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James Duvall
Joined: 08 Jun 2012
Posts: 39
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hhltdave5
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 24083
Location: Our Stock, Food & Portrait photography books at www.rindersmithphotography.com
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 11:51 am
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I don't have any personal knowledge about these lights but I question their watt second rating. It says effective watt seconds. That may not be the true rating because many times companies double their W/S level so it really comes out to be a 300 w/s light.
I like to have a smaller adjustment range somewhere at least 1/4 stop. These are 1/2 stop.
These are the lights several of us use. I started using them 6 years ago and have not had a bit of problems with them. You can get a 300 actual W/S set for less than $500.00
http://www.adorama.com/FP1220APWK.html
Also if you are going to be doing isolations you are going to need more than just two strobes. |
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rinder99
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 39226
Location: Contact www.rinderart.com/Books and Workshops www.rindersmithphotography.com Youtube/rinder
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 12:02 pm
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Looks OK James for a starter kit.Although you might be disappointed at 300WS for power and honestly 3 Lights are the minimum for just about anything from tabletop to isolated people. 4 is much better and easier. Doing isolations requires you to light the background separately from the subject and you need at least 2 more stops of power to do this.
In my time i've shot just about every studio setup imaginable and more power is very important, I have 6-600W lights and 2-250's, you can always turn them down but you can't turn them up for more DOF.
Also, I am NOT a fan of umbrellas the light is too directional and harsh as compared to softboxes and a round circle in a models eye instead of square Catch light is off setting unless it's a shoot thru setup.
Look at Flashpoints from adorama also But Im one of those people that learned the hard way trying to save money until many years ago realized to buy it right Once, Then you only need to buy once.Buy things you can add to is my advice. |
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James Duvall
Joined: 08 Jun 2012
Posts: 39
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 12:19 pm
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I'm glad I looked here first--seen a lot of good things about the Flashpoints. And I agree with you, Mr. Rinder, regarding softboxes vs. umbrellas. I wonder if one can buy an inexpensive umbrella set, and buy softboxes to fit it separately, at a later time? |
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hhltdave5
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 24083
Location: Our Stock, Food & Portrait photography books at www.rindersmithphotography.com
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 1:31 pm
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| James Duvall wrote: | | I'm glad I looked here first--seen a lot of good things about the Flashpoints. And I agree with you, Mr. Rinder, regarding softboxes vs. umbrellas. I wonder if one can buy an inexpensive umbrella set, and buy softboxes to fit it separately, at a later time? |
Softboxes are not usually universal fitting for each different make of strobe. Many of them come with a specific speed ring. If you get the Flashpoints they have softboxes that fit the strobes that you can buy. In the mean time you can use the umbrellas that come with the kit. I use umbrellas for many of my shots but it is true that softboxes are better for certain applications. |
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rinder99
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 39226
Location: Contact www.rinderart.com/Books and Workshops www.rindersmithphotography.com Youtube/rinder
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 7:44 pm
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Mostly people. |
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James Duvall
Joined: 08 Jun 2012
Posts: 39
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 4:44 pm
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Just ordered the Flashpoint system. No use in getting something that I know won't have the power for what I want...and it wasn't that much more expensive. Now, just have to wait for it to be shipped. |
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hhltdave5
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 24083
Location: Our Stock, Food & Portrait photography books at www.rindersmithphotography.com
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Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:00 pm
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| James Duvall wrote: | | Just ordered the Flashpoint system. No use in getting something that I know won't have the power for what I want...and it wasn't that much more expensive. Now, just have to wait for it to be shipped. |
Welcome to the group of us who own the Flashpoints. I think you will enjoy them. |
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henrikl
Joined: 23 Aug 2008
Posts: 713
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:09 pm
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really interesting. i have understood that i really cant do isolations with continious light. i dont really know what lamps to get, and if i did, noone would really sell them anyway. so it is four strobes then? one from above, under under and one from each side? im doing small stuff, bugs and the likes, do i really need 4 strobes for that? |
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hhltdave5
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
Posts: 24083
Location: Our Stock, Food & Portrait photography books at www.rindersmithphotography.com
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:24 pm
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| henrikl wrote: | | really interesting. i have understood that i really cant do isolations with continious light. i dont really know what lamps to get, and if i did, noone would really sell them anyway. so it is four strobes then? one from above, under under and one from each side? im doing small stuff, bugs and the likes, do i really need 4 strobes for that? |
The main thing is to light the background separately from the object. If you are doing small items you can get by with one light to light the background (better if you light it from behind) that is why a product table is good because it is made of material you can shoot through. Then have one or two lights to light the object itself.
If you want to do some photoshop to clean things up you can light it from the front with one light but again you will have to clean it up. Depends on how easy you want to make your job. The right equipment makes your job much easier. |
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rinder99
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 39226
Location: Contact www.rinderart.com/Books and Workshops www.rindersmithphotography.com Youtube/rinder
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:23 am
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| henrikl wrote: | | really interesting. i have understood that i really cant do isolations with continious light. i dont really know what lamps to get, and if i did, noone would really sell them anyway. so it is four strobes then? one from above, under under and one from each side? im doing small stuff, bugs and the likes, do i really need 4 strobes for that? |
Go to a fabric store and get some white ripstop Nylon, light it from the rear. Instant Isolated background. |
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jeffbanke
Joined: 18 Dec 2005
Posts: 17467
Location: www.xlr8photo.com, The real California
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 8:46 pm
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| henrikl wrote: | | really interesting. i have understood that i really cant do isolations with continious light. |
This is not the case, isolations can be done with continuous lighting! The technique is the same as when using strobes, one must light the background with 2-3x more light than one uses on the subject.
This is not rocket science just simple and basic lighting techniques that can be done with any lighting, fluorescent, LED, incandescent or strobes.
Incandescent or hot lighting of course is not good for models and food:-) |
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rinder99
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 39226
Location: Contact www.rinderart.com/Books and Workshops www.rindersmithphotography.com Youtube/rinder
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:24 pm
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Not to mention burning down your house by overloading the power. |
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jeffbanke
Joined: 18 Dec 2005
Posts: 17467
Location: www.xlr8photo.com, The real California
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:18 pm
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| rinder99 wrote: | | Not to mention burning down your house by overloading the power. |
OK, go ahead and mention that LOL! |
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henrikl
Joined: 23 Aug 2008
Posts: 713
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 5:43 pm
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| hhltdave5 wrote: | | henrikl wrote: | | really interesting. i have understood that i really cant do isolations with continious light. i dont really know what lamps to get, and if i did, noone would really sell them anyway. so it is four strobes then? one from above, under under and one from each side? im doing small stuff, bugs and the likes, do i really need 4 strobes for that? |
The main thing is to light the background separately from the object. If you are doing small items you can get by with one light to light the background (better if you light it from behind) that is why a product table is good because it is made of material you can shoot through. Then have one or two lights to light the object itself.
If you want to do some photoshop to clean things up you can light it from the front with one light but again you will have to clean it up. Depends on how easy you want to make your job. The right equipment makes your job much easier. |
I do have the lastolite product table with the transparent board. Its just that every shop in sweden i have called either doesnt know what they are talking about or want to sell me expensive flashlights. Or a combination of the two. I went to see the lastolite home page with the tutorials on isolations and they are using continious lights. Of couse, they dont state what they are using, just that i have to light the background brighter. :) The thing is, i dont want to do any photoshop cleaning at all, and often the bugs i shoot are hairy, so a 100 % isolation wold be absolutely great. id buy the equipment needed. its just hard to find. |
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