What set of F'guns ?

bastic

bastic

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Lukas
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Hi Strobists :)

Im looking for a bit of advice :)

Im going Nikon soon and will need 3 F'guns all together for my lil home studio ;)

At the moment Im thinking of getting 3 sb900 (use D700 as a commander)

And am looking for maybe cheaper option for starters :)
Im sure I will get 1 sb900
What other F'guns would work with it well ?
I thought I will post it here before I would spam FITP with questions :bonk: as I will be getting some other equipment from him any way :)

Any advice welcome :thumbs:
Lukas
 
600s or 800s are both cls capable

cheaper but less power/functionality so good backup or second lights
 
If I would go for 3x 900, would I still need any kind of transmiters for them ?
Im new to this whole Nikon thingy and looking for all help I can get ;D
 
david1701 said:
600s or 800s are both cls capable

cheaper but less power/functionality so good backup or second lights
Click to expand...

Im thinking of getting 2x600 as that would be in price of one 300...but if I would go for 900' they would last me for ages...or untill next brand swap :bonk:
 
you wont need any transmitter as there all CLS compatible, sb600's arent bad but there not professional flashes and they go out really quick with recycle times whereas the sb900 is fast with recycle times and are powerful pro built flashes.
 
Just in terms of operation, all you need for CLS control is one commander unit, ie your D700, and some CLS compatible slave flashes. In that respect at least, just about any brand of flash will do - they almost all do CLS as slaves, even the cheapo ones.

Not saying that is the best way to go, but it would work.
 
Thank you:)

so 3x 900's would be the best option :)

one more question...
As I have the idea how I want to use 3 lamps..
if you would only have 2 f'guns and one in camera how would you use it ? one as main and one for b'ground only ?

Someone here is trying to convince me that I could go with only 2 lamps but I think 3 would be better....
and I know I know you can live only with one ;D (specially if taking pics outside with one brolly etc...)
 
HoppyUK said:
Just in terms of operation, all you need for CLS control is one commander unit, ie your D700, and some CLS compatible slave flashes. In that respect at least, just about any brand of flash will do - they almost all do CLS as slaves, even the cheapo ones.

Not saying that is the best way to go, but it would work.
Click to expand...

thanks
L.
 
HoppyUK said:
Just in terms of operation, all you need for CLS control is one commander unit, ie your D700, and some CLS compatible slave flashes. In that respect at least, just about any brand of flash will do - they almost all do CLS as slaves, even the cheapo ones.

Not saying that is the best way to go, but it would work.
Click to expand...
CLS is Nikon specific and I don't believe you'll find any third-party flashes which interface with CLS and allow fully metered exposures.

Many have built-in optical slaves to let them run in full manual, but CLS means auto which I believe means Nikon.

(And FWIW as an SB800 owner I wouldn't hesitate to get the 900. The 800 is a great gun but more zoom would be very nice thank you, and the button hold and press dance to go in and out of CLS gets tedious. The 900 has a direct switch and is _much_ faster for this.)
 
bastic said:
Thank you:)

so 3x 900's would be the best option :)

one more question...
As I have the idea how I want to use 3 lamps..
if you would only have 2 f'guns and one in camera how would you use it ? one as main and one for b'ground only ?

Someone here is trying to convince me that I could go with only 2 lamps but I think 3 would be better....
and I know I know you can live only with one ;D (specially if taking pics outside with one brolly etc...)
Click to expand...

In terms of the key light on the subject, you only ever want one doing the main work. You might then want to fill in the shadows by some other means, like a reflector is often best, or you could use a second gun on low power for that, depending.

If all you want is basic fill, then the pop-up flash can be good for that. Remember that when you turn the camera vertical for portraits, the position of the on-camera flash changes.

The background is a separate issue. One light on that will give you a nice gradient effect, but if you want pure blown white, then you need two to cover a decent sized area evenly.
 
HoppyUK said:
In terms of the key light on the subject, you only ever want one doing the main work. You might then want to fill in the shadows by some other means, like a reflector is often best, or you could use a second gun on low power for that, depending.
havent thought about reflectors yet ...

If all you want is basic fill, then the pop-up flash can be good for that. Remember that when you turn the camera vertical for portraits, the position of the on-camera flash changes.

The background is a separate issue. One light on that will give you a nice gradient effect, but if you want pure blown white,(
thinking about different coluors as background some courtain or simillar then you need two to cover a decent sized area evenly.
am thinking about some vinyl background...
Click to expand...
 
HoppyUK said:
The background is a separate issue. One light on that will give you a nice gradient effect, but if you want pure blown white, then you need two to cover a decent sized area evenly.
Click to expand...

I know that's the standard advice, but...

I've regularly managed an 80-90% blown white coverage from a single gun to the side when doing single person portraits onto a white background, with a bit of opening up - ISO 400 @ f/8 (half power I think for recycling time reasons) on the EXIF for one I just checked, which was plenty for 8x10s. You get a bit of detail around the side opposite the gun, but it's easy to magic wand out. More processing but lots cheaper when starting / lets you get the shot you thought you couldn't that time.
 
Might be a good idea to just start with one light in a brolly/softbox and a reflector, then see where you want to spend. That's really all you need for very good quality basic portraits.

You might find that a big posh softbox is the way, or a flash meter might be more useful than extra guns you don't have an immediate need for.

I'm not sure about a vinyl background - too shiny and heavy. It's used for floors because you can clean it.
 
eftpotrm said:
I know that's the standard advice, but...

I've regularly managed an 80-90% blown white coverage from a single gun to the side when doing single person portraits onto a white background, with a bit of opening up - ISO 400 @ f/8 (half power I think for recycling time reasons) on the EXIF for one I just checked, which was plenty for 8x10s. You get a bit of detail around the side opposite the gun, but it's easy to magic wand out. More processing but lots cheaper when starting / lets you get the shot you thought you couldn't that time.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I did say two lights to cover "a decent sized area evenly." For a single head and shoulders you can just about get away with it, but anything larger and you'll find that either one side of the background has gone grey, or the other side is blitzed too bright and is bleaching the subject outline, and causing flare.

It's the evenness that is the problem. No difficultly at all getting it white all over, but if you just nuke it the result looks poor (and amateurish). The practical ideal is to get all of the background only just perfectly white, but no single area more than one stop brighter. Closer if you can, but better than that is damn hard in practise without a big studio.
 
Thanks again :)

Piont is to get nice light for full lenght portraits ( and head portraits as well)
Maybe Ill start with one bigger softbox and one F'gun and reflector(s)...practice it on my GF and see how it goes :) and if needed I will get some more :)
At the moment I have nice and big empty room at my house and thats why im thinking of lil home studio;)
 
HoppyUK said:
Yeah, I did say two lights to cover "a decent sized area evenly." For a single head and shoulders you can just about get away with it, but anything larger and you'll find that either one side of the background has gone grey, or the other side is blitzed too bright and is bleaching the subject outline, and causing flare.

It's the evenness that is the problem. No difficultly at all getting it white all over, but if you just nuke it the result looks poor (and amateurish). The practical ideal is to get all of the background only just perfectly white, but no single area more than one stop brighter. Closer if you can, but better than that is damn hard in practise without a big studio.
Click to expand...

Respectfully, I've done it. I'm working on the assumption that a percentage of the background will need final clearing in software, but not much, and with that I've done individuals comfortably and 3-4 person groups if I could put 2m (ish) between subjects and background. Minimal or no bleaching or flare, used for 8x10s with comfort. I'm not saying it's ideal! but if you accept these, it can be done.
 
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