I have a shoot tomorrow and plan to do some action photos with ice hockey
I have two AD 300s and one AD 600 Pro II, my plan being to use the 300s as backlighting and the 600 as main.
I won't shoot at full power in order to get faster shutter speeds to freeze action (probably half power, aiming for f/5.6 to f/8)
I will be using the X3 controller
If I want to shoot bursts of 3-5 images per second, do I need to set the Godox to any special setting or do I simply rely on the standard recycle time based on the power settings I will be using?
Rely on recycle time. You’ll need to be at ¼-3 or lower power. But if you want to freeze fast action you’ll need 1/8 or lower possibly, to get to 1/2000 and faster flash duration.
You might get ghosting given ambient conditions depending on how well you can isolate your subject.
Best thing might also be to put your key light in a high efficiency modifier so that you can run it at lower power while still delivering a lot of light to the subject. Most efficient Bowens modifier I’ve tested is the Glow 70 Degree Magnum. After that the fall off is pretty steep.
You will do well to use a standard 7” reflector over the stock one included with the light if you want that instead of the Magnum. Mine is from Haoge but Godox makes a series of 7” reflectors that are great, too. IIRC it’s the RTF19 that’s the best?
jlafferty wrote:
Rely on recycle time. You’ll need to be at ¼-3 or lower power. But if you want to freeze fast action you’ll need 1/8 or lower possibly, to get to 1/2000 and faster flash duration.
You might get ghosting given ambient conditions depending on how well you can isolate your subject.
Best thing might also be to put your key light in a high efficiency modifier so that you can run it at lower power while still delivering a lot of light to the subject. Most efficient Bowens modifier I’ve tested is the Glow 70 Degree Magnum. After that the fall off is pretty steep.
You will do well to use a standard 7” reflector over the stock one included with the light if you want that instead of the Magnum. Mine is from Haoge but Godox makes a series of 7” reflectors that are great, too. IIRC it’s the RTF19 that’s the best?
I was thinking of using my Smallrig Octagon 125cm on the 600 just with the interior diffuser - I could shoot without it as not doing closeup portraits so doubt would get any shone - and to use strip lighting with honeycomb as backlight with no diffuser so that the light is directed but still enough power on the 300s. We plan to shoot in the dark with lights off in the rink but there will be continuous lighting doubled along each flash as the video team wants to have some footage and will enable my AF to work.
My plan is to shoot 1/2000 at f/5.6 and low power as you mentioned. I don't think will need more than a few shots as each sequence will be planned - the only challenge ones might be on action with a shot from a player - and I would like to get one of the goalie with the puck just about to go into his pit but will save this one for last as we only have 45 minutes to shoot - I have 6 players so will rotate them in pairs or alone.
Also from what I read about the AD 300, by ⅛ power the flash recycles in 1/10th of a second, and below ⅛ power it can keep up with 10 fps for an extended burst. I haven't found similar data for the AD 600 Pro II
I just did a test though and the sweet spot setting with all flashes firing simultaneously seems to be at 1/32 with the 600 and 1/64 with the 300s, and I'm able to get 5 images per second without any flash not firing. That may seem a bit slow but as we will plan the actions I'm hoping should be fine.
I’m unclear from your post whether you understand this or not but: there’s shooting at 1/2000 shutter speed, which requires your lights to be in HSS mode; and there’s shooting in regular sync, but at lower power like 1/8, where your lights will have a flash duration of 1/2000 or faster.
HSS will slow down recycle time and increase the likelihood that your lights will overheat. It also dramatically drops the efficiency of your lights.
Regular sync, but lower power will allow your lights to keep up with your frame rate, while also delivering more light to the subject, and also lengthen the time before overheating. But regular sync has the potential for ghosting from ambient light if you can’t sufficiently isolate your subject from it.
As an alternative to all of this, you could in theory use the video lighting to shoot stills at a comparatively high ISO.
Best thing if you can swing it is get to the ice rink on a day ahead of the shoot and test each scenario out. Or at the very least recreate your shooting conditions elsewhere and do a test run ahead of the shoot.
jlafferty wrote:
I’m unclear from your post whether you understand this or not but: there’s shooting at 1/2000 shutter speed, which requires your lights to be in HSS mode; and there’s shooting in regular sync, but at lower power like 1/8, where your lights will have a flash duration of 1/2000 or faster.
HSS will slow down recycle time and increase the likelihood that your lights will overheat. It also dramatically drops the efficiency of your lights.
Regular sync, but lower power will allow your lights to keep up with your frame rate, while also delivering more light to the subject, and also lengthen the time before overheating. But regular sync has the potential for ghosting from ambient light if you can’t sufficiently isolate your subject from it.
As an alternative to all of this, you could in theory use the video lighting to shoot stills at a comparatively high ISO.
Best thing if you can swing it is get to the ice rink on a day ahead of the shoot and test each scenario out. Or at the very least recreate your shooting conditions elsewhere and do a test run ahead of the shoot....Show more →
Many thanks
One silly question about HSS and the X3 - do I need to choose between HSS and regular sync, or does this switch automatically any time I shoot above the max sync on my camera (1/250 electronic or 1/400 manual shutter) ?
Regarding overheating, one advantage will have is it is cold in the ice rink. Unfortunately I won't be able to test this the day before.
I guess one question I have is if I shoot at the power above what is the minimal shutter speed I need to shoot at on my camera to freeze action (combined with the flash).
HSS varies with different camera brands. You need to check your particular camera and whichever TTL flavor Godox trigger you're using. Typically you need to enable HSS on the flash(es) directly or via the trigger. Once HSS is enabled at the flash, the camera will allow you to pick shutter speeds above the sync limit.
Sometimes the "HSS" symbol doesn't appear on the flash until after you've taken a shot requiring HSS. It still functions. But the flash is basically showing you what it did on the previous shot. After you take a shot below sync speed, the "HSS" symbol disappears on the flash. The flash only operates in HSS mode (with higher power drain and lower range) when you actually take a shot requiring it. Otherwise, at slower shutter speeds the flash just operates like normal.
I'm curious to see your results. As far as I understand, the more expensive systems excel at this stuff but I'm not sure a budget setup like Godox can match it. Since I dropped Profoto for Godox, I'd like to see how you fare.
I've only shot hockey for a few days, a youth tournament and I setup a couple Profoto monolights behind the benches at about half power. They were pointed up into the ceiling and used a remote with an exposure of F4 at 1/200 with no issues capturing action shots. I didn't shoot quickly as I needed to get through a number of games and didn't need to push gear hard.
It all depends on scale/output. A Profoto Pro11 pack will certainly run circles around an AD600Pro, but likewise an AD1200 or AD2400 aren’t slouches. And the 600Pro/Pro II are plenty good for freezing human motion, down to the finest details, hair, wardrobe edges, etc. You just have to scale your FOV and ISO to match whatever strobe you’re working with. But the Godox stuff is solid and always delivers for me. I shot motion freezing GIFs for Converse using a single AD600Pro.
johnvanr wrote:
I'm curious to see your results. As far as I understand, the more expensive systems excel at this stuff but I'm not sure a budget setup like Godox can match it. Since I dropped Profoto for Godox, I'd like to see how you fare.
