New strobes, what settings?

roc1

roc1

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So just starting out in the world of strobe lights and picked up some lovely ex demo Lencarta super fast 300’s. My question is to do with the number power settings and what they equate to in terms of stops? Used to using speedlights and fractions etc.

Also, is there a good rule of thumb with power settings when lighting a subject with a large octa (I have a 150cm), and wanting pure white background using two other strobes?

Thanks for any help! New to all this! Shout out to lencarta too for being so helpful and patient with my questions!
 
roc1 said:
So just starting out in the world of strobe lights and picked up some lovely ex demo Lencarta super fast 300’s. My question is to do with the number power settings and what they equate to in terms of stops? Used to using speedlights and fractions etc.

Also, is there a good rule of thumb with power settings when lighting a subject with a large octa (I have a 150cm), and wanting pure white background using two other strobes?

Thanks for any help! New to all this! Shout out to lencarta too for being so helpful and patient with my questions!
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two options and the easiest when starting out is a light meter
second option is to shoot an image of a grey card in the light and adjust exposure/light power until spike in the middle of the histogram
both give you a starting point as in correct exposure means many things

some might say a third option of chimping

Mike
 
Iirc there is a relationship between the decimal no’s on your lights and stops, but I can’t remember it and in use it’s not ‘that’ important (at least the way I shoot).

For a white background, the best option is to set those lights first, and I’d use chimping with blinkies. Set your BG lights up with the same output, set sync speed, 200 ISO and adjust your aperture till the BG is just evenly hitting a blink. Then turn you BG lights off, and adjust your keylight till it’s ‘right’ with the settings you’ve dialled into your camera.

Congrats on the lights, but don’t try to run before you’ve walked, the Superfasts offer a ton of variables that ‘most’ studio shooters would never have to consider.
 
The instructions for this used to be on the lencarta website, if they still are I can't find them on my phone. I suggest that you ask lencarta for them, as they explain the power settings, plus a lot more.

As for starting to use them, I wouldn't advise the use of a pure white background as a first step, it's best to get some practice first, before adding in the complication of a white background, which involves lighting two separate subjects at the same time.

As above, simply set the power of the key light to whatever it needs to be, after that, simply set the power of any fill or effect light to whatever looks good to you.

With the superfast, the actual power settings only really become important if you need to freeze fast action, in this scenario you will need to usr a low power setting, because the flash duration becomes shorter as the power is reduced.
 
Thanks guys! Yeah I'll take things one light at a time for the mo! Loving the soft light these large soft boxes give out...
 
Instructions? Manuals? Who the....... needs instructions and manuals????? Sorry couldn't help it :D they are actually a good place to start.
YouTube is another where Gavin Hoey springs mind if youre not against getting a light meter. On the other hand Joel Grimes never uses a meter, the histogram or modelling light for that matter, on the top of that he claims to be color blind but still seems to do allright. All the big supliers had channels with tutorials so its just finding them and breath in the knowledge.
 
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A light meter is most definitely your friend, otherwise its all skill and experience in knowing what to do. The simple thing is that the integer numbers equate to a stop, therefore adjusting .5 is a half stop adjustment.

As to what settings you need, it does of course all depend on exactly what you are shooting at that particular moment in time, how you want to shoot / light it and where you lights are positioned and what modifiers you need to use.

Like any lighting scenario you need to know if you need to move the light around or adjust the power, and you'd need to read a book and / or practise a lot to understand.
The easy bit to understand is that if you meter and decide you need half stop difference in your lighting, for that one particular light and choose not to move it, then you simply adjust the power by .5
 
Great replies thanks guys and thanks Garry for the link, I'll do some reading! Any light meters that come recommended and aren't too expensive?
 
roc1 said:
Great replies thanks guys and thanks Garry for the link, I'll do some reading! Any light meters that come recommended and aren't too expensive?
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Some light meters have fancy featured that may or may not be useful, but which add a lot to the cost. The basic technology though is simple, and regardless of price or brand, produce exactly the same result, so my advice is to get a cheap secondhand one.

The only one I would advise against is the Shepherd - works fine but eats batteries.
 
roc1 said:
Great replies thanks guys and thanks Garry for the link, I'll do some reading! Any light meters that come recommended and aren't too expensive?
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I like my old Sekonic flashmate 308B, there are beder versions out now so its about definition og "not to expensive"
 
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