Speedflash Studio Yay or Nay?

AnthonyHunt1984 said:
https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=C9ZKN2D9-WKnlHMbTzAbtoJ6ABeuqr7pHutWXzLwEu-2J7PQHCAkQASCTsvocKAtgu76ug9AKoAHX3q7-A8gBB6kCju2sCopntD6qBCdP0NRvQjv4eqi9bBaNV4PhNNoX6iak4pfN2Rlg0drcgk6drK5Uh4jABQWgBibYBgKAB-Kl4xyQBwOoB6a-G9gHAeAS7Orer9jN-pDcAQ&ctype=5&ved=0ahUKEwjhnNHNxsnRAhXG1BoKHY-kB88QwjwIBg&dblrd=1&val=GgiR64jmTXpnpyABKAAw9d7dg6DfwKjwATjosvXDBUDK9fjDBQ&sig=AOD64_1UHadFgiMhg2RcTgNhScJgzjeVGQ&adurl=http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-134428-41853-0/2?mtid=1673&kwid=1&crlp=162500434478_563391&itemid=271962994091&targetid=271883335355&device=m&mpre=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ebay.co.uk%2fitm%2flike%2f271962994091%3flpid%3d122%26chn%3Dps&adtype=pla&googleloc=1006886&poi=&campaignid=707291931&adgroupid=33676502101&rlsatarget=pla-271883335355

How about that for the adapter?
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Yes
 
Phil V said:
The SK looks a bit 'cheaper' built than the DE (microswitches instead of dials for power etc), there's loads of inexpensive S fit softboxes, personally I wouldn't head for the cheapest, this looks OK though.
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So if I got this octobox with the Godox SK300 for one light stand.

And use my speedlight on the other using the adapter in previous post I just need a transmitter? The web says I need the canon ST-E2 which seems very expensive just to fire Speedlight...

Also I looked at the Godox light on eBay and when you read the bottom it doesn't come with reflector in picture or the transmitter.


Surely if the flashhead and speedlight both need transmitters I can't control them both from one camera hot shoe?

I swear I'm more confused now than ever lol
 
Yeah, the options can get confusing.
You need a Godox FT-16 (or X1T-C/XT32-C) at the camera to control the SK300; often an FT-16 is included w/ the head, but it may not be. Then for the speedlight you need either an optical slave hotshoe trigger (< £10) w/ the FT-16 or you can use an X1R-C w/ the other transmitters.

Another way of going about it would be to use an ST-E2 (or 580EX) to control/trigger the speedlight and trigger the SK300 optically via the built in receiver. Or to get even more convoluted you could put an ST-E2 on top of an X1-T. Neither of those options are very attractive IMO, and they cost a lot more.
Personally, I would probably choose to get an XT32-C and X1R-C as that will be the highest level of system compatibility/control for not a lot of extra cost...for a little less you can just get the X1-C combo which will still be very good. If the FT-16 is included w/ the head, then the optical hotshoe trigger is the obvious/cheap/easy answer for now.
 
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If the FT-16 is included w/ the head, then it looks like you're sorted for starting out.
You can always add an X1R-C for TTL/wireless power control of the speedlight later, and you can upgrade the FT-16 to an X1T-C or XT32-C at a later date if desired/needed if/when you add additional compatible heads.
 
I think my long term goal would be to get 3x the Godox heads then just use the flash if and where I need it to perfect the light/background.

Not sure I know what the difference is between all of those but as long as that above works then I can learn that first before moving on. Really appreciate everyone's help!
 
I'm guessing they just control the outputs of the individual heads/flashes without having to manually amend?

I'm more than likely going to have plenty of time to set up and test before doing a shoot and figure it will help me learn my way around the new kit before going to remote.

As long as they fire when I take a shot then that's great lol
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
I'm guessing they just control the outputs of the individual heads/flashes without having to manually amend?

I'm more than likely going to have plenty of time to set up and test before doing a shoot and figure it will help me learn my way around the new kit before going to remote.

As long as they fire when I take a shot then that's great lol
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(y)
 
One last question...

If I got more Godox 300 heads on stands and modifiers...I can set them to trigger from the flash of the other one?

So wouldn't need more recievers to respond to the Ft-16?
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
I think my long term goal would be to get 3x the Godox heads then just use the flash if and where I need it to perfect the light/background.

Not sure I know what the difference is between all of those but as long as that above works then I can learn that first before moving on. Really appreciate everyone's help!
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As long as you get additional Godox heads w/ 433Mhz receivers (like the SK300) then the FT-16 will continue to work for all and it will/can give you individual remote power control/setting as well... the receiver is always(?) included. Or you can upgrade to the newer 2.4Mhz system at a later date as desired/needed. (there is a chance that the SK300 will come w/ a 2.4Mhz transmitter/reciever, but I don't think so).

And yes, any head/speedlight w/ an optical trigger receiver can always be made to work... it's just that optical systems don't work as well in bright light (outdoors) or over longer distances.
 
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These are going to be used indoors whether on location or at home, if I do more outdoor stuff I'll use speed lights due to portability I think.

It didn't include the transmitter or receiver but did include reflector. Others include receiver and transmitter but no reflector so I ordered it separately.

Can just buy the head and reflector in future and set them to fire from flash.
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
It didn't include the transmitter or receiver but did include reflector. Others include receiver and transmitter but no reflector so I ordered it separately.
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???
The SK300 did not include transmitter nor receiver and you ordered the speedlight optical trigger separately? Or you ordered one w/ the transmitter/receiver and ordered the reflector separately (as well as the optical trigger)?
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262265365677

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/182337682943

That's clearer.

So first link is the head with reflector that can fit on light stand and I'll attach an octobox.

The second is the FT-16 transmitter and receiver to fire it.

----

Just talking the Godox atm the speedlight will be triggered by the cheap optical receiver mounted on the S-hotshoe converter
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OK, all's good... it wasn't in your basket so I was concerned that you were still confused and missing important components (although possibly not entirely required). BTW, the reflector isn't used w/ a softbox... but it is nice to have.
 
Where would you use it then? Surely the lights very harsh without diffusion? Might cut that out then for the moment.

I'm thinking of getting 2 head sets both with octoboxes to light a scene more efficiently as I mainly take images of dogs
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
Where would you use it then? Surely the lights very harsh without diffusion? Might cut that out then for the moment.
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When you want "hard" light or tighter control, even more-so with a honeycomb/barn doors attached to the reflector ... "harsh" is more about the power setting. IMO soft/flat lighting is over rated/over done, and it may not be the best choice for animals... you will likely want to mix in some level/direction of harder light in order to bring out the details/texture of fur and the like.
One thing to understand is that "detail" is created by contrast between light and dark (colors or B&W), w/o highlights/shadows you don't have much left to create a photo from.

On one hand it seems very complicated/involved, but at it's basics it's not really. My best suggestion would be to start slow and add what you need as the need develops and you learn more. A whole lot can be done with one light and some reflectors/ambient light. But if you are going to be wanting the "white seamless" look, then you *are* probably going to need more lights.
 
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AnthonyHunt1984 said:
Ahh it only receives infrared or a signal from a ex580 :(
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AnthonyHunt1984 said:
Where would you use it then? Surely the lights very harsh without diffusion? Might cut that out then for the moment.

I'm thinking of getting 2 head sets both with octoboxes to light a scene more efficiently as I mainly take images of dogs
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The reflector is used to create a controlled beam of light, it's good for ensuring that theres no wasted light when firing through an umbrella for instance.

A softbox is best used with a bare bulb, from which light floods the inside of the softbox, bouncing in all directions and having added 'softness' from the 2 diffusion panels.
 
And as above, it's not often we'd use 2 softboxes, often we'll use a soft keylight with controlled harder lights for rimlighting, hairlights, spots on the bg etc.
 
IMG_3044.JPG Very good points and I think I understand what you mean.

I used contrast heavily in this image to get a more striking shot of something relatively mundane. Applicable in colour also but animals with their fur have lost of dark/light trapped between their hairs. I guess using light in different ways could give some interesting results of what would otherwise be a similar shot!
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
Does this not pick up the flash from others? It has a slave mode....

View attachment 93820
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Canon guns are unusual in a couple of important ways.

In your pic, the red plastic bit is the AF-assist lamps and the optical slave sensor is under your thumb, concealed by a very dark red semi-IR plastic filter. Unfortunately, it will only respond to a Canon master flash controller. The other thing is, if you then resort to an ordinary add-on optical slave, it will fire once - but not again unless you turn it off and on again. And repeat! Sonia makes a special optical slave to get around this - I have a couple, and they work fine http://www.colinsfoto.com/Sonia_Opt...including_Canon_EZ_and__EX/p43950_466761.aspx

Radio triggers, with very few exceptions, are brand specific, eg a Godox transmitter trigger won't work with a Yongnuo receiver trigger etc. And triggers with remote power control are also specific to the brand of flash head. Personally, I wouldn't worry about that and just get a set of Yongnuo RF-603 triggers - cheap and reliable. Remote power control in the studio is really only useful when the heads are hard to get at or hard to see, up on a boom perhaps, that kind of thing. Or when you have six heads to adjust individually... worry about that later.
 
HoppyUK said:
I wouldn't worry about that and just get a set of Yongnuo RF-603 triggers - cheap and reliable.
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Interesting... 3 RF-603's, one at the camera, one for the studio head attached by sync cable, and one on the speedlight. That would work well, but I'm not sure it's "better" long term assuming the speedlight will be eventually replaced w/ additional Godox (compatible) heads (FT-16s cost about the same). But I was completely unaware of the Canon speedlight's "flash once" behavior w/ a standard optical slave :(.
 
sk66 said:
Interesting... 3 RF-603's, one at the camera, one for the studio head attached by sync cable, and one on the speedlight. That would work well, but I'm not sure it's "better" long term assuming the speedlight will be eventually replaced w/ additional Godox (compatible) heads (FT-16s cost about the same). But I was completely unaware of the Canon speedlight's "flash once" behavior w/ a standard optical slave :(.
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Yes, I agree, the best long-term solution might be different (and might not be FT-16) but RF-603 is a good fast trigger that works well and cheap as chips. They have a small advantage over the single-pin Godox FT-16 in that they'll wake the Canon gun if it goes into sleep mode, and will work as a handy remote camera trigger if the time comes to replace them. But there are loads of trigger options and workarounds these days, all very affordable.

The Canon speedlites' (unique?) behaviour with basic dumb slaves was something that drove me mad for ages. When you're faced with it uninitiated, it's completely baffling. Apparently, Canons always have a tiny residual voltage running through the pins that prevents the slave from re-setting itself. It doesn't get mentioned much these days as everyone just uses radio triggers - haven't used my little Sonia slaves for ages.

Edit: not sure if this slave thing applies to all Canon speedlites, maybe the newer MkII etc versions are okay, not tried it.
Edit 2: Apparently it does, 580EXII doing it in Syl Arena article here http://pixsylated.com/blog/canon-speedlites-optical-slaves/
 
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So the idea of using my current speedlight alongside the Godox SK300 is a little more complicated than we thought?

I would only be able to take 1 shot before having to wake it up each time? Sounds like I would be best of selling my EX 430II and get something a bit better or put that towards a second studio head.

Maybe get a Yongnuo 560 III for a portable flash.
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
So the idea of using my current speedlight alongside the Godox SK300 is a little more complicated than we thought?

I would only be able to take 1 shot before having to wake it up each time? Sounds like I would be best of selling my EX 430II and get something a bit better or put that towards a second studio head.

Maybe get a Yongnuo 560 III for a portable flash.
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You'd gain nothing from that. If you sold the EX430 and bought a Godox speedlight you'd be heading in the right direction.
 
Just one thing that's worth thinking about.

I recently got a 3x Godox DE-300 set (I had very limited budget, and had been 'volunteered' by my wife to do a 'photo booth' at my god-daughters 16th birthday party, and needed the 3 lights so I could light or blow a background to white) - the biggest problem I have with using them is having too much light (so having to stop down more than I'd like)

The Lencartas are more expensive, but offer more control over the light, allowing you to reduce the power more when you need to.
 
I alluded to this possible outcome earlier.

When I bought my Lencarta kit I was advised of having too much power by @Garry Edwards (the farmer).

200 w/s is ample.
 
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It's really a cost thing for me. I think your rite that the space I have won't require 3x heads. I think 1 and reflector will be enough. I did however want to take my photos to another level by separating the subject from the background using a hair light and or a background light. I was under the impression I wouldn't need to use them on full power but do you think the weakest setting will still be too much then?
 
Stick a flash on a tripod directly behind the subject facing forward to provide an invisible hairlight.

It's what I do, but then with my Nikon equipment I just need a hotshoe adaptor to fire the flash.
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
It's really a cost thing for me. I think your rite that the space I have won't require 3x heads. I think 1 and reflector will be enough. I did however want to take my photos to another level by separating the subject from the background using a hair light and or a background light. I was under the impression I wouldn't need to use them on full power but do you think the weakest setting will still be too much then?
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The number of lights used is about where you want the light to fall, not really about how much light falls there; that's spill control and power settings. 3 stops would put them at ~35WS @ minimum before diffusion... probably about equivalent to your speedlight on 1/2 power. Having more adjustability is always a good thing, but if you still have too much power there are ways around it (CPL/ND filters/additional diffusion layers/etc).
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
So the idea of using my current speedlight alongside the Godox SK300 is a little more complicated than we thought?

I would only be able to take 1 shot before having to wake it up each time? Sounds like I would be best of selling my EX 430II and get something a bit better or put that towards a second studio head.

Maybe get a Yongnuo 560 III for a portable flash.
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Not really. The Canon speedlite doesn't have a basic optical slave built in, and needs a slightly different add-on optical slave for that function. Easy enough, but while optical slaves are handy when they're built-in, the preferred route is radio anyway. It just needs its own trigger/receiver that's compatible with the on-camera transmitter/trigger.
 
I'm going take up fishing...


Haha I kid.

So would it be best to buy 1 unit that has good control ability for my space which is rather small like the Lencarta smartflash 2, play with it for a while using reflectors etc to see what I can get then just add what I need from there?
 
Yes.

Better still buy the smartflash 2 kit. Which is what I did.
2 lights, a softbox and a brolly.
It's brilliant.
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
I'm going take up fishing...


Haha I kid.

So would it be best to buy 1 unit that has good control ability for my space which is rather small like the Lencarta smartflash 2, play with it for a while using reflectors etc to see what I can get then just add what I need from there?
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Yes :thumbs:
 
It doesn't cost much more to add things to your kit over time... maybe a little in additional shipping or not taking advantage of package deals. And it's a lot cheaper than buying stuff you don't need/can't use.
 
sk66 said:
It doesn't cost much more to add things to your kit over time... maybe a little in additional shipping or not taking advantage of package deals. And it's a lot cheaper than buying stuff you don't need/can't use.
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I've bought kits in the past and ended up selling bits I didn't want and paying extra for things I did. It actually cost me more than buying the items I actually wanted separately in the first place, but there was no option at the time. Thing is, when you're starting out, you simply don't know how best to build your system because we're all different.

If you do know exactly what you want though, Lencarta offers a swap-out service so if you want to upgrade to easy-up/down Profold softboxes (recommended) rather than the PITA basic ones you usually get in kits, then you can do that and just pay the extra, retaining the savings. Not many other sellers can do that as the kits come pre-packed in a retail box as one complete item.
 
AnthonyHunt1984 said:
I'm going take up fishing...


Haha I kid.

So would it be best to buy 1 unit that has good control ability for my space which is rather small like the Lencarta smartflash 2, play with it for a while using reflectors etc to see what I can get then just add what I need from there?
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Yes.
And a good softbox and a couple of brollies

Lighting with s bare head will add to your frustration.

Brollies are cheap and versatile, whilst many complain that in a small space they can be frustrating (I rarely use them)

A decent softbox with a lip and a grid gives you a lot of options:

Straight softbox w both diffusers and grid
feathered softbox w both diffusers and grid
Straight softbox w internal diffuser
Feathered softbox w internal diffuser
Straight softbox w outer diffuser
feathered softbox w outer diffuser
Straight softbox w grid

All will have subtly different shadow gradation, not to mention that changing the distance also alters the effect.
 
I've I'm touch with Lencarta about their kits. I don't need the stands and would prefer the profolds for ease of use. Just seeing what can be done as considering 2 lights, controls and 1x umbrella/1x softbox.

Think that's a good starting point and still going to be a fair price.
 
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