Monolites - what wattage?

[kafin8ed]

I'm thinking of buying some monolights, most likely Alienbees or White Lightnings, but I'm not sure about wattage needs, they come in 400, 800, and 1600 effective wattseconds. I want to do some glamour/fashion/fetish shoots indoors and out. I'm guessing I'll do fine with 2 - 800s and a 400? do you think I'd be better off with 2- 1600s and an 800?.

I've shot with some Hensel Integra 500WS in my studio at work, but our setup is pretty limited and I have nothing to compare them to.

Also, softboxes, is there a big difference in performance between the med and lg size boxes?

What do you feel are the necessities of a begginner lighting setup? Especcially with regards to snoots, grids, barndoors, honecombs etc...

Thanks!

[Sebastian]

Alan,

The concensus from experienced studio shooters seems to be more power, and start out basic. Based on that I would suggest at least the B800, maybe even the 1600. I don't know about mixing different wattage lights, seems to be more trouble than it's worth, but I don't have that much experience.

I use two B800s and most of the time, even with umbrellas and softboxes, I never go over half power.

As for accessories, get a light and a large umbrella and go from there. Sofboxes are nice, but umbrellas are similar and much cheaper and easier to set up.

Start simple and see what you really, justifiably need for your style of shooting, and spend the money then if you need to.

Take what I say wth a grain of salt though, due to my living situation I haven't used my strobes since last November and I am getting rusty on it all.

Later.

[Peter_AUS]

If you are choseing between the Alien Bees and White Lightening, get the white lightening, better build and also have 250watt modeling lights. For the difference in price, I think it is around $100, you will end up with better lights, especially if you are looking for something than just the weekend occassional use type of system.

This has been my dilema also.

I have read that the extras are a little flimsy, like the light stands, softboxes etc, people get the speed ring and then buy better quality softboxes.

Don't forget if you are using them outside, you will need to be able to stabalise the bottom of your light stands so sandbags would be a good choice as well.

dpreview.com has a huge lighting forum which has a huge amount of info about alien bees and white lightning gear. Although there are a lot of primadonas on there, generally reading between the lines of stuff, you get to know the correct info. I use that site, specifically for minute info on a particular product, and also seek info here as well.

[Irakly Shanidze]

When you plan on buying any type of professional gear, lighting included, always keep in mind that you may outgrow inferior equipment very soon. You will have to sell it and buy what you really need. Very seldom you can sell something that is below professional grade at prices that you will like.

[FREELANCE2004]

IT HAS ALOT TO DO WITH THE POCKETBOOK ALSO.I HAVE A SMALL STUDIO IN MY HOUSE,THAT I ADDED ON TO MY HOUSE.DEPENDING ON THE SIZE OF THE ROOM,INSIDE OR OUT.OUTSIDE YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH POWER,BUT INSIDE ,IF YOU ARE IN A SMALL SPACE,AND SHOOTING DSLR YOU DONT NEED A HIGH ws.OOPS.anyway,i use a set of 160 ws lights indoors,and i get excellant results.if you are in a very large room or have a bottomless money surplus,i would buy the highest ws i can get,without going extreme.film cameras need more light than digitals too.shooting my d70 i ues my lights on med power,film or med format,i crank these babys up.l
any light system is a big plus.get a couple of large 20 ft backdrops and your in business.i dont like tiny umbrellas either.i have JTL 320 kit.its two 160 ws lights.small but practical.ive made alot of extra money with these lil jewels.i paid 300.00 for the lights,stands pc cord,and umb.
good luck.a friend of mine shoots with novatrons,and they are also very nice.i plan on buying continuous kit next,with softboxes,and hairlights.the lower ws lights work great for hairlights ect.you dont have to spend big money on these
freelance2004

[JCPhoto1]

About mixing the power of the lights. I was going to do the same thing and mix to power. I have two White Lightning 800's and was going to use a Alien bee's 400 for a hair light. A little research and I found that's a bad idea. What you need are lights of the same power because of the modeling lights. If they are not of the same power you can't see and set up the shot properly. It cost more money to buy lights of the same power but will save headaches in the future. Just MHO.
Jim C

[Asylum Steve]

A little research and I found that's a bad idea. What you need are lights of the same power because of the modeling lights. If they are not of the same power you can't see and set up the shot properly.

Not sure where you got your info, but truth is, it makes absolutely no difference if the wattage of your lights are the same or not, unless of course you need a perfectly symmetrical setup and require everything to be at full power. For the vast majority of shooters, that situation never even happens once, let alone on a regular basis.

Almost all studio lighting setups are done in ratios. IOW, there is a main (or key) light, a fill light, a bg light, and maybe a hair (or kicker) light. Or a wide range of variations of these.

Whatever the setup, by nature the output of all of these lights will most likely be different, so why would the wattage need to be the same? Your key light is almost always going to need to be the most powerful, your fill can usually be less, smaller spots like hair and such can be even less...

Ideally, modeling lights on flashes are in PROPORTION to the flash output, so logic tells us that the modeling light output of all the lights in a setup will be different, too.

Besides, modeling lights should only serve as a rough guide (and to allow you to focus). You should setup and meter each light seperately, then adjust your light output and distance based on your meter readings, NOT on what you see from the modeling lights.

Don't get me wrong, you can certainly have all your flashes the same wattage, then simply make adjustments to modify the output so it's in the right ratio. It's just that's there's no advantage to working this way, and no disadvantage working the other way...

[FREELANCE2004]

the only purpose of the modeling light is FOCUS,AND FOCUS ONLY,you can have 5 differant lights ,5 settings,and still make great photos,as long as you dont under expose your ok,a good lab can fix a overexposed print,to some extent,.so any light with modeling lamps will work together.one front angle,one side angle,one hairlight,one background or gel.the sky is the limit.make sure you base you purchase on someone who knows whts going on.ps im not pointing any fingers.

[JCPhoto1]

[QUOTE=FREELANCE2004]the only purpose of the modeling light is FOCUS,AND FOCUS ONLY,
They do help focus but why they are called modeling lights. It's because they show a version of light from the different heads so you can get an idea of their placement and how light shows up on your subject.

make sure you base you purchase on someone who knows whts going on.ps im not pointing any fingers

I assume you were talking about me with the above comment. I do think I know at least a little bit of what's going on and don't appreciate comments like that.
JimC

[FREELANCE2004]

hey alan,
i think the best thing to do is to get several opinions,on specific brands,you plan on purchasing.i shoot with JTL 320 KIT,its 2 , 160WS lights,umbrellas,stands.i use my 544 alot of times from front,and set my 2 lights at side angels,hair lights ect.there are several ways to rig lights.go to the library and get a cup of coffee,and read all the differant lighting books in photo section.i do this on sat. mornings.but anyway, before you spend your hard earned money,get several opinions.nikonians.org has good info also,but make sure you tell us what you find out.hope to HELP.
freelance2004