Some lighting confusion.....

kalibre

kalibre

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Hi everyone,

This is my first 'talk photography' post, so my apologies if it's long winded!

I'm not new to photography or flash photography, however I am new to studio lighting and have some simple'ish questions. This is purely hobbie stuff, so no company profits on the line here. ;)

Previous home studio setups have used direct continuous lighting which works fine, but obviously cooks the subject! I want to work a bit smarter, so here's what I've currently got:

  • Nikon D80 (Various lenses)
  • White Muslin Backdrop for 'High Key' type shots
  • Nikon SB600 Flash
  • 2 x Lighting stands
  • 2 x flash/umbrella tilt mounts
  • 6 x Umbrellas (reflectors and shoot throughs)

And here are the questions:

Second Lamp Technology - One option is to just get another SB600 and add it to the wireless group controlled by the D80. My concern is that it wouldn't be as capable or powerful as a dedicated flash head?

Learning Curve Manual vs iTTL - I want to learn but I don't want kit that I will grow out of in 6 months. Naturally the Dual SB600 option takes away the need to learn to a certain extent, because I can rely on iTTL and basic compensations without measuring distances and apertures etc. However, I think it might be character building and more interesting to get a flash head and have to manually calculate distances and measure f-stops etc. Any comments?

Light Meter - I'm assuming I don't need one if I use the SB600s but would if I go for flash heads?

Triggering - My SB600 is wireless and works great with no mis-fires. Could any flash head act as a slave and react to the flash from my pop-up or SB600? or wouldn't I want this? Secondly, if I need to add a hotshoe trigger then won't that interfere with using my pop-up as a commander for the SB600? Does that make sense?

Think that's about it........ for now...lol

Any help will be greatly appreciated. :D
 
The SB-600 is fine for off-camera flash, I have two of them which I use with Gadget Infinity "Ebay" triggers in manual mode. A light meter, whilst handy for studio-type work, isn't essential as you can just chimp until you get a result you are happy with. After a while you get a rough idea of where to start with your settings so it becomes easier and if you are using the same setup all the time it is easier still :)

If you are using something like the Ebay triggers then you don't need to use the popup flash as a trigger for the SB-600. Yes, you can trigger any other flash that has either an optical trigger (about £5) or inbuilt optical facility from the SB-600 - I have eight:bonk: small slave flashes which have optical triggers on them and which can be used for fill lighting or background effects which are triggered from the SB-600 which in turn is triggered by a set of Ebay slaves. It sounds more complicated than it actually is :LOL:
 
Hi Flash In The Pan,

Thanks for the info. Do you use the SB600s because that's just what you've got or do you know that they perform equally or better than flash heads? (Thinking coverage power etc..)

Also, if you don't mind me asking, what models are your slaves?

Thanks.
 
I use them because a) they are what I have, but also b) because they take up little space and therefore I can use them on the move, c) because I can use them in ttl mode if I feel lazy and d) because they were cheap :LOL:

The slaves I have are wee Hanimex ones that I picked up off Ebay, they are pretty low powered and non-adjustable, but they were brand new and cost a quid each ;) I tend to use them for colour effects etc by velcroing a Lee filter sample over the flash. I also have some plans for some outdoor effects when it finally stops bleedin' raining up here :LOL:
 
I have just ordered a wireless remote from ebay. Looking forward to getting it through - one additional stupid question, do light stands have the clamp to allow a brolly for reflection or is this generally needed as well.

Chris
 
Generally you'll need an umbrella mount as well. You can get them on Ebay from about £6, but they are junk. Take a look at either Manfrotto or the Calumet copies at around £15-20 each.
 
Using hotshoe flashes does work and has the advantage of portability - but no, they don't have anything near the power of any studio flash.

More importantly, they are very difficult to modify, and studio lighting is about adding modifiers to shape the light. And they don't have modelling lamps either, so they're very limited
 
Thanks Garry,

I had a hunch that this might be the case. If I mix the two, do I have a colour temp issue or is this also customisable on the flash head?

Because of budget I will no doubt be aiming for Interfit lights. Are there any major pit falls that you know of with model selection?
 
kalibre said:
Thanks Garry,

I had a hunch that this might be the case. If I mix the two, do I have a colour temp issue or is this also customisable on the flash head?

Because of budget I will no doubt be aiming for Interfit lights. Are there any major pit falls that you know of with model selection?
Click to expand...

Technically, there may well be a colour temp issue but it's very unlikely to be a problem unless you're using the lights for critical applications, e.g. advertising shots of still life subjects. For portraits etc you can be quite a bit off colour and not notice.

Someone else will have to advise you about Interfit models, they're not on my recommended list.
 
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