Techy question

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EOS7Pete

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Peter
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Hiyas all,

I know that flashes are based on guide numbers, but does anyone know what the power is on a Canon 430EX if measured in Watts? I am trying to buy continous lighting that will have a simlar power to the flash, so try and balance the lights as close as possible

thanks
 
You will find it extremely difficult, and ultimately, probably unhelpful. The best way would be to convert them both into some form of common currency, eg put them both in an identical reflector, and measure the effective exposure. Also very difficult in practise.

Even comparing like with like is pretty hard, and guide numbers and Watt-seconds a crude measure at best. What matters is how much light the device outputs, and neither is a measure of that (they depend heavily on the reflector, and efficiency of components).

Then there is the question of why you want to do it. Mixing flash and continuous light is problematic at the best of times (colour and heat, apart from brightness) and flash is usually better for everything except video.
 
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I think the 430ex is about 35 watts. Buy flash duration is about 1/1000th of a second, its really powerful short duration light. I wouldnt mix flash with continuous light, complicated to understand.
 
The flash only lasts a very short time, but during that time it is almost certainly in the thousands of Watts. You would probably need cooling fans if you were going to sustain that level.
 
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