Continuos lighting?

[liliayanez]

Hi I bought a continuos portrait studio lighting with 3 soft boxes (britek)
I just playing with that but a friend of mine says why the lights doesnt flash and I said cuz are continuos lighting and he says that it has to work also flashing. He said maybe my kit is incomplete. Can anybody tell to me if he is right? I really dont know the different kind of lighting can someone explain to me.
Thanks.
LY

[steveathome]

Continuous lighting is that, no flash.

I don't know the britek range, but tell your friend he is wrong - better still have a wager with him.

[liliayanez]

Thanks for the information :)
LY

[TeeJay]

I'm not familiar with the brand, but doing a quick google search, I can only find Britek "flash" heads.

Which model exactly are you using?

TJ

[René Damkot]

If you've got one of these (http://www.briteklight.com/prococoli.html) or these (http://www.briteklight.com/hali.html), they won't flash. These (http://www.briteklight.com/proseries.html) will. (Seems like Yahoo works better than google ;))

[liliayanez]

I have a continuos light 1000 watts per head (3000 watts total) Light base R-7S 117 M?M
color temperature 3200 kelvin, what do you think about this kit?
LY

[pindaro]

I'm not much of a studio person, but I got the chance to use the foto flo 400 from Kino Flo.

The setting was very simple, only one 4' unit with a grid.

I'm very happy with the outcome and I'm planning to get my own, you can see the images here (http://flickr.com/photos/milpalabras/sets/72157594538965893/)

[liliayanez]

Ok thanks for the information. :)
LY

[Kadath]

I was at a Lightroom tour with Scott Kelby last week where he was using two Wescott continuous lights, and was pretty impressed. I had never really considered continuous due to the cost and newness, but the two lights he had were under $1k with all the accessories he had, which I thought was pretty reasonable.

So what are the downsides to continuous? I assume that pound for pound they don't nearly throw as much light as a flash unit.

[Kadath]

Here's a pic of the setup he was using:
http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2007/archives/240

And more details about the set:
http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2007/archives/226

And his original details:
http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2007/archives/152

[steveathome]

So what are the downsides to continuous? I assume that pound for pound they don't nearly throw as much light as a flash unit.


for me

Too hot - especially for the model in front of them (tungsten anyway)
Not enough light output
Contracts the iris of the model
not as easily adjusted (for output) as modern flash units

will also be affected by mains fluctuation
expensive for what they are
Colour shift, so cant mix with daylight

maybe good for learning to look at light, but you can do that with your flash modelling lights also.

Edit:
Just looked at the models Scott was using and see they can be balanced to daylight, and run cool.

[Kadath]

Scott was using Cold Flourescent Lamps in his, I should have mentioned that. It was no hotter than anywhere in the room directly in between these two lights!

[Ed Kanney]

Read the directions!

[steveathome]

I must admit I based my comments on tungsten lighting that I once had (for a very short period), you have the upper hand of seeing something else with obviously more appeal.

As I have spent a fair bit on flash recently, dont be tempting me to something else - I cant afford it ;)

[Kadath]

There also seems to be a dimmer on them so you arent running them full bore constantly. I have asked Scott to follow up with links to the exact bulbs he uses and how well they are holding up. I seriously wanted both the lighting kit and the printer he used (Epson 3800) but neither are really practical for me.

With as amazing as the CFLs are and this kit seemed to be the real deal, it was shocking to me that they havent made a bigger splash with photographers yet. Thats why I'm curious about the downsides, as these dont appear to be significantly less bright, shorter lasting or more expensive than a comparable flash rig....