Lighting on Location

Paddy@CIRL

Hello.

I'm currently researching my options for a new lighting setup which can be used both in the studio and on location. I rarely use artificial light these days but when I do, it's usually a couple of 580EXs and a 430EX triggered by PocketWizards. These are fine when used indoors or used bare on a dull day, but by and large they're as useful as a waterproof teabag.

I've looked through the various options offered by Profoto, Elinchrom, Bowens, AlienBee and a couple of others. I'm looking for three heads, enough battery packs to power them all and some modifiers.

So far, the AlienBee stuff comes in at the best price (three B800 heads, two 60"x30" softboxes, 40" Beauty Dish and two lithium batterys for circa £2,000STG delivered). Their stuff is very popular in the US but not so much over here. I know their European distributor in the UK has only started getting their act together recently but was wondering if anyone had any experiences with them or could recommend a similar setup for a similar price?

Many thanks in advance!

Corkbah

give Paddy Barker a shout in Cork .... he will be able to advise you as best he can (and can take care of you price wise too).

www.barkerphotographic.com I think (but could be wrong)

gloobag

I have the Elinchrom Quadras myself. As far as I know, they're the lightest/smallest of all the 'portable' options out there. I ruled out Alien Bees on the ridiculous price difference between the US and the European store at the time, and also the heads are actually huge compared to what Elinchrom and Profoto have to offer.

I love the Quadras! The heads are tiny and the battery and pack are very light and output about twice the power of a speedlight (400Ws). If you go with the Quadra, get the new version with the Li-Ion battery. It weighs almost nothing and recycles faster than the older batteries. I've had assistants walk around with one slung over their shoulder as well as carrying one of the heads on a monopod for a whole day and they've told me after that they barely even noticed it was there.

The only bad thing about them is that you have to buy special speedring adapters if you want to use any of the Elinchrom modifiers that aren't built specifically for the Quadra's (so basically all the good ones). These adapters cost about €60 and are not that great in terms of build quality. I've had three break on me so far. In fairness, Elinchrom have admitted that there's a design flaw with these and will provide replacement parts if needed. I buy all my Elinchrom gear from Paddy Barker (mentioned by Corkbah above), and he sent me the parts without fuss when I mailed him about the issue.

I always get great service from Barkers to be honest. Decent prices too. I just got a delivery from them during the week and there was 6 packs of AA batteries thrown in for free

Paddy@CIRL

Thanks for the replies folks!

I've looked at Barker and I have to say, they are very competitive with their pricing!

My only issue is that for the price of two Elinchrom Quadras with a battery I can get three B1600s, two batteries and modifiers for what's now working out at less than £2,000. I need a minimum of three heads too, so I'd be looking at over €3,000 without modifiers for the Elinchroms. Also, the Elinchroms are rated for 150 full power flashes whilst the ABs are rated much higher than that with the Vagabond Minis.

Brain is melted.

gloobag

The new Lithium Ion batteries for the Quadra gets about 320 full power flashes. It's the older lead batteries that get 150. Also, those are not real world stats as far as I know. I've gotten more than 320 pops at full power out of mine on a single charge.

Another advantage of the Quadra is that they can output at a really low power as well. As little a 4Ws. Which is how I often use them, to get a nicely lit portrait with a shallow depth of field. This is where the B1600 falls down in my opinion. You may find yourself in a situation where it's just too much power. The PCB Einsteins operate more like the Quadra as far as I know, with a large range of output from really low to high. I believe they're highest is 640Ws. They're more expensive of course.

I went though the same as yourself about a year ago. I was this close to shelling out for a set of three Einsteins, but ultimately decided that I would rather have the portability and the versatility in power output of the Quadra. I've rarely felt like I've made the wrong decision to be honest.

Paddy@CIRL

Yeah, the B1600s can go down to around 32Ws whilst the B800s can drop to 10Ws. It's worth pointing out that I'm going to be primarily lighting cars, so I'll need all the power I can get. I can also run an ND filter should I want to shoot shallow depth of field. Even if I went with the Quadras, I'd still need a third head which is going to ramp the price up significantly and that's before I pick up the modifiers I need too.

Why can't these things ever be easy?

Paddy@CIRL

Just to update things, I made my order today with Paul C. Buff Europe. After lots of deliberation and internal debate, I ended up going with:

• 3 x AlienBee B800 (320Ws)
• 2 x Vagabond Minis (Portable Power)
• 2 x 5FT Softboxes
• 1 x 22" Beauty Dish

I decided on the B800s after looking through my library of past shoots and through the work of some of my favourite photographers. I'll never be in a situation where I want the power to kill the ambient light, rather I want to be able to balance whatever light is available.

I went with the largest soft boxes I could get my hands on and at five feet wide, I shouldn't be left wanting. I plan to make up some masks so I can use them as strip lights too. I added the Beauty Dish to have something in-between the softbox and standard reflector.

All of this was purchased for under £1800 delivered from the UK. The lights are warrantied for two years, whilst the batteries and modifiers come with a year's warranty. There's also a 60 Day cool off period, so if I don't get along with them I can send them back for a full refund minus courier charges.

I think I've made the right choice. Now to find a Pelican to store them...

aidanic

Paddy@CIRL wrote: »

... Now to find a Pelican to store them...

We bought three big peli cases last year for PCs (for trade shows) from http://www.case-depot.co.uk/ and the prices/delivery were good.