is it worth just to get a constant on

neastguy

light w/ umpbrella on a stand for doing portraits... if so , whats good and fairly cheap? thanks

ziggy53

neastguy wrote:

light w/ umpbrella on a stand for doing portraits... if so , whats good and fairly cheap? thanks

If I understand your question, you are asking about lights that burn continuously, commonly called "hot lights", even though now days it also includes daylight balanced fluorescent lights.

You might be interested the the discussion here:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=52064

ian408

Modeling lights are nice to have item.

neastguy

i like the idea of using a alien bee... get one to start with, just not sure how it would work with my D40... if I get an sb400 which mount on my camera.. how does the alien know when to go off and also what if I dont want the flash on my camer to go off and just want the alien to go off? thanks

James S

Well the Alien bee comes with a sync cord that plugs into your camera.

You could buy the wireless transmitter and receiver for the AB which is only about $40 then set your flash to slave. Once the AB fires then the other flash should fire. Or vice versa.

neastguy wrote:

i like the idea of using a alien bee... get one to start with, just not sure how it would work with my D40... if I get an sb400 which mount on my camera.. how does the alien know when to go off and also what if I dont want the flash on my camer to go off and just want the alien to go off? thanks

neastguy

rex wrote:

Well the Alien bee comes with a sync cord that plugs into your camera.

You could buy the wireless transmitter and receiver for the AB which is only about $40 then set your flash to slave. Once the AB fires then the other flash should fire. Or vice versa.

didnt know that there was a sync chord that works with the d40... I'll have to check out the site

James S

I wasn't sure if you had a plug for the sync cord? Either way if you get the wireless transmitter then that will connect on your hot shoe.

Scott_Quier

AlienBee strobes can be triggered a number of different ways:

• You can mount your external flash on your camera, set to manual and low power. When this flash triggers, the optical slave in the AB will trigger the strobe
• You can connect your AB to your camera via a PC cord. When you trip the shutter release, a circuit in the camera closes and this sends a signal to the AB via the PC cord.
• You can get a radio transmitter (PocketWizard, for example). Mount on on your camera and connect a second to your AB. When you trigger your shutter, the radio transmitter is triggered (usually though you the hot-shoe) and sends a signal to the receiver connected to the AB. This triggers the receiver which sends a signal to the AB.

In all these cases, the fastest shutter speed you have available to you is that of the camera's x-synch speed, usually 1/250 second - check your camera's owner's manual as YMMV.

I have used all these methods and, in the appropriate environment, they are all very reliable.

neastguy

Scott_Quier wrote:

AlienBee strobes can be triggered a number of different ways:

• You can mount your external flash on your camera, set to manual and low power. When this flash triggers, the optical slave in the AB will trigger the strobe
• You can connect your AB to your camera via a PC cord. When you trip the shutter release, a circuit in the camera closes and this sends a signal to the AB via the PC cord.
• You can get a radio transmitter (PocketWizard, for example). Mount on on your camera and connect a second to your AB. When you trigger your shutter, the radio transmitter is triggered (usually though you the hot-shoe) and sends a signal to the receiver connected to the AB. This triggers the receiver which sends a signal to the AB.

In all these cases, the fastest shutter speed you have available to you is that of the camera's x-synch speed, usually 1/250 second - check your camera's owner's manual as YMMV.

I have used all these methods and, in the appropriate environment, they are all very reliable.

ok, I think I need one of these and a sync cable to attach to this as-15.. what I gather is that this as-15 attaches to the top of my camera and then I think I can get a sync cable that will attach to the AB800.. do you think I'm barking up the right tree?

Scott_Quier

neastguy wrote:

ok, I think I need one of these and a sync cable to attach to this as-15.. what I gather is that this as-15 attaches to the top of my camera and then I think I can get a sync cable that will attach to the AB800.. do you think I'm barking up the right tree?

A quick search on the D40 (I shoot Canon, so Nikon is unknown ground for me), seems to show that the camera does not have a PC socket. If that is the case, then something like what you show will do the trick quite nicely, if you want to go with wires.

The AB strobes are delivered with a 15-foot PC cord that will plug right into the PC socket of the AS-15, so no need to go and buy yourself another one - unless 15' isn't long enough for your needs.

cmason

neastguy wrote:

light w/ umpbrella on a stand for doing portraits... if so , whats good and fairly cheap? thanks

OK well these are all fantastic recommendations...BUT...they all require significant investment. You may want to take the route I did, which works perfectly and is very affordable.

Instead of monolights and tons of modifiers, I decided to use the flash I already had. I have a Canon 430EX. To this I added a Westcott 32" umbrella and 6ft umbrella stand. Total cost: $40.

I use an ST-E2 to make it simply to move around yet still communicate with the flash. ($250) Others use ebay flash dongles, there are lots of solutions.

I then purchased a used Canon 420EX ($100), then bought the umbrella/stand combo all over again. I now have two lights on umbrella, with full auto ratio control from the ST-E2. I haven't had too much time to play with it, but it does perform beautifully.

Now, there are no modelling lights. This means it can be difficult to judge exactly where the light is aimed. But, it is digital, so I just take a shot, peek at the lcd, then move the light...effective. Not what you would want to be doing in a professional setting, but heck....my backdrop is a paint dropcloth!

Scott_Quier

cmason wrote:

OK well these are all fantastic recommendations...BUT...they all require significant investment. You may want to take the route I did, which works perfectly and is very affordable.

Instead of monolights and tons of modifiers, I decided to use the flash I already had. I have a Canon 430EX. To this I added a Westcott 32" umbrella and 6ft umbrella stand. Total cost: $40.

I use an ST-E2 to make it simply to move around yet still communicate with the flash. ($250) Others use ebay flash dongles, there are lots of solutions.

I then purchased a used Canon 420EX ($100), then bought the umbrella/stand combo all over again. I now have two lights on umbrella, with full auto ratio control from the ST-E2. I haven't had too much time to play with it, but it does perform beautifully.

Now, there are no modelling lights. This means it can be difficult to judge exactly where the light is aimed. But, it is digital, so I just take a shot, peek at the lcd, then move the light...effective. Not what you would want to be doing in a professional setting, but heck....my backdrop is a paint dropcloth!

Sounds like a very excellent suggestion.

It's really easy to go over-board in making suggestions/recommendations - after all, it's not our money!