The color cast IS a big prob with fluors..and almost equally bad is the inconsistency as the light ages. Go with the strobes, get a used flash meter and trust it. After a short while you will be progressing onto 2 and 3 light setups w/o a hitch. Above all else, MAKE DETAILED NOTES!
Pete
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