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Looking to step up my lighting game and invest in some studio strobes and bee's seem appropriate both budget & functionality wise.
Does any one have any first hand experience with them, particularly within skateboarding?
i'm also looking at getting some decent gear,
also looking for some decent triggers.. what's the deal, i haven't really looked into lighting at all.
yo cam, they are pretty big heads + battery, i wouldnt want to carry them around.
i would 100% get elinchrom ranger quadra's, you can get different heads for them, A heads for short duration (hassy stuff) and S heads which you can hypersync upto like 1/5000th with if you were so inclined.
chip, i would get a PW TT1 to use on camera and either PW plus2 or plus3 to use as receivers. look up hypersync and get that on the dial, definitely worth every cent.
I've got an Einstein and I've never used it for skating. Every now and then I think about it but its just so heavy to lug around and not as durable as speed lights.
There are honestly not too many times when I've not been able to achieve what I want to with small strobes. What are you hoping to do with bigger lights?
Chip, pocketwizard just released some new triggers, the plus X which are only about 100 bucks each and I'd go for them if you have that budget. The miniTT1 is also very helpful if you wanna get into hypersync.
Ive heard the newer yongnuo stuff is pretty decent but ill let someone else speak to that.
What do studio lights do? Serious question, I've never seen the need to spend money on them skateboarding wise. All the bug cats use them though so I'm sure there's some reasoning. Just more powerful?
some people still use short flash duration with digi, in which case speedlights at full power arent the best, you can turn them down, but you wont block out the sun with that.
The thing with that Hermans is that most big lights are also slow (and most of em get slower as you dial their power down, which is the opposite to speed lights). The main lights I've seen being used by dudes for skating are the Lumedyne action packs or elinchrom quadra rangers which will both set you back a couple of grand for a 2 light, 2 battery setup.
The Paul c buff Einstein (alien bees bigger brother) I've got is actually faster that both of those at a slightly higher power but I've only seen em being used once or twice for skating.
I use Nikon SB flashes at half power pretty much 100% of the time and that (admittedly using hypersync to sync at 1/800) works for pretty much everything other than super loose comp at midday.
yeah, i was only really talking about lumedyne action packs and elinchroms with A heads. i agree, speedlights are ideal just about all the time.
bibby, what do you usually have to stop down to when your using your lumedyne at full power?
Wow thanks for all the quick responses guys!
Originally I had Alien Bees in mind for the cost factor. Are there some examples of smaller more portable strobes at a comparable price. If anything a longer duration is better as I Hypersync.
And Herman's just out of curiosity why do you suggest plus3's over flextt5's?
if i were to get the miniTT1,
what is the difference between getting some plus3's or the plusX's?
The plus x are basically the same as plus IIs in the new body.
Plus 3 have some nifty new shit to do with channel switching and range extending but probably not worth the extra cost for most skate photogs. Plus IIs still work awesome if you can get some second hand but I'd probably buy the X for the sturdier antenna design (my plus IIs are forever getting bent in my backpack)
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Alien Bees
Cameron M 10:03 07/May/13
Looking to step up my lighting game and invest in some studio strobes and bee's seem appropriate both budget & functionality wise.
Does any one have any first hand experience with them, particularly within skateboarding?
Chip. 10:12 07/May/13
i'm also looking at getting some decent gear,
also looking for some decent triggers.. what's the deal, i haven't really looked into lighting at all.
HERMANS 11:19 07/May/13
yo cam, they are pretty big heads + battery, i wouldnt want to carry them around.
i would 100% get elinchrom ranger quadra's, you can get different heads for them, A heads for short duration (hassy stuff) and S heads which you can hypersync upto like 1/5000th with if you were so inclined.
chip, i would get a PW TT1 to use on camera and either PW plus2 or plus3 to use as receivers. look up hypersync and get that on the dial, definitely worth every cent.
Nate Dawg 11:21 07/May/13
I've got an Einstein and I've never used it for skating. Every now and then I think about it but its just so heavy to lug around and not as durable as speed lights.
There are honestly not too many times when I've not been able to achieve what I want to with small strobes. What are you hoping to do with bigger lights?
Chip, pocketwizard just released some new triggers, the plus X which are only about 100 bucks each and I'd go for them if you have that budget. The miniTT1 is also very helpful if you wanna get into hypersync.
Ive heard the newer yongnuo stuff is pretty decent but ill let someone else speak to that.
walker94 11:32 07/May/13
What do studio lights do? Serious question, I've never seen the need to spend money on them skateboarding wise. All the bug cats use them though so I'm sure there's some reasoning. Just more powerful?
HERMANS 11:39 07/May/13
some people still use short flash duration with digi, in which case speedlights at full power arent the best, you can turn them down, but you wont block out the sun with that.
Nate Dawg 12:20 07/May/13
The thing with that Hermans is that most big lights are also slow (and most of em get slower as you dial their power down, which is the opposite to speed lights). The main lights I've seen being used by dudes for skating are the Lumedyne action packs or elinchrom quadra rangers which will both set you back a couple of grand for a 2 light, 2 battery setup.
The Paul c buff Einstein (alien bees bigger brother) I've got is actually faster that both of those at a slightly higher power but I've only seen em being used once or twice for skating.
I use Nikon SB flashes at half power pretty much 100% of the time and that (admittedly using hypersync to sync at 1/800) works for pretty much everything other than super loose comp at midday.
HERMANS 01:30 08/May/13
yeah, i was only really talking about lumedyne action packs and elinchroms with A heads. i agree, speedlights are ideal just about all the time.
bibby, what do you usually have to stop down to when your using your lumedyne at full power?
Cameron M 02:05 08/May/13
Wow thanks for all the quick responses guys!
Originally I had Alien Bees in mind for the cost factor. Are there some examples of smaller more portable strobes at a comparable price. If anything a longer duration is better as I Hypersync.
Cameron M 02:14 08/May/13
And Herman's just out of curiosity why do you suggest plus3's over flextt5's?
Chip. 03:40 08/May/13
if i were to get the miniTT1,
what is the difference between getting some plus3's or the plusX's?
Nate Dawg 03:54 08/May/13
The plus x are basically the same as plus IIs in the new body.
Plus 3 have some nifty new shit to do with channel switching and range extending but probably not worth the extra cost for most skate photogs. Plus IIs still work awesome if you can get some second hand but I'd probably buy the X for the sturdier antenna design (my plus IIs are forever getting bent in my backpack)
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