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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Speedlite Overkill?
Wes Hope, Photographer
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Maryville | TN | USA | Posted: 5:24 PM on 03.04.10 |
->> Take a look at today's feature: http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/2383
That's around $7500 worth of gear on that rig!!($475/580EXs x12+$180/P1s x12). Am I the only one that thinks that's insane? I would imagine that you could achieve the same photo for less $$ and with less gear. Yeah, I know it's "portable" (don't know how portable 12 speedlites are), but why not use a high power pack and a pair of strobes with a generator?
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for being a speedlite shooter. I use my little lights a whole lot more than my big strobes. Hell, I've been a strobist long before it was cool to be a strobist. ;) I just struggle with the logic of overkill sometimes. Maybe I'm missing something technically and we all need a dozen speedlites. Maybe one of you can open my eyes.
Discuss... |
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Adam Brimer, Photographer, Assistant
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Knoxville | TN | USA | Posted: 5:27 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> 1/4000th sync speed |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 5:30 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> It pales in comparison to the number of speedlights that McNally used in lighting a jet in "hot shoe diaries" - which if I recall was done, just to show it could be done. |
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Wes Hope, Photographer
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Maryville | TN | USA | Posted: 5:46 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> Right Adam, I didn't take into account sync limitations on the body and the power pack. But still yet, why do you need 12 speedlites? Is it because there's not enough light coming out to cover the subject when juicing the power up that high with one, two, or six speedlites? Just curious. |
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Michael Troutman, Photographer
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Carmel | CA | USA | Posted: 5:54 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> Extremely fast recycle. Each flash puts out 1/12 the power that a single one would have to for the same exposure. This would make it possible to get a sequence of the pumpkin being smashed. And at 1/4000, as Adam noted. |
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Butch Miller, Photographer
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Lock Haven | PA | USA | Posted: 6:10 PM on 03.04.10 |
->> Great explanations Adam and Michael ... and awesome explanation of the capabilities of the technology in the linked article .... but ... you do have to wonder if the return on investment of the resulting image a setup like that is worth it?
While I too am an Old School Strobist (had a bag full of Vivitar 283's and 285's and a couple miles of zip wire for 30 years or more) ... I don't know if the cost of a dozen modern speedlights and wireless TTL transceivers is justifiable for all but a small percentage of work that draws enough monetary reward to make it worthwhile. |
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Chris Parent, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Baton Rouge | LA | United States | Posted: 6:20 PM on 03.04.10 |
->> I know of several photographers that use speedlights in place of strobes these days. The same modifiers are being made for speedlights that have been made for strobes in the past. So using two or three speedlights can easily replace those strobes. Not having to carry power packs and heads around can save a lot of time and effort.
Also if you have a dozen speedlights, you can do fast action portraits. Sequences of basketball, baseball, golf, etc are suddenly viable.
I just want to see someone light an arena with some speedlights now. Any bets on who will be the first to do it? |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 6:43 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> YOU CAN'T HAVE ENOUGH SPEEDLIGHTS! |
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Darren Whitley, Photographer
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Northwest Missouri | MO | USA | Posted: 7:13 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> I agree. It is overkill even if there's a justification. It probably makes his credit card smoke too. |
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Michael Troutman, Photographer
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Carmel | CA | USA | Posted: 7:29 PM on 03.04.10 |
->> It's not overkill if you're making money. :o)
I've used up to 12 at once...and still wanted more. But more than anything, I want some %^&^$@#! TTL PocketWizards for Nikon... |
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J.J. Alcantara, Student/Intern
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Baton Rouge | LA | USA | Posted: 7:42 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> @Chris: With enough time and money, imagine covering an entire catwalk of an arena with strobes. Say, a hundred strobes lined up next another. |
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Ron Alvey, Photographer
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Dayton | OH | USA | Posted: 7:59 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> Read the article fellas....the lights were on loan.......He's just using the lights to test and experiment. |
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Wes Hope, Photographer
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Maryville | TN | USA | Posted: 9:59 PM on 03.04.10 |
->> Did I miss something, Ron? I don't see that anywhere in the article. It doesn't matter though, my point is it just seems like it's too much to me. But then again, I've never needed to strobe anything at 1/4000th of a second (personally, I would probably prefer some ghosting anyway to give the image some movement. But that's just me).
I'm not knocking Syl. More power (no pun intended) to him and anyone else who do this.
And for the record, I'm not talking about multi-light (in multiple locations) setups. Heck yeah, I'll take three 580s (or SB25s or 285s) over lugging packs, lights, or monolights into a location any day. For my needs, speedlites provide all the juice I need to light a scene. But then again, I've never photographed pumpkin baseball before. Apparently I need to go order 10 more 580s. ;) I was merely questioning the rationale of dropping the price of a gently used Kia on a bank of mini-strobes.
Chris and JJ, I don't think it would be doable in most arenas. It's usually tough enough getting enough power out of a speedlite to light up a HS gym mounting them in or near the stands never mind way up in the catwalk. (At least it was for me back when I did it).
I'll go back to my hole now. |
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Matthew Bush, Photographer
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Hattiesburg | MS | USA | Posted: 10:31 PM on 03.04.10 |
->> No pumpkins were harmed during this experiment ... oh wait
I really would like to see what one speed light set to to full power on traditional sync would look like compared to the 12 before I am sold.
I bet it would freeze the seeds as well if not better.. Its still a cool article. I wonder how much "splatter factor there was" |
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Matthew Bush, Photographer
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Hattiesburg | MS | USA | Posted: 10:33 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> * I know he was shooting a sequence which would not be possible on traditional sync. |
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Darren Whitley, Photographer
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Northwest Missouri | MO | USA | Posted: 10:39 PM on 03.04.10 |
->> Shortly after I posted my original response I thought of justification for using so many lights... because you can.
Anytime a photographer has unique technology at their disposal, it's an opportunity to do something that sets themselves apart. While this technology may not be unique, the quantity of available lights is unique.
Question is... what would you do with 12 lights if you had the opportunity? How would you do something that couldn't be easily copied? |
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Michael Troutman, Photographer
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Carmel | CA | USA | Posted: 10:41 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> Exactly. |
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Matthew Bush, Photographer
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Hattiesburg | MS | USA | Posted: 10:45 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> Darrin- No doubt. I would love to see this setup used for shooting something like off road racing at dusk. |
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N. Scott Trimble, Photographer
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Lake Oswego | OR | USA | Posted: 11:21 PM on 03.04.10 |
| ->> $475. I just got back from Peru and a camera store in Cuzco was selling 580EX strobes, sealed box for about $278 American. I am kicking myself I didn't load up...damn it |
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Mark Loundy, Photo Editor
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San Jose | CA | USA | Posted: 11:31 PM on 03.04.10 |
->> Or you could give one to every person in the stands and vaporize the entire building.
--Mark |
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Kevin Seale, Photographer
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Crawfordsville | IN | United States | Posted: 11:36 PM on 03.04.10 |
->> Matthew - Same concept, different toys but it does have motorcycles. (Scroll down the page)
http://www.daveblackphotography.com/workshop/07-2009.html
You should also read the various posts on Syl's site. They do a very good job of explaining why he did it the way he did and why you could not replicate his specific objective with less lights. He has a lot of very interesting stuff on his site. |
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Louis Lopez, Photographer
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Fontana | CA | USA | Posted: 4:56 AM on 03.05.10 |
| ->> Dave Black is the Master. |
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