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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Alien Bee vs Speedlight for outdoor portraits | |
Stopper, I'm in the same place as you, except that I'm only a serious hobbyist. (on a budget, but I'm trying to ignore that part!) Here's where I'm at right now:
I definitely want to be able to overcome the sun, at least when the sun is not in the shot.
I do NOT want to have two completely different setups, for indoors and outdoors.
I will likely never have an assistant.
And one more important issue: I shoot almost exclusively alt glass on a 5D, so I'm trying to avoid the darkness (and significant cost) of a set of ND filters. That means using HSS with several speedlights combined, or Pocket Wizard's Hypersync.
I'd love to also have E-TTL, which I personally think is a life-saver outdoors, but that's probably not going to be possible.
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Let the games begin:
As far as portability, the Einsteins are really no larger than an on-stand speedlight, since most of the bulk is in the stand, ring, modifiers, etc. Cost is also not so bad now, with the mini-vagabond pack. Maybe $750 for a basic Einstein kit, before modifers. -but no HSS (and certainly no E-TTL) So I looked at other options, was not happy, and came back to the Einsteins when I read that you can have Hyper Sync with the PW wireless system.
Except, yesterday I found out that PW's Hypersync is basically worthless when paired with the Einsteins, as their duration is too short. You can't go higher than 1/250 ! With a Ranger kit, (and my 5D) you can go to about 1/1,000, but the Rangers are out of my budget, especially since I want one dedicated pack per head. (Outdoors I don't want to be running wires all over the place.)
And that's the end of the Einsteins. That leaves only Cheetah and Quantum. The advantage with Quantum is E-TTL. The disadvantage is that the only Quantum unit with enough power (barely) is the 400 w/s X5dR, and with its special pack it costs ~ 1450. - And still not enough power for some situations, especially in HSS.
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So I reach the final solution, for me, which is expensive, but will work:
The Cheetah CL-360.
They are 300 w/s bare-bulb speedlights. They support HSS (no E-TTL) and have great little battery packs that only cost about $200, with $100 spare batteries.
My plan is to eventually have two CL-360's, and my current 580EXII speedlight / RSS bracket for on-camera. Indoors, this will give me all the key light I'll ever need, plus the on-camea fill, plus a hair or background light. (All supplemented, if needed, by a stand-mounted reflector.) The on-camera RRS bracket is quite high, & I always use a small partial-bounce reflector, so I get quite nice results.
Outdoors, in bright sun, I will put both Cheetah's into one bracket (not sure which one is best yet) using a regular speedring and standard modifiers. That's 600 w/s at x-sync speed, and independent reports say they only lose ~ one stop (max) of light in their HSS mode, plus that's the worst-case number. At "middle" shutter speeds their should be even more "effective" flash power. So, In a typical outdoor situation, I'd have at least 400 w/s.
The speedlight would still be on-camera, for fill, giving me a very respectable 2-light setup. Plus, I still have E-TTL for any time I am only using one flash. note: It's possible that the speedlight will not be powerful enough to properly fill the 2-cheetah key light when they are at full power, in which case I'll have to also get a CL-180 for on-camera, and use that only outdoors (freeing up the speedlight for something else, I guess) - but I can't afford that right now, (another $700) so it's not in the plan.
I will then buy a good light meter, as I have to say goodbye to E-TTL (sob, wail....)
I haven't decided on the wireless system yet, but I of course want some kind of 3-group commander, and it must support HSS. Probably the Odin, or maybe the Yongnuo. Maybe even Cheetah's own system, that they bundle with the CL-360, but that looks pretty cheap.
I can't really afford all this, but I'm trying to forget that & do it anyway. I can't see ANY less expensive option that will work in all situations.
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So that's my plan as of today. Ask me again in 2 days and who knows? - but food for thought.
Edited on Mar 24, 2014 at 12:51 PM · View previous versions
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