Studio lights - outside?

gman

gman

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Graham
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Would it be possible to run a set of studio lights, say 200-250w from your car using something like this: Power Invertor (edit: it does say 450W surge which I assume would be ok for x2 200W lights flashing?)

I appreciate the battery would drain fast so you'd need the engine going every now and then to keep it charged but is there anything else I'm missing?
 
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You need pure (true) sine wave to run sensitive electronic equipment (such as studio strobes), the inverter in your link puts out modified sine wave. It could damage your lights, you can risk it, but its up to you.
(note - I'm not electrician, that is what I have heard from other people over past few years)

My suggestion would be save up for a battery pack, something like Innovatronix or Paul Buff Vagabond, but those are about 300 pounds and quite heavy but they can power a lot more than 200-250w
 
I'm no expert on how flash lights charge so please excuse me if this is just plain wrong.

I'm assuming that the lights from dead will charge up then hold that charge for a period of time before firing, then charge up again and so on? Is this how they work? There will also be a constant current being drawn for modelling lights of X amps?

Continuous current at 240V for 150W would be just over 0.6 Amps. So you need to see if your lights will draw more than this value for a period of time when they charge when recycling. The surge of 450W would normally handle a short time overload of about 1.9amps, but how long will it allow the surge before the invertor decides it is on overload and switch off is a fact that might be worth finding out.

If your lights draw 200-250W (about 1 amp) as they charge/recycle and this exceeds the surge period allowed by the invertor then it will trip and therefore not suitable for your application?

I'm used to dealing with big 3 phase 415V and 11kV stuff so hope I havnt written a load of dribble! :thinking:
 
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http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=388096&C=SO&U=strat15 :D


EDIT: Yes, I see what you mean. The point of the flash going off isn't actually drawing any current from the mains as it's coming from stored energy in the capacitors right? So it will be a steady power stream required.

Not sure what's happened to my link in the first post, it's gone weird! lol
 
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kokakaste2 said:
You need pure (true) sine wave to run sensitive electronic equipment (such as studio strobes), the inverter in your link puts out modified sine wave. It could damage your lights, you can risk it, but its up to you.
(note - I'm not electrician, that is what I have heard from other people over past few years)

My suggestion would be save up for a battery pack, something like Innovatronix or Paul Buff Vagabond, but those are about 300 pounds and quite heavy but they can power a lot more than 200-250w
Click to expand...

:thumbs: I agree. Personally I wouldn't risk it.
Different people often express different views on using 'spikey' power sources and different views can cause confusion.

Here's my take on it, I'm not an electrician but I understand a bit about studio lighting...

The early studio lights were pretty basic, and weren't very sensitive to voltage spikes. Modern, high end studio lights are the opposite.
The more sophisticated the lights, the greater the risk of damage in this situation. I'm only guessing, but my guess is that the difference between lights of various makes/models/vintage is probably the reason why some people think that it's safe to use modified sine wave converters or generators and some don't.
 
a heavy duty 12V battery and a pure sine wave inverter would set you back £150-£200 depending on the wattage you require.

my Lights are just a lead acid battery and inverter and I get a decent amount of shots out of them.

gman said:
Would it be possible to run a set of studio lights, say 200-250w from your car using something like this: Power Invertor (edit: it does say 450W surge which I assume would be ok for x2 200W lights flashing?)

I appreciate the battery would drain fast so you'd need the engine going every now and then to keep it charged but is there anything else I'm missing?
Click to expand...
 
What about the pure sine wave one I've posted? What I'm thinking is that if it works then you've not only got a highly mobile power source (which will last for ages - until you run out of fuel lol) but at night you've got the perfect dark background, so long as it doesn't rain!

I'll buy the invertor if someone volunteers the lights....:naughty:
 
Use speedlites as long as the output meets your requirements. Job done!

EDIT: Invertors tend to compile a sinewave from the DC source using digital means and so the wave ends up being a bit blocky and from the comments made it possibly would not be suitable for the electronics inside the lights. For £20 you are not paying a lot and so the invertor will be very basic.
 
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its only got one plug outlet

gman said:
What about the pure sine wave one I've posted? What I'm thinking is that if it works then you've not only got a highly mobile power source (which will last for ages - until you run out of fuel lol) but at night you've got the perfect dark background, so long as it doesn't rain!

I'll buy the invertor if someone volunteers the lights....:naughty:
Click to expand...
 
Q)
What is "modified sine wave"? Do all 12v/240v Power Inverters work like this?

A)
Modified means it is not a true sine-wave - it is clipped - the peaks have been flattened.
Click to expand...

Taken from the web site. Any electronics experts know how the lighting circuit in the lights would react to that?
 
In my second post there's a pure sine wave and it's not £20! lol

This is the one I'm now talking about. Simple enough to plug a 4 plug surge protected extension into it.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I'm only guessing, but my guess is that the difference between lights of various makes/models/vintage is probably the reason why some people think that it's safe to use modified sine wave converters or generators and some don't.
Click to expand...

And also from the problem of inadequate sampling.

I could run one set of lights all day off a petrol genny - somebody else could use the same set up and blow theirs up first shot. Until lots more people try it we don't know if I was lucky or the other chap was unlucky.

The experts seem to suggest that this is a bad idea. But I know photographers who do it. My money's on the experts being right and them being lucky.

BTW this looks nice http://www.profoto.com/batpac/ - apart from the whole 11 kilo thing.
 
Probably best to stick with stuff designed specifically for studio lights. 11kg is ok if it's strapped on your back, look at what the RM have to carry! :)
 
Older style analogue lights seem to work fine off a petrol generator.

I know somebody that uses early Elinchroms and Prolincas that way, and doesn't seem to suffer any ill effects.
 
I've run mains studio heads from a generator in a marquee without any problems.

The generator was however a Honda (Rolls Royce of gennies) with a better Sine wave than mains power. I wouldn't trust my gear to anything less - it's just not worth the risk.

Most of the time however I use my trusty Lencarta Safari which is obviously made for the job. With the spare battery I can now cover pretty much a full day's shooting unless it's mega intense.
 
What's in a dedicated power supply?
A battery, an inverter and i would expect some low voltage protection.

I would be happy to make my own. I'll get round to it one day. :)
 
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