Portaflash?

David Holden

David Holden

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I have been looking out for a cheap portable studio flash system, and have been looking at the Portaflash.
Does anybody use the Portaflash system?
What do you think?
I know the modeling lights are replaceable, but are the flash tubes?
 
I use the Portaflash light stands (LS1 and LS3) Well built and quite light as well, however I have not used the Portaflash studio system.

There is a review in Pract Photo I could scan in for you to have a look over.
 
The Portaflash was the first affordable 'studio' flash system, very good value for money but with serious limitations - very low power (about the same as the average hotshoe flash but artificially bolstered by mirror-like built in reflector, producing very harsh and uneven light), inadequate modelling lamp, slave sensor in the wrong place, very limited power adjustment, inconsistent power and appalling build quality.

Don't worry about replaceable flash tubes, they aren't something that blow very often and will probably outlast the other components by a considerable margin :)

To summarise, there are much better alternatives available today for a similar price
 
Garry Edwards said:
The Portaflash was the first affordable 'studio' flash system, very good value for money but with serious limitations - very low power (about the same as the average hotshoe flash but artificially bolstered by mirror-like built in reflector, producing very harsh and uneven light), inadequate modelling lamp, slave sensor in the wrong place, very limited power adjustment, inconsistent power and appalling build quality.

Don't worry about replaceable flash tubes, they aren't something that blow very often and will probably outlast the other components by a considerable margin :)

To summarise, there are much better alternatives available today for a similar price
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So let me get this straight Garry... you're saying they are sh I.T.

:LOL:

DD
 
DiddyDave said:
So let me get this straight Garry... you're saying they are sh I.T.

:LOL:

DD
Click to expand...
There's an old saying that you get what you pay for...
Having said that, it's possible to get good results with them - I know because I had to use some for a project - but it's much more difficult, especially for a beginner, to get good results with poor equipment
 
The EX150 kit doesn't even come with a booklet on how to get started.

I'd have thought that would be useful - an idea of how to set some lights up and a step by step guide to allow a beginner to get a reasonably good starting photo.

I think Interfit now include some sort of beginners guide with the current kit.
 
DiddyDave said:
So let me get this straight Garry... you're saying they are sh I.T.

:LOL:

DD
Click to expand...

it would have saved a lot of typing wouldn't it. :LOL:

If I was making a list of flash heads I really don't want, portaflash would be at the top. Oddly, the jessops Powerflash heads are great, if somewhat long in the tooth these days. I have a load of the buggers that I'm waiting on to die so I can get some posh new stuff but alas, they roll on and on and on........ :LOL:
 
andrewc said:
The EX150 kit doesn't even come with a booklet on how to get started.

I'd have thought that would be useful - an idea of how to set some lights up and a step by step guide to allow a beginner to get a reasonably good starting photo.

I think Interfit now include some sort of beginners guide with the current kit.
Click to expand...

Surely this is something that all suppliers should do?

I wrote this one for one of my clients, it's available to potential customers as well as to people who've bought them.

Any comments/suggestions would be appreciated
 
You would have thought so - but no. At that time, Interfit on their beginners kit didn't include anything apart from a single A4 piece of paper (single sided from memory)

I was hoping for a quick tutorial on possibly setting up a single person portrait, with a step by step guide saying place 1st lamp with softbox here, at 3/4 power, slightly to one side and above your subjects head pointing slightly down, with the other light over here, turned down to 1/2 power, OR pointing at a plain white background on full power to give a fashionable style portrait.

I'm sure a lot of beginners who cannot afford a set of more expensive lights give up because of frustration rather than failings in the actual product or lack of talent.
 
from what ive read, the interfit kit now comes with a tutorial DVD, and its now the ex150 Mk III.

£250 for the 2 Head system with 2 stands, softbox and umbrella
 
andrewc said:
I was hoping for a quick tutorial on possibly setting up a single person portrait, with a step by step guide saying place 1st lamp with softbox here, at 3/4 power, slightly to one side and above your subjects head pointing slightly down, with the other light over here, turned down to 1/2 power, OR pointing at a plain white background on full power to give a fashionable style portrait.

I'm sure a lot of beginners who cannot afford a set of more expensive lights give up because of frustration rather than failings in the actual product or lack of talent.
Click to expand...

Hmmn...
I understand your point, but as a photographer and a trainer I've always tried to make it very clear to people that there's no such thing as a standard lighting setup - or at least there shouldn't be!

Studio photography is nothing more than bringing the outdoors indoors. Every type of lighting that occurs outdoors (and then some) can be reproduced indoors. Outdoor lighting can be from the back, either side or above. It can be hard, soft of somewhere between. if you're shooting outdoor portraits you make the best possible use of what you've got, you don't just take shots if there's hazy sunshine at 45 degrees for example - so why limit yourself by using a 'standard lighting setup' when you can experiment and produce something that actually suits your subject and purpose?
 
I think it's a case of starting somewhere Garry. If you have a reference point that will get you going you can always work your way from that to something more suitable or adventurous. It can be disheartening if you have nothing to work from. The internet is a very useful resource though and I started with a one light setup, then added a reflector, then a second light. I then bought some honeycombs and a beauty dish and started to see what they did. Just exploring really. I also bought Jon Grey's Bowens DVD from Calumet, then went on a seminar.

I still have almighty cock ups, I still do things wrong but I'm the kind of person who looks at those mistakes as opportunities to learn. One of the most difficult things I've found is making sure that I can flatter my model. Some lighting suits certain shapes and features better than others and you need some very forgiving friends for that particular lesson!
 
AliB said:
I think it's a case of starting somewhere Garry. If you have a reference point that will get you going you can always work your way from that to something more suitable or adventurous.
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I understand that, but a starting point is restrictive IMO. There are loads of forum posts and example photos that make it obvious that the majority of people believe that there is such a thing as a standard lighting setup, that the correct position for a fill light is opposite the key light (100% wrong) and that the 'correct' fill ratio is X. All total nonsense.

I feel that the worst offenders are books on portrait lighting and photography magazines, which not only demonstrate their own ignorance but also just use their 'lighting tutorials' as an excuse for product placement, to keep their advertisers happy.

The right approach IMO is to think "Right, I've brought the outdoors indoors and now, for the first time, I can actually control the direction and hardness of the light - so I'll experiment".

There's no reason why a beginner can't take some banker shots to keep their volunteer models happy, and then experiment with the rest of the session.
 
Gary is just hemorrhaging good sense there. With a digi camera there is no reason not to just shoot and experiment with the looks you can get.

Some of the best art and most creative shots we see here, and anywhere else, are form people that weren't told, " you cant do that". :)
 
Dear All,

thanks for comments. I will keep an eye out for cheap 2nd hand Portaflash, but if I buy new it will be a different product.
 
David Holden said:
Dear All,

thanks for comments. I will keep an eye out for cheap 2nd hand Portaflash, but if I buy new it will be a different product.
Click to expand...

erm, i would have thought the 2nd hand kits would suffer slightly more down to the weaknesses pointed out by Gary Edwards. I would assume you would be worse off with a 2 year old kit:shrug:
 
Garry Edwards said:
I understand that, but a starting point is restrictive IMO.

I feel that the worst offenders are books on portrait lighting and photography magazines, which not only demonstrate their own ignorance but also just use their 'lighting tutorials' as an excuse for product placement, to keep their advertisers happy.


There's no reason why a beginner can't take some banker shots to keep their volunteer models happy, and then experiment with the rest of the session.
Click to expand...

Absolutely Garry. I think what I'm trying to say here is that as a beginner you do want to be able to follow some advice so you can get those banker shots.

Personally I'd love to have unlimited time with a supermodel but since that is unlikely to happen anytime soon I'm fortunate to have friends who will indulge me for an odd afternoon and believe me some of them are very odd! lol. That means limited time to experiment so I usually have to come up with some ideas beforehand.

It's OK to shoot those bankers first and foremost and if you can show your model that you are not making her (or him) look like a moose you get a bit more confidence and relaxation from them. That's where the fun starts!

I agree that there is some awful stuff out there (especially from the mags) I seem to have read most of it! lol. I am getting happier doing my own thing but that really comes with time and patience and practice and without some advice where do you start?
 
You don't need a model to practice your lighting set ups - stick a wig on a football or get a "girls world" instead ;)
 
fletch5 said:
erm, i would have thought the 2nd hand kits would suffer slightly more down to the weaknesses pointed out by Gary Edwards. I would assume you would be worse off with a 2 year old kit:shrug:
Click to expand...

FWIW, I had a Portaflash kit for about 6 years and it never failed once (admittedly with fairly light home use only). It's true the light quality was relatively poor, controllability very limited (full, half or quarter power apparently... but it never seemed to make that much difference), long recycle times, cheap looking build, etc etc. So they were not the best quality... but they did keep going. :shrug: Swapped to Bowens now and although they're more expensive I feel they're much better value for money.

Flashy
 
AliB, PXl8 is right. You don't need a live model, I've always found it much better to learn on still life subjects anyway - they don't move, don't get bored and don't get upset if the shots don't do them justice :)
More to the point, you, as photographer, are entirely responsible for the finished result - it doesn't get changed by a slight change in position.

Flashman, I'm not saying that Portaflash are totally useless or that they always fail, I'm sure that there are a lot of people out there who have had good experiences, I'm just saying that there are now much better choices for the same sort of money, and that it takes more skill to produce acceptable results with them than it takes with better gear.
 
I agree with Flashman, I have had a porta flash kit for quite a few years, like him it only gets light use at home, but not had any problems with it. It does feel a bit cheap build but fine for the limited use it gets, I have been thinking about getting something else, but unless I start to do more, I will wait until the units die on me, as I can't really justify the cost.
 
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