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brad industry posted:What kind of sync plugs do they have? I need to be able to hook up a PW some way. None, because they're a terrible hotshoe flash. On the other hand, cheap and battery powered. One of mine has an empty hole on the side of it that's the exact right size for a PC plug, so maybe some model of them has one.
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Dec 19, 2008 20:46
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You can always use a PC to Hot Shoe Adaptor. Edit: Something like this. I'm tempted to give the Sunpak a shot!
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Dec 19, 2008 20:52
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You can always make a pc-hotshoe adapter, can't you? just some wires and electric tape  !!I am going to try this.
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Dec 19, 2008 20:54
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brad industry posted:While we are on this topic, what's the cheapest/most powerful option for a battery powered flash? I want to pick up a couple to use only off-camera with PW's to supplement the strobes I already have. I've seen them at a seminar before, but only vaguely recall the info: It was a flash with a bowl-sized reflector and a big bare tube bulb. Might have been a hack replacing the head of a vivitar/quantum or its own thing, maybe it was popular with wedding photogs in the 80s-90s. I've seen them on ebay Thing threw ace bare side-lighting. Edit: It was something like the Quantum Q-Flashes, but 80's looking without an lcd and $100 instead of $1k Jahoodie fucked around with this message at 21:04 on Dec 19, 2008 |
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Dec 19, 2008 21:01
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^ Those are Quantums I think. I have a couple of hotshoe->PC adapters laying around so maybe I try one of those Sunpaks. I just want to be able to duct tape a small flash in weird spots. edit: drat, $50 on ebay. I should've just bought one of these instead of renting last time. Mannequin posted:And I WON'T MENTION NAMES but somebody here said "professionals don't use Nikon, they use Canon." His or her name rhymes with Mad Industry, whoever that is. WELL YOU WERE WRONG BUSTER! nikon sux no care brad industry fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Dec 19, 2008 |
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Dec 19, 2008 21:04
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brad industry posted:I have a couple of hotshoe->PC adapters laying around so maybe I try one of those Sunpaks. I just want to be able to duct tape a small flash in weird spots. That's pretty much what I use them for - if I want a flash to throw into a mud puddle to get a cool shot, it's going to be the Sunpak. They're also quite a bit smaller and lighter than a 285HV, so I use it on-camera a lot, usually bouncing off the ceiling. e: canon sux
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Dec 19, 2008 21:07
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Jahoodie posted:Yes, you can use SB-26's on camera. I have four and put them on my D50/D200 sometimes; you just don't get TTL and all the bangs and whistles. I got them for $20 each, but ebay has them in the $60-70's. The huge plus is a built in optical slave. Not paying attention here. She shoots canon, so NO, she cannot use the Nikon on camera. notlodar posted:No TTL or any automatic settings. Tape over all the contacts except for the middle one if you are afraid of loving up your camera. By your "taping over contacts thing" can you shoot it on the hot shoe of the canon? Hmmm. The SB 26 is a great flash, no doubt, but I've never even really considered it because I figured I'd want to shoot on camera sometimes (and I do). If this is true, may still be more trouble than she wants with her first flash, though. Note: One thing we're both saying? No need for the Canon flashes given your proposed uses.
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Dec 19, 2008 21:07
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torgeaux posted:Not paying attention here. She shoots canon, so NO, she cannot use the Nikon on camera. He was paying attention actually, the SB26 uses the old Nikon TTL, so using it on a Nikon is the same as on a Canon - the TTL won't work, the rest will. It is still entirely possible to use it on-camera on a Canon. In fact, the flash I use on my D200 usually is a third-party Canon TTL flash (clearly not operating in TTL mode).
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Dec 19, 2008 21:10
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SoundMonkey posted:That's pretty much what I use them for - if I want a flash to throw into a mud puddle to get a cool shot, it's going to be the Sunpak. They're also quite a bit smaller and lighter than a 285HV, so I use it on-camera a lot, usually bouncing off the ceiling. I think I posted this in the PAD thread a while ago, I was only able to get this shot because I brought a 580 along, there was no way to stick a monolight+battery pack inside the cockpit of this thing.  The front glass was tinted really, really dark but I just cranked up the 580 full blast and had no problem getting the inside of that to pop.
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Dec 19, 2008 21:13
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SoundMonkey posted:He was paying attention actually, the SB26 uses the old Nikon TTL, so using it on a Nikon is the same as on a Canon - the TTL won't work, the rest will. It is still entirely possible to use it on-camera on a Canon. In fact, the flash I use on my D200 usually is a third-party Canon TTL flash (clearly not operating in TTL mode). No, he wasn't. Look at his response, that is, "but you can use it on a hotshoe, I use it on my two different nikons all the time!" edit: and, it's clear he thought we were talking about outdated nikon on nikon, since he then compares to newer nikon flash. I'm seeing that both you and notlodar think you can use them, I'm not certain of it yet, I'd like to hear from notlodar on his use of nikon on canon. Your use of old canon on nikon makes it more likely, though, it's true. torgeaux fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Dec 19, 2008 |
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Dec 19, 2008 21:16
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torgeaux posted:By your "taping over contacts thing" can you shoot it on the hot shoe of the canon? Hmmm. The SB 26 is a great flash, no doubt, but I've never even really considered it because I figured I'd want to shoot on camera sometimes (and I do). If this is true, may still be more trouble than she wants with her first flash, though. You can also open it up and snip the wires. There are guides out there on how to do this. I am going to vote that anyone's first flash should be a sunpak because they are so loving cheap 
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Dec 19, 2008 21:18
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notlodar posted:I have heard that people have used it on a canon body without taping over the contacts, but I think it's a bit risky (because I don't know what the hell those contacts are really doing) Yes, also a nice choice. But for her, the 430 and the 580 seem excessive. Even the off brand (sigma) that do e-TTL are more than she needs. Power, moveable head seem ideal. Optical slave could be great, but if she has a single off camera, she may not want to use the pop up to trigger (drat canon and their no on camera command of flashes), so the gadget infinity will be perfect for her. With optical hot shoes now about $10, she can always add that later.
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Dec 19, 2008 21:21
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Here's a little something i whipped up in like 5 seconds,, but you really should cover more on the canon shoe because it's all made out of metal  You can never be too cautious 
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Dec 19, 2008 21:33
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notlodar posted:Here's a little something i whipped up in like 5 seconds,, but you really should cover more on the canon shoe because it's all made out of metal Cool. I have an old macro ring flash (ML14 I think) which is an old canon TTL, but won't do anything but fire full power on my 5D. I asked Canon before I used it at all, since the voltage has changed on some of the flashes. I'm very, very cautious because of the older 285s frying some cameras because of the trigger voltage. Other than having to buy used, the SB-26 seems pretty sweet, then.
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Dec 19, 2008 21:38
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torgeaux posted:Yes, also a nice choice. But for her, the 430 and the 580 seem excessive. Even the off brand (sigma) that do e-TTL are more than she needs. Power, moveable head seem ideal. Optical slave could be great, but if she has a single off camera, she may not want to use the pop up to trigger (drat canon and their no on camera command of flashes), so the gadget infinity will be perfect for her. With optical hot shoes now about $10, she can always add that later. Also, you will at some point be tempted by the Vivitar DF400MZ, which is an off-brand eTTL flash (at least the Canon version is). Do not be tempted. It is horrible.
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Dec 19, 2008 21:43
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torgeaux posted:Cool. I have an old macro ring flash (ML14 I think) which is an old canon TTL, but won't do anything but fire full power on my 5D. I asked Canon before I used it at all, since the voltage has changed on some of the flashes. Now I want to try my 430 EX on my Canon 1N with some taped up stuff. edit: totally worked 
notlodar fucked around with this message at 22:18 on Dec 19, 2008 |
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Dec 19, 2008 21:51
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Guess what arrived today! ..wow. Now I actually know what people are talking about when they talk about quality of light. It's not just a really big hotshoe flash, the light coming out of it looks different. Also, power to spare - I pointed it at my ceiling from about 2' away, and I could just wander around the room taking pictures and it looked like there was just a big ceiling light on - you couldn't tell there was flash involved. The modeling light was DOA, but I blame that more on UPS than anything else. I also didn't realize how quiet hotshoe flashes are - you can certainly hear it when this thing fires. Question for people who use monolights regularly - if I'm using an umbrella, should I have the reflector off or on?
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Dec 19, 2008 22:25
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I usually have a reflector on. There are no rules or anything, try it both ways and see what the difference is.
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Dec 19, 2008 22:56
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SoundMonkey posted:Guess what arrived today!
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Dec 19, 2008 23:46
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notlodar posted:Is it screwed in all the way? From what I hear, PCB is Jesus and he'll replace it for free. Yeah I checked it a few times, and the socket is fine since a regular 100W household bulb worked okay. I already e-mailed them about it, I'm sure they'll fly me a new one on the back of a choir of angels or something. Also, it looks like if I remove the reflector, it'll fit in my EX180 bag! Oh, and for those wondering about power, some unscientific tests reveal that the output of the AB400 is a bit less than two stops more than the 285HV. SoundMonkey fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Dec 20, 2008 |
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Dec 19, 2008 23:58
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After much consideration, I've decided to go with a B800 in lieu of a new lens. I've got several personal projects I'm working on that require me to have more light than what I can do now.
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Dec 20, 2008 07:44
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lighting matter more you can't always control it, that's part of why you spend money on nice lenses.
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Dec 20, 2008 11:51
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semi cross posted from the photo a day thread; Softbox questions: Can someone explain what the size of them affect? I'm ordering one to go with my alienbee and was curious about what size I should shoot for. I'm going to be using it a lot for band promo shots and stuff, so I would need to light a wide space sometimes, but I want to be able to do single person portraits equally well. will I be able to just lower the light's power and use the large one or would a smaller one be best for singles?
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Dec 21, 2008 07:50
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Bottom Liner posted:semi cross posted from the photo a day thread; I'm going to say go with a medium (24x32x17") unless you will be shooting groups more often than singles. Tomorrow I can take some side by side photos of the Photoflex Q39 medium/large if you're interested.
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Dec 21, 2008 09:44
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Bottom Liner posted:semi cross posted from the photo a day thread;
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Dec 21, 2008 11:01
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that would be interesting to see, thanks.
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Dec 21, 2008 11:01
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Does anyone have a matrix/chart built for things you can do by adjusting white balance on camera then adding gels to your flash? Even the basics of when to use CTO's and Window Green gels isn't intuitive. I'm all for experimenting but it would be nice to have a quick reference sheet that I could look on and say hmmm, I want to increase sky saturation but keep my flash illuminated subject daylight color so instead of masking and photoshop turn the WB to tungsten and use a CTO gel..... edit: spelling MrButterpants fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Dec 23, 2008 |
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Dec 23, 2008 07:54
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MrButterpants posted:Does anyone have a matrix/chart built for things you can do by adjusting white balance on camera then adding gels to your flash? If you get the Rosco swatchbook, which you can get for free at any theatrical lighting retailer and some camera stores, the color correction gels actually have notes on them about when and how to use them, like the CTO gels say "Use to increase a xxxxK source to xxxxK." The green/magenta ones are slightly less intuitive, since it's not just color temperature correction, but the actual color of the light. What it comes down to is that the human eye is great at adapting to changing lighting conditions - which sucks, because cameras aren't. I don't have any charts or tables, but after a while you just sort of know approximately what color temperature various light sources are. As a general rule, incandescent lights are anywhere from 2900-3900K, depending on wattage and intensity and other factors, flashes are somewhere around 5600K (although there's still variation between models), and sunlight is anywhere from 5600-10000K (depending on time of day, atmospheric conditions, etc). The bigger the number, the more blue the light is. If you want to make a dim incandescent bulb look the same color as your flash, slap a CTB gel on it, or gel your flash with a CTO gel to make it the same color as the bulb. There's charts and poo poo galore, but really, gel is six bucks a sheet, so get some half CTO and half CTB and gently caress around with it until you get a feel for it.
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Dec 23, 2008 08:22
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I have a question on how to achieve a certain look. Yesterday I was trying to simulate Platon's portrait of Putin, failing pretty horribly. My question is: how is it possible to create soft, yet directional light? What kind of set-up did Platon probably use for the above photo? I achieved my effect with a snooted flash, but the light that it created is very harsh. When I tried to use a shoot-through umbrella for the main light, it lit up the whole room instead of just my face. My second flash also died just before the shoot, taking my hopes of a fill flash with it.
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Dec 23, 2008 17:57
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No idea how, but a place to start is strobist posts with videos of him working and being interviewed: http://strobist.blogspot.com/search?q=Platon
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Dec 23, 2008 18:20
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Tziko posted:My question is: how is it possible to create soft, yet directional light? What kind of set-up did Platon probably use for the above photo? It looks like he's using reflectors of some sort on each side. That'll lighten up the shadows.
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Dec 23, 2008 18:34
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Tziko posted:I have a question on how to achieve a certain look. Yesterday I was trying to simulate Platon's portrait of Putin, failing pretty horribly. A really small softbox really close, just above eye level can come pretty close to the look you're wanting. You'll have to use a gobo to block the light from spilling where you don't want it to go.
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Dec 23, 2008 18:41
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To me it looks like a large softbox or octabox and then fill cards on the side. You can tell the angle of the light source by the shadows on his face. The larger and closer the light source the softer light you will get.
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Dec 23, 2008 18:47
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brad industry posted:To me it looks like a large softbox or octabox and then fill cards on the side. You can tell the angle of the light source by the shadows on his face. The larger and closer the light source the softer light you will get.
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Dec 23, 2008 19:58
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got my alienbee 400 and medium softbox today. woooooooooow this thing is amazing. Best purchase I've made for my photography yet.
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Dec 25, 2008 03:48
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Bottom Liner posted:got my alienbee 400 and medium softbox today. woooooooooow this thing is amazing. Best purchase I've made for my photography yet. Imagine if they made a hot shoe version to mount on top of a camera.
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Dec 25, 2008 05:46
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brad industry posted:To me it looks like a large softbox or octabox and then fill cards on the side. You can tell the angle of the light source by the shadows on his face. The larger and closer the light source the softer light you will get. He could probably use some white sheets of paper real close to the frame, just out of frame, to get the desired reflection. Anything white and a bit reflective should be enough. I once used a whiteboard (the ones used for classroom teaching) as a ghetto reflector, and it worked beautifully.
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Dec 25, 2008 18:17
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Tziko posted:I have a question on how to achieve a certain look. Yesterday I was trying to simulate Platon's portrait of Putin, failing pretty horribly. I just happened to do a platon study recently. I only used a single flash into a small 24" silver umbrella placed high and directly in front. http://mr-chompers.blogspot.com/2008/11/inspired-by-platon.html 
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Dec 26, 2008 04:08
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poopinmymouth posted:I just happened to do a platon study recently. I only used a single flash into a small 24" silver umbrella placed high and directly in front.
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Dec 26, 2008 04:25
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poopinmymouth posted:I just happened to do a platon study recently. I only used a single flash into a small 24" silver umbrella placed high and directly in front. Nice shot. And that's your blog? Thanks to it last night I finally got the idea of sync speed and other fundamental stuff I should've known months ago. Also I had came across http://blog.acjohnsonphoto.com/?page_id=236 for a PP tutorial on a Platon shot. Alvination fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Dec 26, 2008 |
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Dec 26, 2008 04:50
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