Light setup help needed

[UKBob]

I need some more powerful lights to use with my light tent.

I currently use 4 daylight bulbs, each of which is rated at 60w

And Im looking at this:
www.stevesphotoshop.co.uk/daylight_fluorescent_lighting_set_triple_bulb_T75P.html

Each of the bulbs are 25w, it seems. So in one tripple-bulb head unit, i'll end up with 75w (rather than my 60w per bulb). At least (doing the simple math) it seems that way

Am I likely to see an improvement if I buy them? Going against the simple "add up the numbners to see how powerful they are" methodology, I was hoping they might provide me with better results. But upon arriving on the website, in terms of wattage, it seems my lights are more powerful, but Im not sure.

Now if I decide to go for umbrellas each side of my light tent, what can I buy on a limited budget? Its important that the quality of the light is good - I need strong, clean light, and (dont know much about lighting) would rather not buy cheap kit of any kind which wont be up to scratch.

Has anyone tried/tested any kit which might be suitable?

[Mr Beckerman]

StevePhotoShop said:

... one 25w fluorescent bulb producing the equivalent amount of light to a normal 125w incandescent bulb so the 75w in each photographic floodlight unit is equivalent to 375w of normal incandescent bulb.

Seems okay to me. I've got some small spots with 25Watt bulbs in them and they kick out way more than normal bulbs of a higher rating.

[V6GTO]

Could you not use those and your ogiginal 4x60w bulbs? It ould take you from 240w output to 390.

Martin.

[UKBob]

V6GTO said:

Could you not use those and your ogiginal 4x60w bulbs? It ould take you from 240w output to 390.

Martin.

Yes I could, and I was planning to do the same.

My current 60w bulbs are 5000k daylight craft daylight bulbs, with a normal bayonette light fitting. They seem brighter than normal household bulbs (which I dont use) so Id be inclined to think these bulbs are pretty much the same as what im already using. Im just not sure.

I do need frontal lighting, so one of those 3-bulb heads with diffusser should help I suppose.

[UKBob]

Im thinking of getting some bowens gear instead, specifically this:

www.warehouseexpress.com/index.cfm?saves/reviews/StudioinaBox.html

deleted my query, as its all been explained. The principal that the light replaces the shutter speed (which becomes irrelevent, even for freezing motion) now makes sense

Any reason then why the kit above shouldnt be suitable/powerful enough for light tent work, and freezing motion?

Edited by UKBob on Wednesday 26th July 13:29

[poah]

Bob, when I use my tent I use two 250w flashes with silver brollys plus daylight hough windows to give me good coverage.

[UKBob]

poah said:

Bob, when I use my tent I use two 250w flashes with silver brollys plus daylight hough windows to give me good coverage.

Ive pretty much decided on the bowens 250w kit, with a softbox and brolly.

What are "daylight hough windows" - you mean holes in the side of your tent?

Is it fair to say (warehouse express said this) that a light tent and a flash are not compatible, and will not give you the best results?

They insisted that these dot.com table studio lights would be better than a flash, which wasnt what Id been told by other people. www.bowens.co.uk/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=79

They also said 125w might be underpowered for product shots, and recommended the dot.com table lights, (kept recommending those lights) but seemed to agree that a 250w kit would do just as well, without the light tent.

I prefer the idea of flash, as i can capture motion. Although to be fair 95% of my shots will be still life shots, not in motion.

Poah, what are the differeces between brollies and softboxes, in how they will affect my product shots? And with a 250w kit, will 1 metre away and 2 meters away from the product be too close, ie will I be able to turn the power down so the closeness of the lights to the product is not a problem (limited space)

[andybuk99]

go for the bowens, flash is a lot easier to use than flood lights, no need for blacked out rooms etc.

i have got a 3 head portable system that i am looking to get rid of (hardly used only as backup), the brand is systeme but uses bowens fitments. higher powered than those at warehouse express.
just bought 6k worth of elinchrome studio stuff so need to shift bits and bobs.

[UKBob]

Can anyone give me examples of flash speeds, ie what is necessary as an ideal figure, to capture:

1) Pouring wine
2) Falling/splashing lemons
3) moving small objects

someone said "1/1300 may well be OK, but it might be too slow"

[poah]

UKBob said:

poah said:

Bob, when I use my tent I use two 250w flashes with silver brollys plus daylight hough windows to give me good coverage.

What are "daylight hough windows" - you mean holes in the side of your tent?

no holes in the side of the house with glass in them lol

[_dobbo_]

andybuk99 said:

go for the bowens, flash is a lot easier to use than flood lights, no need for blacked out rooms etc.

i have got a 3 head portable system that i am looking to get rid of (hardly used only as backup), the brand is systeme but uses bowens fitments. higher powered than those at warehouse express.
just bought 6k worth of elinchrome studio stuff so need to shift bits and bobs.

How much are you asking for this kit Andy? I'm currently having my garage plastered with a view to converting it into a mini studio, so lighting is next on my list of stuff I buy which I really really shouldn't.

[Oakey]

UKBob said:

Can anyone give me examples of flash speeds, ie what is necessary as an ideal figure, to capture:

1) Pouring wine
2) Falling/splashing lemons
3) moving small objects

someone said "1/1300 may well be OK, but it might be too slow"

How about trial and error? Surely that's the benefit of a DSLR?

[UKBob]

Oakey said:

UKBob said:

Can anyone give me examples of flash speeds, ie what is necessary as an ideal figure, to capture:

1) Pouring wine
2) Falling/splashing lemons
3) moving small objects

someone said "1/1300 may well be OK, but it might be too slow"

How about trial and error? Surely that's the benefit of a DSLR?

Yes, but my point was that the 950-flash-speed quoted for the bowens 250w gemini kit "may" be too slow to capture moving objects. I wouldnt know, as Ive never tried it.

Ed hassler suggested that the 1700 speed of the 125w lights would likely be fine for all the above mentioned scenarios, but wasnt sure what kind of a result the 950 flash speed would produce. Im not sure either. Hopefully someone here knows something about flash speeds, and moving objects

[UKBob]

Im going round and round in circles.

The technical manager at warehouse express said a flash speed/duration of 1/925th of a second was fast enough to capture sharp images of liquid.

I rang a water photography expert (who shoots products falling into liquid for a profession) who told me that, categorically, it wasnt. And that there is only one company in the world who make flashes which fire fast enough to capture liquid.

He surprised me by saying he couldnt comment on wattage because he didnt understand it (he worked in joules or some such)...

Im now debating the 750w+ bowens heads, which have a 1/2380 flash duration. If I did go for this gear, Id have lights which would allow me to shoot a lot more than just products. But would they be too powerful for product photography.

Woe is me, and all that

[_dobbo_]

UKBob said:

I rang a water photography expert (who shoots products falling into liquid for a profession) who told me that, categorically, it wasnt. And that there is only one company in the world who make flashes which fire fast enough to capture liquid.

Surely it entirely depends on how fast the water is moving?

Drop a lemon into a bowl from 10 metres or from 30 centimeters and you will get totally different amounts of water movement and speed.

Same if you are talking water poured from a bottle or blasted out of a champagne bottle.

I've seen good water captures on here from D70 owners, which synch at 1/500.

[UKBob]

_dobbo_ said:

UKBob said:

I rang a water photography expert (who shoots products falling into liquid for a profession) who told me that, categorically, it wasnt. And that there is only one company in the world who make flashes which fire fast enough to capture liquid.

Surely it entirely depends on how fast the water is moving?

Drop a lemon into a bowl from 10 metres or from 30 centimeters and you will get totally different amounts of water movement and speed.

Same if you are talking water poured from a bottle or blasted out of a champagne bottle.

I've seen good water captures on here from D70 owners, which synch at 1/500.

With the 1/500th being the flash speed, not the shutter speed (which, im told, doesnt matter one iota providing the ambient light isnt too great)

i just want to choose some lights which im not going to regret buying. and am leaning towards the 250w heads again, having been advised now that 750w would be too powerful, even if turned down.

[UKBob]

Got the 250w bowens brolly/softbox setup today. Its far far more powerful than I imagined it would be(!) and seems to work really well

Edited by UKBob on Saturday 29th July 08:41

[_dobbo_]

UKBob said:

_dobbo_ said:

I've seen good water captures on here from D70 owners, which synch at 1/500.

With the 1/500th being the flash speed, not the shutter speed

1/500 would be both - the camera wont let you set a faster shutter than the flash synch speed.



Congrats on your purchase in any case, I look forward to seeing the results.

[UKBob]

_dobbo_ said:

Congrats on your purchase in any case, I look forward to seeing the results.

Thanks Its hard work though, much harder than I expected. I was expecting great results right out the bag Plenty of adjustment need to be made, and this takes a great deal of time. And if you decide to adjust the aperture, you then need to adjust the power of the lights all over again.

Im shooting manual, which is the only way to go as far as I can see?