At 13:24 4/12/03, Jan Steinman wrote:
Have you considered packs? They can be had on the used market rather
cheaply. If you only need two, monos may be cheaper, but add a hair-light,
and a used pack with separate lights can break even, and you can then add
a fourth light rather cheaply.
I have. Considering monolights because I've used them before: a friend's
pair of Photogenic lights with Bogen 9-foot stands. Monolights seem easier
to set up for "location" work than packs and heads. I haven't used packs
and heads so it's a "mind comparison" of power cabling and how long it
requires to set them up on location. In a studio where equipment can be
left mounted and cabling more controlled I might feel differently. Don't
have space for a studio and don't envision having one in the foreseeable
future . . . not that I wouldn't like to along with a complete darkroom too
. . . my home is already too small. Been converting the dining room to a
very small studio for a few hours at a time . . . but must return it to
original condition same day or answer to the CINC-House.
Most of the "on location" work I envision doing with them are wedding altar
returns. Two lights are almost always sufficient provided it's well
diffused and bounced around. I've tried to consider how to use a
background and/or kicker, but altar areas are too variable as are the wide
range of groupings from one/two people to a dozen or more.
I bought a used Speedotron with seven heads for less than the price of
three Alien Bees monos at our local pro photo shop.
New or used? I looked at the new pricing of the more powerful ones. The
lights are inexpensive; the power supply isn't! You're right about the
pricing; three or four of the 1600 Alien Bees do hit about the same price
range as the higher powered ones you've mentioned. I will look at some
used gear though and consider pricing.
The lights are just the tip of the iceberg. Now you'll need stands, and
brallies, softboxes, scrim, gobos, barn-doors, grip for diffusers, etc.
etc. etc.
Heh, heh . . .
Already have an incident flash meter (an ancient Gossen), three Bogen
stands, a pair of larger silver reflective umbrellas and a pair of smaller
white shoot-through umbrellas. If I understand the definition of "brollie"
correctly, it's also another term for umbrella. [??] Been slowly grabbing
things here and there as opportunity arises and using them with
comparatively low-powered strobes. You're right that it's on a course down
the slippery slope.
Another advantage of packs is you can put more weight on the stand. I have
a lovely 5'x4' softbox that I'm sure would topple over with the added
weight of a mono up on the stand!
At this point I have an aversion to using softboxes with stand mounted
lights; they seem too unwieldly on-location and take longer to set
up. Been using the shoot-through umbrellas (they do bounce more around the
room). That's always subject to change with time.
And if a stand does go over, you're out a $20 bulb, NOT a $200 electronics
assembly!
A significant concern when I've set up location lighting in the past. I
run power cords very carefully. Never had one go over, or a near miss, but
the guy I've borrowed equipment from had a monolight with umbrella go over
into a wedding cake. The cake gave its life to save his light . . . not
that anyone else there was very happy about that. Made a whole lot of
people real happy!
Thanks,
-- John
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|