group/team portraits-what's the best studio flash kit to buy?

nicholasgn

nicholasgn

Suspended / Banned
Messages
82
Name
nicholas
Edit My Images
No
hi,im embarking on a series of photographs which typically require me to light a team of sports people indoors( traditionally posed/three rows) and also head and shoulder portraits.I was thinking of buying the ilux cd500 kit as it is cheap and i am on a budget.
firstly ,will two heads of 500ws be enough to light a group of say 30 people indoors ,distance from group around 7 meters.
secondly,will i be able to lower the power enough to shoot head shoots with softboxes around 1-2 meters from subject?
thirdly,are ilux kits any good?
any help much apprieciated :)
 
also does colour temperature vary from these cheaper kits to the more expensive?
do you "get what you pay for"?
I'd prefer to take extra care of slightly less well made kits and be able to shoot than not be able because im still saving up for the better made stuff if you know what i mean?
 
30 people from 7m is asking a heck of a lot. The ideal would need masses of power for a good level of light from big light modifiers, for a mid-range aperture at low ISO - a few thousand Ws. It's almost pointless trying to chase that, unless you want to hire stuff.

Quick bit of mental arithmetic: 400-500Ws would give you about f/16-22 at 1.0m in a 100cm-ish softbox, ISO100 - say f/16. So at 2m you're down to f/8, at 4m f/4, and at 8m f/2. Two ways to get back to say f/5.6 would be either 4,000Ws of flash or push the ISO from 100 to ISO800. That's very ball-park, with quite a few other variables to consider, but it'll be something of that order.

Light modifiers will make a lot of difference though, something to direct the light and not waste it by spilling everywhere like a normal softbox. The classic example is a tulip-design parabolic reflector. From memory, I measured this Lencarta jobbie at three stops brighter than a softbox http://www.lencarta.com/lighting-store/light-shapers/high-intensity-reflector

I think I would go for something kind of inbetween - push the ISO a bit, and use a couple of these deep 85cm softboxes, with the diffuser front removed http://www.lencarta.com/lighting-st...profold-softbox/95cm-octa-folding-pro-softbox They also make lovely portrait softboxes, and 400-500Ws will be fine for that. Colour should be fine.
 
Last edited:
thank you so much for your reply,i'm thinking of using umbrellas to give an even spread of light,i guess i could get closer to the group and also push up the iso,im thinking of prints at around 2 by 3 ft,im using a cropped sensor canon 650d,ive saved up £1000 and think its probably best put to lighting than camera/lenses at the moment...until my lottery comes in.like the look of the ilux stuff but every review looks like an "inside job/advert",and non of the magazine reviews seems to include ilux stuff,was looking at lencarta 600ws heads but was wondering if they are any good for single head and shoulder shots ie can you reduce the power enough.thanks again.
 
I was demonstrating the iLux at Focus this year and they are as well made if not better than other lights at this price point. I would not worry about colour temperature as once you have set your power you then do a custom white balance, not that these lights vary much anyway.

I did a group portrait of 96 people using just an SB800 on Saturday night, not by choice but it did what was required. Yes big lights will help but as Hoppy says the most important thing is big light modifiers that are efficient.

Mike
 
The problem with ILux is it's quite new and not widely used/tested yet. They're probably fine, like most kit is these days - just guessing, most likely over-branded Chinese-made. That's a good thing BTW, and almost everything affordable is made in China or India now, but it also means the workings are nothing particularly unique either. Lencarta's UP600 is much the same, but is a known quality, good value, and with good UK support.

Assuming massive amounts of power are out of the question, then the keys to this job lie somewhere between pushing the ISO, moving the lights closer (but making sure brightness is even across the group - inverse square law) and optimising output with efficient modifiers. Umbrellas will spill and waste light everywhere.
 
thank you mike and richard,you advice is much welcome(im struggling to spell appreieiciated),if say the group measures 5 meters across will the soft boxes be a bit too directional? im new to this so your advice is gold dust,im after an old school team photo,its for my local boxing club,i want something traditional and evenly lit.so if i put two big soft boxes either side of camera facing straight towards group i should get them lit with no weird cross shadows? im near walthamstow and thought photomart would be good,want to buy kit on saturday before dosh dwindles from pocket :)
 
Sounds like the right idea. You can forget fancy lighting, just go for something decent with a bit of height, even across the group and bright enough for good exposure.

Dummy up the shot first, see where you are with it, and try umbrellas if needs must. They're cheap as chips and always useful to have. Silver is usefully brighter than white, though the light is a bit harder. Do not use shoot-throughs - way too wasteful.
 
Last edited:
yeah i was thinking of biggish silver reflector umbrellas to blast as much bounced light as poss,might try direct flash but i love the look of a reflected light from a silver umbrella,i guess there is a power output price to pay,but more power would be lost using a soft box im guessing?
 
nicholasgn said:
yeah i was thinking of biggish silver reflector umbrellas to blast as much bounced light as poss,might try direct flash but i love the look of a reflected light from a silver umbrella,i guess there is a power output price to pay,but more power would be lost using a soft box im guessing?
Click to expand...

That was more or less the thinking behind using those Lencarta 85 octas with the diffuser front panel removed. Turns it into a silver umbrella, but a deeper semi-parabolic one to direct the light more efficiently. You could do much the same with any softbox.

I think you've got the bases covered one way or another, but ultimately you need to suck it and see ;)
 
nicholasgn said:
thanks mate
Click to expand...


You're welcome, and good luck.

When you go for the dummy, I'm assuming the shot for real will be in a sports hall or something with a high ceiling? If so, dummy it up outside in the open air. If you try it in any kind of normal room with a white ceiling, it'll boost the exposure unrealistically.
 
HoppyUK said:
The problem with ILux is it's quite new and not widely used/tested yet. They're probably fine, like most kit is these days - just guessing, most likely over-branded Chinese-made.
Click to expand...

I know a number using them week in and week out and no reported problems that I know of. Lencarta have been the proof that chinese manufactured lights can be good unlike much of the really cheap stuff on ebay.

Mike
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top