O.K., since I had mentioned how nice it would be for a "Lighting Forum", and Guy obliged those requesting this, I feel a bit obligated to kick this off.
The topic title is not quite tongue in cheek, but dragged you in here, so that worked :clap:
This has been a struggle for me for decades. I have gone from the luxury of working in a full studio with hot lights, strobes, and just about everything in between. I then went the "minimalist" route for a while, believing that natural light only was the true art, or at most, a weak fill flash. (This period was probably brought on more by lack of money for gear at the time, so what else is new?
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That evolved into multiple small flash units to create a fast, very portable system. (I am mostly a Canon shooter, and will admit that I still envy the Nikon lighting capabilities in this area, but just HAD to prove it could be done with Canon speedlites and other things.) The biggest issue here has been really getting softened light when you need it most.
That continued the evolution back to packs and flash heads, but portability has always been a big driver, as I need to bring the studio to the client. My present kit for this are DynaLites, and they are working out wonderfully, but sometimes even they put out more light than one wants for shooting at f1.2 and stuff.
The most recent addition to the kit has been some Westcott Spiderlites, which use daylight balanced cool fluorescent bulbs. Have to say, they are not super bright, but they do put out a very nice continuous light at low cost, low heat, and can be toted about if you need to use them that way.
So what is the answer? Not sure, but so far, all of them. This was not a kit that I really planned, but have found that it does allow me to do most jobs, and it will allow for mix and match things too, like DynaLites in big softboxes with a fluorescent in close for key or accent, and small Canon flashes for creating hot accents in backgrounds and stuff. The key is knowing the limitations of the gear and the shooter. (Still working on the latter at this point :shocked: )
Not looking to start a brand war or anything of the sort. Would love to use Brons or Elincroms or Profotos, and have in the past, but all are too heavy, too bulky, and much more expensive. Is this foolhardy on my part? Should I just bite the bullet and spring for those Profotos?
With some of the new "accessories" now on the market for use with smaller flash units, for battery power, for attaching softboxes, etc., I am not so sure that the big boy systems matter as much, except for rental needs, replacement parts in out of the way places, and maybe brand loyalty. Wonder what others think about this?
BTW, I need to dig up a report where someone took the time to shoot the various flash units at different powers, and measured their color temp variation, etc. Interesting results.....the Elinchroms and Profotos, long touted for consistent light output and color, actually underperformed the small DynaLites. (Forget the Alien Bees and White Lightnings....they are cheap, but all over the map on color temp at different outputs.)
O.K., chip in as you see fit with experiences, thoughts, plans, images, whatever. Let's get this forum rolling along also.
LJ