rscheffler
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 p.1 #15 · Is 400w enough for outdoor action? | |
rscheffler wrote:
A big factor is the type of modifier used with the strobe. For example, at one extreme, there are 'sports' reflectors available from some brands that throw a narrow, highly concentrated beam of light compared to the much wider spread of standard reflectors. With those you can get away with lower power output. But they are hard light sources. If you want broad, soft light quality, you will need more power from a strobe (than if using highly focused reflectors) if shooting in direct midday sunlight using HSS. One option could be something like the Paul C Buff PLM umbrellas. They're true parabolic and are very efficient. For what you're doing, outside, the 51" would be fine and the biggest challenge would be dealing with wind. I have the larger ones 64" and 86" and use them with 400Ws strobes to throw light really far (like 50' when doing indoor events) and the strobes are usually at only around 100Ws (though at high ISOs).
BTW, going from 400Ws to 600 only gains half a stop.
What did you rent previously and was it just enough power, or more than enough? This should give you some idea whether or not you can get by with 400Ws.
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WaterfallJumper wrote:
Great suggestions! Thank you. I'm very new to all of this and don't know any photographers in person who do this style, so I've been floundering. I know I have a long way to go, so I deeply appreciate all the guidance. I didn't realize it's only half a stop going to 600w. That sets my mind at ease; I can just move the light a little closer or bump my settings.
I used the profoto B10x Plus (I'd planned to rent the kit I'm looking at buying, but the rental company made a mistake and couldn't fill the order, so they upgraded me for free). Now that I'm looking at them again, I see that they're 500Ws! This entire time I've been working under the impression that they were 600w for some reason. I thought they were barely enough, but that was also 1) because I was back quite a ways, and 2) they wanted this dramatic, moody style despite one of the brightest days I've seen all year. I'm starting to think that I should just get the 400s and not worry about it.
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kaplah made some good points to consider and brought some more to mind:
HSS does have a power penalty as he described and since you're using an R6 (mirrorless), using ND filters on the lens might be an option towards maximizing light output/use. The question is how many of your shots will be static poses versus with motion (such as the one diving into base)?
It helps that strobe exposure tends to 'freeze' subject motion, but it's not quite as simple as that, and is complicated by the amount of ambient light you wish to retain in the images. Even if the strobe is able to freeze the motion, if you're working at 1/250 max normal flash sync speed, if there is enough ambient light, you can get 'ghosting' (somewhat of a double image), which is the ambient light visibly mixing with your flash exposure.
Strobes have what's know as flash duration times, which is effectively their 'freezing power' and can be thought of similarly to camera shutter speed settings. For example the Westcott FJ400 has a t.1 flash duration (t.1 is a better indicator of 'freezing power' than the t.5 measurement) of only 1/280 at full power. That's barely better than the camera's flash sync speed. Generally, for freezing ambient light sports action (without a strobe), you want 1/1000 and higher. The same is true with strobes. And ideally as high as you can get. Unfortunately this is common with pretty much all 'budget' strobes - flash duration at full power will generally only be slightly faster than the camera's flash sync speed. To considerably improve on this you have to spend a lot more money, such as on a Profoto D2 or bi-tube or quad-tube heads for pack systems (though the $520 Buff Einstein 640Ws unit (not battery powered and not HSS capable) is respectable at ~1/600).
IMO, this is a reason so many value HSS - it allows you to 'cheat' with 'cheap' strobe systems. Their full power flash duration sucks, but you can use the mechanical shutter of the camera at a traditionally high sports shutter speed to eliminate ambient light ghosting and cheat the strobe exposure by making the strobe basically a continuous light source for 1/200 (roughly the time it takes the mechanical shutter to transition the sensor area). The tradeoff is less efficient use of maximum light output. You may come across another 'cheat' called hypersync (or HS), which is a different approach to the same end result. HS is apparently somewhat more efficient, but comes with its own tradeoffs, such as less even across-frame exposure.
One of the good things about so many of the recent inexpensive strobes, such as the FJ400, Godox, the new Paul C Buff Celestial, is that they use IGBT control of flash power, which basically means, as the flash power is reduced, the flash duration shortens. This is good if you want to freeze action. With the FJ400 in action mode and minimum power output, you're now at a t.1 time of 1/7000. So probably somewhere around 1/3 or 1/4 power it's already at a pretty good t.1 time at or shorter than 1/1000. But can you get away with 100Ws in full sunlight? As already discussed, it will really depend on how close you can position the lights, in addition to the modifiers used. If you don't want the hard light look from a reflector, then you'll probably have to consider some sort of beauty dish, or as I previously suggested, an efficient parabolic umbrella like the PLM from Buff (be warned that there are a lot of "parabolic" modifiers on the market, but many are not truly parabolic).
And since you're shopping around for strobe options, you might want to look into the new Paul C Buff Celestial, which is 500Ws and apparently outputs similar usable light to the Godox 600Ws unit (see the Celestial thread on this board). It also appears to be somewhat smaller than the FJ400. Tradeoffs with the Celestial seem to be the need for the $200 Hub controller if you want HSS and/or TTL control and the use of the Balcar light modifier mount, which is much less common than the Bowens mount used by the FJ400 and Godox units. But Buff has a pretty good range of modifiers and when looking at many 3rd party soft box options, many also offer the Balcar adapter ring.
Something else to consider, that was briefly mentioned above, is if working outside in direct sun, in the summer, on warm/hot days, and using the strobes at or near full power with rapid shooting, you're likely to run into thermal throttling situations. Either the strobe will significantly increase recycling time once its internal temperature reaches a certain level, or it will require a shutdown period.
Buff's 11" long throw reflector: https://www.paulcbuff.com/Light-Modifiers/Reflectors/11-Long-Throw-Reflector.html
Note, with that reflector's 28 degree angle of illumination, to light a 5' tall person head to toe would mean positioning the light 10' away. Based on their specs, their 160Ws units (DB400/B400) and this reflector will give f/16 and 6/10 (ISO 100) at that distance. That would be enough to overpower direct sunlight.
For more info about flash duration:
https://www.paulcbuff.com/Flash-Duration
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