On the Portability of off camera speedlights

Mitch38

Mitch38

Messages
77
Name
Mitch
Edit My Images
Yes
Speedlights don’t need to be plugged into the mains, and they’re lighter than studio lights, great !

Apart from the above, working without an assistant in locations that aren’t so sheltered, or within short walking distance of your car, add modifiers, and weights to stop stands blowing over. Is the portability angle overplayed to some degree ?

Or is it just me ?

Any tips and techniques from assistantless speedlighters how you overcome the portability issues I’ve mentioned would be great. !
2-3 light setups or less
 
Personally I'd opt for the speedlight for the reasons you state, small, easy to set up & quick to use. Yes there are issues when the wind picks up but we do live in the UK. One essential piece of kit you need would be freezer bags & electrical tape. At £300+ per gun you don't want them to get wet but need to use them in the rain. If windy then the umbrella stays in the car, I'd opt for a smaller modifier for the gun like a soften or even a small softbox. Sandbags are cheap enough on ebay for the stands & without an umbrella on the stand it's unlikely to blow over. I'm a big fan of travelling light (no pun) and less being more. You can buy kit forever & a day but do you really need it. Also with too much kit it takes longer to get up & at weddings etc you don't have the time.
I hope this is of help?
 
I hope this is of help?
Click to expand...

Yes it is thanks, and I had a look at your website.
Your work rocks to hell and back - amazin' stuff, it was worth asking this question just to see your work !
 
I use speed lights on stands all of the time. I have now started using these small shower cap type diffusers that give quiet a bit of diffusion without much loss of power. Shoot through umbrellas are better but they take up a lot of space in a small interior and you loose a lot of power, because a lot of the light is reflected of the inside of the umbrella rather than passing through it.

Speedlights on stands are fairly stable in high winds as long as you don't go mad with the height.
 
With more and more battery-powered units becoming available for studio-type heads, I'd say the argument for speed lights isn't as compelling as it once was, but the overall cost still wins out for many, especially as cheap speed lights become more reliable and better made.

I won't change from speed lights any time soon, simply because I like the fact i can slip a flash on and off my hotshot and onto a remote trigger in an instant.

I think the whole issue of stability with light stands is one of those things that shows up ill-preperation regardless of the flashes you use; not weighing down your stands when modifiers are fitted is a mistake you quickly learn not to make.

Although they lack the height, I find tripods a much more stable solution for holding speed lights, especially on uneven ground where you a light stand would have to be modified to keep level. I just picked up some off amazon, the Konig ones for about £40.
 
Hello all.

I use all kinds of lights on location. From Speedlights though to Elinchrom Quadras and on up to much more powerful studio lights with their own power generators.

I LOVE SPEEDLIGHTS ( or even any old flashgun with manual control)! They are really quite powerful, tiny, so easy to use run and gun style. I tape mine to pocket wizards or Elinchrom skyports and pretty much use them organically. By this I mean stick em where ever I can. I do carry Manfrotto nano stands and various light modifiers but most of the time it's organic lighting control.

The problem with bigger lights is that they are BIGGER and that's a MAJORr pain in the neck on location. ( although when you need em.. you need em.. If you see what I mean)

Sometimes I really do Wonder why I carry so much lighting. Most things are possible with 3 Speedlights, some triggers and a couple of supermarket carrier bags.

Whatever you choose I really hope you get the images you wish for

Roy

www.royriley.co.uk
 
Yeah, they are neat, but a bit diddly, and the light quality just isn't quite up there with real sized heads.

The portability is nice, and it depends on what you shoot really - but personally, the extra kick, quality and ease of use for using a battery system means that most of the time, I do end up taking the 'less portable' - and really fairly heavy in the case of the pro7b - battery pack + head system to jobs.

End of the day, a couple of sb24s make it very inexpensive to have both systems.
 
Cistron said:
If only their recycle time weren't so paaaaaaaiiiiinstakingly slow.
Click to expand...

Cistron - yours must be supercharged.

Mine were paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.i.i.i.i.i...iii.....iii.......i.i.i...........i.i...........nn...st..t....t.tt...aaaaaaaaaaa....cckkkkkkkkkk...ing...l...lllllll.....llllllllyyy.yy.y.y.yyyyyy............yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy slow to recycle (y)
 
specialman said:
Cistron - yours must be supercharged.

Mine were paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.i.i.i.i.i...iii.....iii.......i.i.i...........i.i...........nn...st..t....t.tt...aaaaaaaaaaa....cckkkkkkkkkk...ing...l...lllllll.....llllllllyyy.yy.y.y.yyyyyy............yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy slow to recycle (y)
Click to expand...
Hahaha! I wish NiZn batteries were readily available to give them a well-deserved kick into their nether regions.

I might just sell my Nikon flashes on and get some YN560II.
 
I just use IKEA ones - a quid for 10. Seem to last as long as big name brands. Plus, they're bright yellow so if I drop them I can always find them. I should be using rechargeables but I'm too lazy. :)
 
Sorry I haven;t come back sooner.
Thanks very much for all the tips and pointers.
 
I use my kit bags and the elastic straps to weight down the stands...

Never (as of yet) needed to out power the sun (just balance it) so portable strobes with 600+watts of power have never been needed.
Though my new locality and the backdrops I have to play with are bringing me to start looking.

Oh and as for batterys, AA's, the Duracell one hour ones pack a fair punch! line them side by side you can see all the numbers are bigger too.
in top gear style:
POWER!!!!!!!
 
I use a yoga bag to carry my stands and umbrellas when needed -think lightweight, nylon golf bag. Plenty of room for several lightstands and umbrellas - I've walked over a canal lock gate with one loaded up and lived to tell the tale :)
 
Cistron said:
Hahaha! I wish NiZn batteries were readily available to give them a well-deserved kick into their nether regions.

I might just sell my Nikon flashes on and get some YN560II.
Click to expand...

I've used 3200mAh batteries on my 580exii and the recycle time is great
also a power pack helps, even the cheapo OEM ones.
at the moment I've bought a YN565EX and it keeps up with the 580exII mostly only recycle time and double flash etc, when triggered remotely.
it won't be as good...but for £105 is pretty decent.(y) and it takes an external battery pack.
more power, faster recycling and if strapped to your tripod with some trusty duck tape, then adds a little bit of weight to your setup
 
DizMatt said:
I've used 3200mAh batteries on my 580exii and the recycle time is great
also a power pack helps, even the cheapo OEM ones.
at the moment I've bought a YN565EX and it keeps up with the 580exII mostly only recycle time and double flash etc, when triggered remotely.
it won't be as good...but for £105 is pretty decent.(y) and it takes an external battery pack.
more power, faster recycling and if strapped to your tripod with some trusty duck tape, then adds a little bit of weight to your setup
Click to expand...
Yes, the newest flash guns thankfully have around 2sec recycle time with NiMH batteries, but older ones unfortunately aren't. That's "Vorsprung durch Technik" for you.

So it'd be really nice to just plonk some new battery technology in, which cuts the recycle time in half without adding any bulk.

The other possibility is just selling the old speedlights and buying YN-560IIs, or so.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top