Monolites?

B Rock

I'm looking at going the monolite route for home work since I found a way to make them pretty cheap. http://www.cerebralgibberish.com/2008/06/15/diy-spiderlite But if I go this route I also need to make some homemade softboxes otherwise the light will be extremely harsh. I imagine it will be roughly 100 dollars for each light once everything is said and done. Well today during my boredom I was browsing my B&H catalog daydreaming and found this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/390686-REG/Impact_EX100A_KI_One_Monolight_Kit_.html After watching the video on bh I'm starting to wonder if this is the better route. Not only is it not a hot light but it comes with a proper softbox! Just wondering on everyone elses opinion on this? Is 100w going to be fine? And can I use one of those optical triggers for this? I'm assuming so since it has a little optical eye on the side.

Thanks,

Brock:thumb

B Rock

Ok Ignore the choice between the diy and the manufactured ones. After some further research the decision is clear. But my question is can I shoot wirelessly with these? It says they have a photo optical cell. I'm not sure what that is. Is that those things you can buy off from ebay for real cheap to fire flashes wirelessly?

ziggy53

Brock,

I gather you have decided on the monolight strobes and I agree with the decision for a lot of reasons, but I encourage you to explore other options. The Impact monolights have cost on their side, they are inexpensive, but they are potentially lacking some important features.

Does the modelling light "follow" the flash output? (If the modelling light dims at the same rate as the flash, it is easier to visualize the light ratios for some subjects.)

Are the lights reliable and repeatable in output?

Is the duty cycle appropriate for your needs?

Is the softbox appropriate to your needs?

What other light modifiers are compatible?

Is the lack of auto-dump significant for your work?

What do you do if the flash tube burns out/blows?

(BTW, I read the reviews and, for the price, there are worse lights out there.)

B Rock

Upon further investigation I think I got this haha. Only question I have now is, since these have the optical slave cell built in, does that mean I can just use my oncamera flash and fire them?

B Rock

Does the modelling light "follow" the flash output? (If the modelling light dims at the same rate as the flash, it is easier to visualize the light ratios for some subjects.)

From what I can tell they do not follow the flash output. It would be helpful if they did but price wins out for me on this one.

Are the lights reliable and repeatable in output?

This I have no idea the answer to. I don't shoot professionally currently but would like to in the future. I'm just looking for something that I can learn studio lighting and to see if I even enjoy it.

Is the duty cycle appropriate for your needs?

I'm assuming duty cycle is another word for recycle time? 3 seconds is a bit long but I THINK I can work with that.

Is the softbox appropriate to your needs?

Although they are no 52" softboxes. I don't have any size one right now so I think they would be good.

What other light modifiers are compatible?

This is a good question. I would have the umbrellas and softboxes obviously. I'm pretty mechanically inclined so if needed I could modify stuff. Like I said this is just to get started on a budget during school and what not.

Is the lack of auto-dump significant for your work?

I honestly don't know what auto-dump is but after some google search I think I got it. Basically if I lower my output on the flash I have to fire it once before the change takes place. This seems like a luxury feature I can do without honestly.

What do you do if the flash tube burns out/blows?

From what I understand you can send it in and get it replaced. But hopefully they last long enough (the reviews seem good on this part) that by time they blow I can decide on a better system.

(BTW, I read the reviews and, for the price, there are worse lights out there.)[/quote]

Now please someone chime in and tell me if I'm wrong with my answers. Like I said, I'm new to this so I could be flat out wrong. This just seemed the best possible way to go about this. One thing to keep in mind is I wanted to build those other lights because I am on a VERY cheap budget. So when I saw these they really jumped out at me and seemed perfect!

Thanks again,

Brock

ziggy53

B Rock wrote:

... Is the duty cycle appropriate for your needs?

I'm assuming duty cycle is another word for recycle time? 3 seconds is a bit long but I THINK I can work with that.
...

Duty cycle is how long the flash will work before it needs to cool down. Since these lights don't have a fan, it is likely that they will only provide a few flashes at full pop before needing a rest period. You may want to get that question answered if it is at all important. (Shooting people for instance it might be very important as no clients will likely wait too long for the flashes to cool.)

Considering the relatively low output of the flashes, I have to express some concern. If money is tight the worst thing you want to do is put money into devices that don't work to your needs. Since none of the user reviews mentioned this as a problem, maybe it is not a problem.

B Rock wrote:

... Now please someone chime in and tell me if I'm wrong with my answers. Like I said, I'm new to this so I could be flat out wrong. This just seemed the best possible way to go about this. One thing to keep in mind is I wanted to build those other lights because I am on a VERY cheap budget. So when I saw these they really jumped out at me and seemed perfect!

Thanks again,

Brock

It does sound like there are a number of unanswered questions that I suggest you should explore to make sure these are suitable for your needs.

Relating to your question about the optical slaves on the Impact monolights, if your camera can emit a single pop then you can use the camera flash for the trigger. Most modern cameras emit a pre-flash, that would also trigger the optical slaves, rendering them unusable for this application. It would be better to use a simple external manual or "auto" flash mounted to the camera's hot shoe. Those types of flashes will only emit a single flash pulse and are suitable for an optical trigger.

If you use multiple of these lights you could probably use a pc cord to trigger one monolight and then use the optical triggers for the other lights. If your camera does not have a pc connector you would also need a hot shoe to pc adapter.

B Rock

Yeah I have an sb600 to fire it as well if needed. The duty cycle is definently something that I need to look into. Thanks for your help ziggy! I now know a direction that I need to go

ziggy53

B Rock wrote:

Yeah I have an sb600 to fire it as well if needed. The duty cycle is definently something that I need to look into. Thanks for your help ziggy! I now know a direction that I need to go

I see that the Nikon SB-600 has a manual mode so it should be possible to use that for the trigger to the optical slaves.

Good luck with your decision.

ziggy53

BTW, I believe the contact information link for Impact is:

http://www.impactstudiolighting.com/impact/Contact.do