Studio flash duration?

[RJL2005]

I've been offered the use of a studio flash head (Bowens I think) for water drop shots but wondered if it would have a short enough duration to freeze motion. Currently using a 430ex which does the job at 1/16 -1/64 but could do with some more light intensity?

I've no experience of studio lighting so any help would be great

 

[Garry Edwards]

Probably not, if you look on the Bowens website you'll see the flash duration figures, which vary according to the model.
A couple of points...
1. Bowens flash heads don't have particuarly short flash duration, you'll need to go Lencarta, Elinchrom or Profoto for short flash durations.
2. The figures quoted are t.5 times, which are about 3x longer than t.1 times, and it's the t.1 time that really matters.
3. The figures are quoted with the flash firing at full power. With conventional flash designs, the lower the power setting, the longer the flash duration. So, to get the shortest possible flash duration you need to fire the flash at full power. (The only exception to this available in the UK (I think) is the Alien Bees Einstein, which has pretty short flash durations at low power settings, because they use IGBT controllers to quench the flash at low power settings. Not necessarily an ideal way of doing things but it does a very good job of getting short flash durations.

 

[RJL2005]

Thanks Garry

 

[Kris]

.
3. The figures are quoted with the flash firing at full power. With conventional flash designs, the lower the power setting, the longer the flash duration. So, to get the shortest possible flash duration you need to fire the flash at full power.

Many guns get faster as you lower the power. My Elinchrom's do.

Do a google search.

Try the Bowens at lower power.

 

[HoppyUK]

Many guns get faster as you lower the power. My Elinchrom's do.

Do a google search.

Try the Bowens at lower power.

Kris, have you got a link to Elinchrom flash durations? I can't seem to find anything except the t.5 time at full power. Thanks.