Orbis or Stand mounted hotshoe?

RacinRandy

Hey Gang,

Looking for a Opinions and Options. A friend of mine asked me to shoot his wedding in February. Here's the rub, I have a Canon 430exII on an EOS Rebel XS with the 18-55mm IS USM kit lens and a 70-300mm 4.0-5.6 USM.

What I am thinking is getting(Or renting) a two stand/PLM kit with 86" PLM's. Along with a purchase of those transmitter/receivers that Art likes. I would need to purchase AT LEAST one more Speedlite unit. I am thinking of upgrading to a 580exII anyways so that and the 430 plus one more? :scratch

I am also wondering about the ORBIS ring light i saw advertised on Strobist. Has anyone used one? would that be a benefit or hindrance to the shoot?

The Wedding is taking place in an Old "Theater" that seats about 200. Has 20' foot ceilings on the stage(where the "action" is) and 30' ceilings in the seating area. The Stage is about 30 feet wide as is the seating room. I have been allotted 2 hours pre ceremony for all the shots that don't involve Bride and groom together. I have 45 minutes between the rice and the reception to get those(dang tight scheduling).:dunno

Looking for tips and advice on "Budget" Equipment for this shoot but that will gel in with later Purchasing of Better lighting. I am looking at the Alien Bees AB800 kit but thats a solid 6months away minimum before i can afford that.

I do intend to rent a 2.8 lens for a week for this shoot as well(so i have some practice time with the lens and lights before the shoot) what lens would you guys recommend?

Thanks in advance,

Art Scott

If you can afford it I would rent at least 2 580's .....buy 1 then rent the 2 and keep the 430 for back up, 2 PLM's or softboxes and stands with dual light brackets......Paul Buff has probably the best priced PLM's I have seen and you can get light blocking covers to turn them into 180 degree softboxes also............

ziggy53

Art Scott wrote:

If you can afford it I would rent at least 2 580's .....buy 1 then rent the 2 and keep the 430 for back up, 2 PLM's or softboxes and stands with dual light brackets......Paul Buff has probably the best priced PLM's I have seen and you can get light blocking covers to turn them into 180 degree softboxes also............

Art, that's an amazingly good price on a dual flash bracket with riser. Very nice find.

Art Scott

ziggy53 wrote:

Art, that's an amazingly good price on a dual flash bracket with riser. Very nice find.

Thanks Ziggy.....been looking for quite a while....the HotShoe Diaries got me to thinking I need to move away from SunPak 622's and quantum batteries.....to shoe mounts and maybe just incorporate them totally into my portrait studio and wedding cases.......get rid of all of the AC flash units...as I am not shooting huge subjects .....it is just the intial cost of AA batteries and chargers that are a killjoy......................

RacinRandy

Just to make certain I understand.

Art Scott wrote:

If you can afford it I would rent at least 2 580's .....buy 1 then rent the 2 and keep the 430 for back up, 2 PLM's or softboxes and stands with dual light brackets......Paul Buff has probably the best priced PLM's I have seen and you can get light blocking covers to turn them into 180 degree softboxes also............

What your saying is get these dual shoe mounts with the PLM risers. Rent 2 580's (or buy one rent one more) and mount one with each PLM? or am i trying to get 2 with each PLM? I looked at Paul Buff and the Silver PLM's are backordered(:cry)I think the PLM's are my best bet and wanted the silver faced ones with the cover BOOOO backorders!!! Order them and Pray as I have two months before the shoot?

Art, whats the link for those Wireless units again? I want to get a set before Christmas.

Thanks for all the assistance!!

Art Scott

RD 616 flash triggers are here ..........

i do not know the power difference between the 580 and 430 but I figure it is significant.......I was saying to buy one (580) and rent 2......you have a 430.....if these work like the Nikon CLS system where they wil talk to each other and the camera then it could mean some great shots as you could use 2 in a PLM as a main light one in the other PLM as a fill and the 430 as a back light or kicker if needed......if your glass is fast enuff then one 580 in each PLM would do it..........I found I can shoot my D300 wit the pop-up as commander and use my SB900 as remote and then hook up the RD 616 transmitter to the PC sync outlet and use the Sunpak's or Vivitar flashes on total manual.....looks wonky to have the RD transmitter hanging when the pop up is up.......but it works......also found that 1 RD receiver will fire more than 1 flash using a 3-way sync connector.........actually fired 4 flashes with the antique 4-way sync connector I bought locally week before last...............

Good Luck

RacinRandy

Okay, Got the transmitter/receivers coming and the dual bracket/riser things too.

The PLM's from Alien Bees are still Backordered. Boooo... Would the Silver/Gold reversible 60" "bumberchute" be a Viable replacement? Or do I just pray the 86"ers come available before then?

Budget is tight for this stuff right now so I'm Looking in the $300 area