Ben Rubinstein
Active member
Hi,
I've been using speedlights more at weddings bounced off the hall ceilings to boost ambient in the way that I have in the past used my AB's and also to compliment them. Leaving recycle times for the moment - the spread is nowhere near as good or as strong as with a strobe. Not sure how to describe it exactly but I can light up an entire hall with 2 strobes but the speedlights only seem to light up a small part and that is with both bounced in the same way, same hall, etc. It's also seemingly not connected to power. The light bounces but in a far too focused way for the spread from the bounce on that dancefloor to be as comprehensive as when using a strobe. The strobes will light up the room, the speedlights seem to do little more than provide accent.
When a 580II is in slave mode it defaults to 24mm. I've tried it both at 24mm (less power) and 50mm but it doesn't seem to improve the spread of the light or the slight reflector spill that I like when bouncing a strobe at an angle.
Is there any way to improve that spread, any way to get the light out of that fresnel in a reflector type of shape of light? It would really improve my ability to use the speedlights more, especially when I'm running with very little time to otherwise set up strobes.
Although there are plenty of solutions out there such as Quantam, Lumedyne, Norman, Quadra, etc. I already own enough speedlights that I wouldn't need to spend more (always good in this economy) and am looking for as much KISS and multi task equipment as possible.
I've been doing a bit of internet research. I've found 3 different solutions though I'll be very happy to hear of more!
1) DIY solution using a regular strobe reflector. Couple of problems with this. A flash head is not designed to hold that kind of weight and you apparently have to use a stofen to bounce the light into the reflector, I'm not sure how much power that will kill. I'm also against DIY solutions for wedding work, I prefer something made for the job after years of learning that DIY and stressful high powered shooting just doesn't go together.
2) Lightsphere with foil on the inside or sprayed silver inside. I'm not sure how well this would shape the light, it's relatively narrow and the light might just go out without hitting the sides. Also due to the size I'm also not sure about the dispertion of heat. A friend knows a wedding shooter who does this with his speedlights and has managed to discolour all his flash heads due to overheating and he never shoots at over 1/4 power. I suppose vents could be cut in the sides to help disperse the heat.
3) Prokit reflector. Expensive for what it is, looks flimsy, just how well will it shape the light? Also uses a stofen type adaptor, just how much power will I be losing?
Your thoughts would be most valuable.
I've been using speedlights more at weddings bounced off the hall ceilings to boost ambient in the way that I have in the past used my AB's and also to compliment them. Leaving recycle times for the moment - the spread is nowhere near as good or as strong as with a strobe. Not sure how to describe it exactly but I can light up an entire hall with 2 strobes but the speedlights only seem to light up a small part and that is with both bounced in the same way, same hall, etc. It's also seemingly not connected to power. The light bounces but in a far too focused way for the spread from the bounce on that dancefloor to be as comprehensive as when using a strobe. The strobes will light up the room, the speedlights seem to do little more than provide accent.
When a 580II is in slave mode it defaults to 24mm. I've tried it both at 24mm (less power) and 50mm but it doesn't seem to improve the spread of the light or the slight reflector spill that I like when bouncing a strobe at an angle.
Is there any way to improve that spread, any way to get the light out of that fresnel in a reflector type of shape of light? It would really improve my ability to use the speedlights more, especially when I'm running with very little time to otherwise set up strobes.
Although there are plenty of solutions out there such as Quantam, Lumedyne, Norman, Quadra, etc. I already own enough speedlights that I wouldn't need to spend more (always good in this economy) and am looking for as much KISS and multi task equipment as possible.
I've been doing a bit of internet research. I've found 3 different solutions though I'll be very happy to hear of more!
1) DIY solution using a regular strobe reflector. Couple of problems with this. A flash head is not designed to hold that kind of weight and you apparently have to use a stofen to bounce the light into the reflector, I'm not sure how much power that will kill. I'm also against DIY solutions for wedding work, I prefer something made for the job after years of learning that DIY and stressful high powered shooting just doesn't go together.
2) Lightsphere with foil on the inside or sprayed silver inside. I'm not sure how well this would shape the light, it's relatively narrow and the light might just go out without hitting the sides. Also due to the size I'm also not sure about the dispertion of heat. A friend knows a wedding shooter who does this with his speedlights and has managed to discolour all his flash heads due to overheating and he never shoots at over 1/4 power. I suppose vents could be cut in the sides to help disperse the heat.
3) Prokit reflector. Expensive for what it is, looks flimsy, just how well will it shape the light? Also uses a stofen type adaptor, just how much power will I be losing?
Your thoughts would be most valuable.
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