Aputure 120d ii or 300dii for Still Life Photography and Painting

[PamperedPainter]

I am an oil painter specializing in floral still life. I am currently using a cheap soft box fitted with four 35 watt LED bulbs purchased on Amazon. If I only worked from photos I would use a more powerful flash, but I also work from life so I need a contiuous light source.

My current set up is not bright enough and the color is also a little off. I am considering the Aputure 120d ii or the newly announced Aputure 300d ii. I will be using the light in a soft box. I have read the 120 has about 180 watts with very accurate color, 30,000 lux and .5m.

The 300d ii will have 90,000 lux at 1m. Is this light over kill for my needs? I understand it will be available July or August and cost about $500 more than the 120d ii.

I am attempting to recreate northern light used by the masters for the purpose of creating an oil painting. Below is a smaller set up I photographed this morning and as you can see I don't have enough light to increase my depth of field.

I have looked into Godex and am concerned about the color accuracy. Anything else I should consider? I would appreciate your input on a good light for my needs.



Julie

 

[Peter Del]

All my flower picture have been taken with an old one of these, but not in a light tent

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www.wexphotovideo.com

I have an m43 camera, which gives slight more depth of field than either APS-C or FF




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Peter Del

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Gallery: http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/8804053911

 

[j3ffw]

The 300d ii will have 90,000 lux at 1m. Is this light over kill for my needs? I understand it will be available July or August and cost about $500 more than the 120d ii.

If that's the date Aputure has said then I would suspect it becoming available in November - January. Even once it does hit the selves it will immediately be on backorder. So the question is do you want to wait that long?

I do have the 120dv2 and like it. I would not recommend buying any of the v1 lights as I found their color off. What I don't like about the output of the 120d2 is I like to bounce light (I'm lighting up bigger spaces than a small still-life) I wouldn't say the 120d2 is up to bouncing the light. (for interiors not a small table top)

I suspect the 120d2 might be a better option for you because the head is moderately sized. Not sure what the 300d2 will be like suspending overhead on a boom pole with a large softbox - my guess needing a lot of sand bags and heavier duty grip gear than basic lightstands.

I realize Leds put out a lot less heat and that may be needed for your subject matter - If not have you thought about going old school with tungstein shot through a big umbrella with flags to catch spillage or bounced into foam core. You can pick up an Omni, tota, or Redhead for a fraction of an Led and know you are going to have color accuracy.

If your problem is just needing more depth of field have you thought about focus stacking?

 

[PamperedPainter]

Hi Peter, very nice flower images! You are doing well with your lights. I’m also shooting with an OMD. I had a feeling the Aputure was overkill, I’m just so impressed with their products and don’t want to under buy again.

 

[PamperedPainter]

Hi Jeff, you made a good point about the size of the 300dii. I don’t really have room for a heavy duty set up with a boom and all. I am mostly shooting flowers so the heat of the tungsten won’t work. Yesterday I blocked out one wall of windows and diffused another side giving me some great results. I really love the look of natural light and I can’t seem to get close with LED or halogens. You idea about bouncing off a wall might work. That’s why I was considering the 300 for the power to do that. It would give that large window look I’m trying to achieve. I might just order the 120dii and see if I can make it work!

Thanks for responding....got me thinking!