Recommend strobe for product photography

[nnish78]

Hi All,

I am currently doing product photography, and would need advise on a strobe selection.. I currently shoot with Yongnuo YN560 flashes and go to max 1 stop down from full on my main light. I also add in fill lights around 4 stops down at times.. I want to ensure that I get a strobe that I will be able to go low enough to shoot my style indoor.. I know the Einsteins go really low, but will I need 2.5Ws?? is the Elinchrom D-Lite IT 200W good enough for what I need??

I am currently based in Africa, so, I cannot really borrow strobes around.... I am also tight on budget but can consider getting 1 strobe first and get a second one along the way..

Some example of shots I took recently.

 

[Hugowolf]

Well, you can reckon on the YN560 being approximately equal to 64 Ws, so 32 Ws at half power, 16 Ws at quarter power, and 4 Ws four stops from full at 1/16th power.

BTW, you have a strange purple/blue cast on both these images. Are you doing a custom white balance? Do you have a calibrated monitor?

Brian A

 

[Sailor Blue]

If I remember correctly the Elincrome has 5 stops of power control (1 to 1/8).

I would recommend the Flashpoint II FP320M which has 6 stops of power control (1 to 1/16), or the Paul C. Buff AlienBee B400 which has 7 stops of power control (1 to 1/32).


http://www.adorama.com/FP320M.html


http://www.paulcbuff.com/b400.php

Flashpoint is the house brand of Adorama. Both Adorama and Paul C. Buff are reputable companies with good reputations for customer relations and service. There are lots of available diffusers and other modifiers available for both these lights.

150 Ws or 160 Ws is enough power for portrait work too if you use ISO 200 or 400.

 

[nelsonal]

I'm not sure I understand for what you'll be using the monolight? It sounds like you're not really exceeding the power output of your Yongnuo's, and it appears that you have at least some sort of modifier on them as well. Are you just looking for a modeling light for visualization?

Since it didn't sound like you were out of power with your speed lights, I'd look for a 150J (or Ws) monolight that has as many stops of power reduction as possible. As someone else pointed out you're currently running with 35ish J down to about 4J. So a 150J monolight that only goes to 1/16th (4 stops) is still going to be running at 10J minimum (more than 2x your current fill). A joule of electrical charge at the capacitors doesn't mean the same light output but it's a pretty reasonable proxy.


I've been happy with my flashpoint II but I don't know many other than a B400 will have a low enough minimum setting for you to find useful.

 

[Darrell Spreen]

Like you, I interpreted the OP as saying the speedlight plus some small fill flashes provided more light than needed. I have found that I never use my monolights for product photography -- just 2 or 3 speedlights with umbrellas, diffusers, flags & reflectors -- and I rarely use any of the speedlights at full power.

Product photography is mostly about control of the light. Spraying too much light around (when you can't throttle it down enough) is not the way to go.

 

[nnish78]

Darrell Spreen wrote:

Like you, I interpreted the OP as saying the speedlight plus some small fill flashes provided more light than needed. I have found that I never use my monolights for product photography -- just 2 or 3 speedlights with umbrellas, diffusers, flags & reflectors -- and I rarely use any of the speedlights at full power.

Product photography is mostly about control of the light. Spraying too much light around (when you can't throttle it down enough) is not the way to go.

 

[Darrell Spreen]

nnish78 wrote:

You are correct.. The speedlights have been powerful enough for what I am shooting. I wanted to get something with a modelling light, and better softbox setups (it's a pain working with the softboxes and flashes.....

Should I stick with my flashes or there are good alternatives for the shots I am doing???

If you need a modeling light and prefer softboxes to umbrellas, studio strobes are the best solution and the previous recommendations for something around 200 W-sec which can be dialed back to 1/16 power should work well. I don't have a specific recommendation.

I agree that it's a struggle to fix softboxes to speedlghts -- though the new Westcott Orb looks like an interesting softbox alternative for speedlights. I've been using a diffuser in combination with a reflecting umbrella for a close approximation to a large softbox and it's an easy setup.

I've standardized my table-top work so that I don't rely on modeling lights -- light placement is usually one of 4 or 5 setups & I know what I will get from each.

 

[nnish78]

Darrell Spreen wrote:

nnish78 wrote:

You are correct.. The speedlights have been powerful enough for what I am shooting. I wanted to get something with a modelling light, and better softbox setups (it's a pain working with the softboxes and flashes.....

Should I stick with my flashes or there are good alternatives for the shots I am doing???

If you need a modeling light and prefer softboxes to umbrellas, studio strobes are the best solution and the previous recommendations for something around 200 W-sec which can be dialed back to 1/16 power should work well. I don't have a specific recommendation.

I agree that it's a struggle to fix softboxes to speedlghts -- though the new Westcott Orb looks like an interesting softbox alternative for speedlights. I've been using a diffuser in combination with a reflecting umbrella for a close approximation to a large softbox and it's an easy setup.

I've standardized my table-top work so that I don't rely on modeling lights -- light placement is usually one of 4 or 5 setups & I know what I will get from each.

 

[Hugowolf]

nnish78 wrote:

Darrell Spreen wrote:

nnish78 wrote:

You are correct.. The speedlights have been powerful enough for what I am shooting. I wanted to get something with a modelling light, and better softbox setups (it's a pain working with the softboxes and flashes.....

Should I stick with my flashes or there are good alternatives for the shots I am doing???

If you need a modeling light and prefer softboxes to umbrellas, studio strobes are the best solution and the previous recommendations for something around 200 W-sec which can be dialed back to 1/16 power should work well. I don't have a specific recommendation.

I agree that it's a struggle to fix softboxes to speedlghts -- though the new Westcott Orb looks like an interesting softbox alternative for speedlights. I've been using a diffuser in combination with a reflecting umbrella for a close approximation to a large softbox and it's an easy setup.

I've standardized my table-top work so that I don't rely on modeling lights -- light placement is usually one of 4 or 5 setups & I know what I will get from each.

 

[Kpatel55]

Nishad,




Where in Africa. Some products is not available everywhere.

Please list all the brands available in you country/City, so we can recommend you the brand with our experience or knowledge.

Good Luck

-KP

 

[nnish78]

Kpatel55 wrote:

Nishad,

Where in Africa. Some products is not available everywhere.

Please list all the brands available in you country/City, so we can recommend you the brand with our experience or knowledge.

Good Luck

-KP

I'm on an island called Mauritius.. Sadly, I will need to import the strobes from Europe or Asia... My Yongnuos were not purchased here neither....

If I could get a great online shop that does overseas delivery, that would be awesome...

 

[nnish78]

So, what would you guys recommend me for Elinchrom?? The RX One or RX 2 kits??