strobe and speedlight combination

jamiebonline

jamiebonline

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Jamie
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Hi all,

I recently posted about having a very small space to work in for indoor portraits. I have a speedlite with softbox and that is all. I don't have much money. :( I, for example, can't afford to buy another speedlite with softbox and triggers. However, I can buy this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190841085162.
It is a 180 W strobe flash monolight. I thought I could place this on the other side of the model. Thoughts? It relates also to issues with shadows although now I got good advice about single lighting that helps this. Still I feel I want another light source too.

Thanks :)
 
I would be prepared to bet that at that price, it's probably dreadful. You would be far better saving your money and buying a third party speedlight, maybe 2nd hand that will have similar abilities/output to what you already have.

You are quite concerned about shadows, perhaps more detail and maybe even some example shots posted, on what you aren't liking would help us advise you better on ways round it? :)
 
Hi again Ivonne,

And thanks again. I already have a yongnuo speedlite. I can maybe get another one. It just then gets more complicated with triggers. I have one set of triggers. I would need another set I assume. I have seen that yongnuo now have speedlites with the triggers built in and maybe I can save. I should try with the one light option and save my money I guess :)
 
At that price I'd buy one...it's probably "disposable," and based on the GN (no idea what ISO it's for) it's not much more powerful than a speedlight. But if it works and lasts a year....

If you're planning on developing indoor studio work, spending money on speedlights might not be a good choice... You pay a lot for their functions that you may not need/use in a studio setup. Well; unless you go with very basic/cheap units which is kind of what this thing is...

Long term plan I think something needs to change...very little space and studio strobes don't go together, and a studio setup run with speedlights doesn't either really.
 
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A speedlite and trigger (yongnuo 560ii and 602 rx ) would cost around £50 if you shop around. would definatly be better, i use just 3 speedlites and shoot with a 3meter wide background and the result is pretty good. example....
 
DoubleT said:
A speedlite and trigger (yongnuo 560ii and 602 rx ) would cost around £50 if you shop around. would definatly be better, i use just 3 speedlites and shoot with a 3meter wide background and the result is pretty good. example....
Click to expand...


I like this shot. May I ask a very newbie question? I have a YN 565 speedlite and 2 compatible triggers which are transceivers. If I want another yongnuo speedlite, what do I need in terms of triggers? Two more triggers is not logical to me :)
 
You need a trigger (tx) on the hotshot of your camera and a receiver (rx) attached to each flash. On the same channel. It's that's simple.
 
DoubleT said:
You need a trigger (tx) on the hotshot of your camera and a receiver (rx) attached to each flash. On the same channel. It's that's simple.
Click to expand...
Or even simpler - under studio conditions*, you can set your 2nd Yongnuo flash to fire as a slave from the triggered one.

*Obviously outside in daylight this will be unreliable, also if the triggered light is shooting with a very restrictive modifier the slave cell necessarily won't see the flash.
 
For the price, I'd probably give that a punt based on the assumption that there's not much to lose. It looks like the kind of heads my local Timpsons (shoe repair peeps) use for their baby shots service, so it must be good LOL However, you still need a stand and some kind of modifier to soften the light, so more expense. Looks like it has an optical slave for easy triggering though.

On the other hand, do you use a reflector to soften shadows? I usually prefer that to another light for fill-in. Make one for pennies from a sheet of white card or foamboard with kitchen foil on one side for a slightly brighter bounce-back, though I usually prefer white. Key to positioning a reflector is light bounces off a surface at the same angle it strikes, like a snooker ball off the cushion.
 
I've bought ones that look very similar ( was talked into them by a local photography shop ) and tbh for the money they aren't bad, over priced though. They came with a trigger however the on camera flash does trigger them 9 out of 10 times. I do wish id started with flash guns though as I've found them easier to understand for the power settings, I've just added a yn 468 and I'm very pleased with it.
 
Personally I really wouldn't buy the ebay strobe. If you're broke then you might regret using up £30 on it. I'd be much more inclined to go with another of the YN speedlites.

IIRC you're using it for indoor portraits so in that situation you won't need to worry about using another trigger-just use the slave mode. Also in small spaces it would likely be more than enough for you and you won't be messing around getting tied up in cables etc and you'll have enough power from a reliable make.
 
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