Speedlights or mains powered flashes?

redmonkee · 10 Jan 2012

I'm thinking of getting some kit together to enable me to do mobile portraits and at the moment i'm thinking of my lighting set up.

I currently have a YN 560 speedlight, light stand and a Westcott Apollo Softbox along with radio triggers Which I plan to use for my main light.

Now to light the background (thinking of a Hilite) I need two lights and have seen the following Lencarta SmartFlash Starter Kit on the Lencarta website for £299.

This kit includes
2 x SmartFlash 200 Flash heads FLA010
2 x Professional 2.6m Spring Damped Lighting Stands STA002
2 x Standard reflectors MOD021
1x 100cm Pro Silver Reflective Umbrella UMB003
1x 100cm Pro White Shoot through Umbrella UMB004

Seems good value and seems to have good reviews.

Do you think this would be a good 3 light set up? Or would I be better with 4/5 lights? One extra for the subject (fill light) and one to light the train behind the subject.

If I need more lights I was thinking of purchasing 3 or 4 YN 560 flashes as they are ony £60 ish on Ebay and have decent power behind them they can also be fired using the excellent optical slave mode.

What would you guys go for? Bearing in mind portability is one of the main things i'm after and is why i'm leaning towards the Speedlight option.

Cheers

losbandidos · 10 Jan 2012

If you want to do mobile portraits, why do you need backgrounds?

I would have a decent main light and just shoot in the location.

Or is it for corporate/school shots?

alexam · 10 Jan 2012

Hi Philip,

That would make an excellent starter kit and give you a great grounding for portrait work. I have similar but with the Lencarta EP 300 but never need full power with them, so the 200w/s will be fine for you.

Malcolm

redmonkee · 10 Jan 2012

losbandidos said:
If you want to do mobile portraits, why do you need backgrounds?

I would have a decent main light and just shoot in the location.

Or is it for corporate/school shots?

I wanted to provide the high key studio type shots that seem very fashionable at the minute hence the reason i'm interested in getting a Hilite

redmonkee · 10 Jan 2012

alexam said:
Hi Philip,

That would make an excellent starter kit and give you a great grounding for portrait work. I have similar but with the Lencarta EP 300 but never need full power with them, so the 200w/s will be fine for you.

Malcolm

Thats what I thought, though just wondered how portable they are? Can't help thinking that if I were going to clients' homes i'd be better with speed lights as I wouldnt need power points to plug them in :thinking:

Garry Edwards · 10 Jan 2012

redmonkee said:
Thats what I thought, though just wondered how portable they are? Can't help thinking that if I were going to clients' homes i'd be better with speed lights as I wouldnt need power points to plug them in

They aren't the smallest units in the world but they're portable enough - just buy a 3 head bag, it will take the heads, leads, radio trigger set, bits and pieces...

Yes, you can use speedlights and a lot of people do - but you won't have the power, the modelling lamp, anywhere near the range of light modifiers or the very fast recycling. And speedlights will cost you more...

Tugster · 10 Jan 2012

Every house has power points Phil ! Just make sure you have insurance and that your kit is PAT tested... I'd go for powered kit ...

Speedlites are great for what they are but I think you will find them lacking in power at some point. Maybe start out with the SL's and then budget to get some powered kit later.

redmonkee · 10 Jan 2012

Cheers guys.

Gary i've just seen the 3 head bag and if I go that route i'll certainly be buying that.

I think the powered set up would be much easier and also the thought of carrying and charging all the AA batteries for 4/5 speedlights doesnt float my boat :lol:

Tug how do you go about getting something PAT tested?

Also with regards to insurance I take it you mean Public Liability?

JonathanRyan · 10 Jan 2012

I'm shooting a baby for a modelling agency tomorrow. Has to be done in parents' house.

Hilite + 3 X Lencarta lights* and a soft box or two go in the boot and assemble in 10 mins.

-----
* I'll use 3 because it's very quick and easy to light a baby in front of a hilite like that but I'll take 4 because my Peli cases have 2 in each.

redmonkee · 10 Jan 2012

JonathanRyan said:
I'm shooting a baby for a modelling agency tomorrow. Has to be done in parents' house.

Hilite + 3 X Lencarta lights* and a soft box or two go in the boot and assemble in 10 mins.

-----
* I'll use 3 because it's very quick and easy to light a baby in front of a hilite like that but I'll take 4 because my Peli cases have 2 in each.

What power are your Lencarta lights and are you putting two in the Hilite and using the third in the soft box to light the baby.

JonathanRyan · 10 Jan 2012

I have, erm, the full set. 2 X EP 600 2 X EP300 2 X Smartflash (if that seems odd then check my signature....).

I'll probably gran the 300s and 600s as they are in the best cases. 2 in the hilite and one in a 100 X 70 soft box and I should be fine.

Garry Edwards · 10 Jan 2012

JonathanRyan said:
I have, erm, the full set. 2 X EP 600 2 X EP300 2 X Smartflash (if that seems odd then check my signature....).

I'll probably gran the 300s and 600s as they are in the best cases. 2 in the hilite and one in a 100 X 70 soft box and I should be fine.

Jonathan bought a load of Lencarta gear long before he started running courses for the Company.
The ElitePro 300 is a 'better' unit in terms of features and has 50% more power than the SmartFlash, that shouldn't matter if you have a decent digi camera that gives good image quality if you have to move it off of 100 ISO. The 600 model would be overkill for your needs, and you might find yourself struggling to reduce the power enough for some shots anyway.

redmonkee · 10 Jan 2012

Garry Edwards said:
Jonathan bought a load of Lencarta gear long before he started running courses for the Company.
The ElitePro 300 is a 'better' unit in terms of features and has 50% more power than the SmartFlash, that shouldn't matter if you have a decent digi camera that gives good image quality if you have to move it off of 100 ISO. The 600 model would be overkill for your needs, and you might find yourself struggling to reduce the power enough for some shots anyway.

Cheers Gary thats a big help. I'm using a D700 so pushing th ISO up isnt a problem so do you think the smartFlash will do me then

Garry Edwards · 10 Jan 2012

redmonkee said:
Cheers Gary thats a big help. I'm using a D700 so pushing th ISO up isnt a problem so do you think the smartFlash will do me then

Yes, it will be fine. The choice between the SmartFlash and the ElitePro is really just a personal one, not a performance one

redmonkee · 11 Jan 2012

Garry Edwards said:
Yes, it will be fine. The choice between the SmartFlash and the ElitePro is really just a personal one, not a performance one

Hi Gary

I've been thinking. What is the difference in power between a YN 560 speedlight and the Smart Flash 200?

Reason i'm asking is I may only be able to afford the twin kit at the mo and was wondering if my speedlight would be suitable to replace one of the Smart Flashes in the Lastolite Hilite and use the spare Smart Flash as my key light.

Also would the Smart Flash be powerful enough for full length shots?

Garry Edwards · 11 Jan 2012

The SmartFlash will be powerful enough for full length shots. Sorry, I don't know how much usable power the YN560 has

redmonkee · 11 Jan 2012

Garry Edwards said:
The SmartFlash will be powerful enough for full length shots. Sorry, I don't know how much usable power the YN560 has

its pretty much equal to a Canon 580 EX by all acounts

Tugster · 11 Jan 2012

redmonkee said:
Cheers guys.

Gary i've just seen the 3 head bag and if I go that route i'll certainly be buying that.

I think the powered set up would be much easier and also the thought of carrying and charging all the AA batteries for 4/5 speedlights doesnt float my boat

Tug how do you go about getting something PAT tested?

Also with regards to insurance I take it you mean Public Liability?

PAT testing is done by a competent person who does an electrical test on your kit to make sure that it is electrcally safe for use...I get mine done from a company in Rotherham...I think I had about 90 items done for £40 ....A certificate is issued and each item has a PAT saftey label attached. If i remember correctly, from new, kit has 12 months ...not sure if this is from the sale date or date of manufacture.

I'm sure someone will be along soon to clear that up ...

With event work...Some of the venues will not allow you to plug in to their mains unless alll your kit is PAT tested and they have a copy of your documents.

Yes PL insurance ...

jimmy83 · 12 Jan 2012

Interested in this too, I've got x2 flashguns. Tempted by the Lencarta SmartFlash Starter Kit is there a cheaper alternative at all? I only want to do portatits of my 18 month niece at the mo...

JonathanRyan · 12 Jan 2012

jimmy83 said:
Interested in this too, I've got x2 flashguns. Tempted by the Lencarta SmartFlash Starter Kit is there a cheaper alternative at all?

IMO few worth considering.

You might shave a tenner off by looking around. But if you save much more you're probably compromising quality.

Plus....check the classifieds. A used Smartflash will sell for a significant fraction of its new price. That certainly isn't true of an eBay "bargain". You may end up paying 10% of the cost to "rent" it for 6 months if you buy it and then sell.