What is the difference between monolights and ac strobes?

[CanonPhoto87]

?? sorry im really trying to get into lighting but have no idea where to start or what to buy.....

[CanonPhoto87]

Would this be a good setup?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/442493-REG/Smith_Victor_401514_FL140_3_Light_Studio.html



Or could someone suggest something for a beginning professional? :)

[Kamik636]

here's a link to help answer your questions, also check out the rest of the stickies at the top of the lighting forum page
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=448755

Also, that lighting kit you posted a link to looks pretty bad, not much control over the lights, only half and full power is selectable and quality is going to be very questionable. Your best bet is to look into some aliens bees or elinchrom d-lites or similar to start off with. Just one or 2 is all you need to start.

[jcolman]

monolights are self contained units with the power pack inside the light housing. To be honest, I wouldn't spend money on studio lighting until you've got a good understanding of the ins and outs of lighting. Maybe get a couple of cheaper strobes like the Sunpack 383 and some light modifiers first. Then you'll have a basic three light setup that you can easily take on location.

[kennykodak]

if you had a mono light, let's say 600 ws
and if you had a power pack with a cabled flash head, again let's 600 ws
the difference to you in output would be one stop more from the mono light.
approximately one stop of flash is lost in the resistance of the cable between a pack and a head.

[steve215]

http://www.skaeser.com/servlet/Detail?no=279

so this isn't much better than what the op posted then... save ourselves a new thread i guess

[CanonPhoto87]

monolights are self contained units with the power pack inside the light housing. To be honest, I wouldn't spend money on studio lighting until you've got a good understanding of the ins and outs of lighting. Maybe get a couple of cheaper strobes like the Sunpack 383 and some light modifiers first. Then you'll have a basic three light setup that you can easily take on location.

see im a little confused, what is light modifiers? and getting stobes what else would i need to get a full set up?

[steve215]

^^^ you should really go and watch the videos in the stickies. They are very helpful. Plus, you feel smart after you watch them because you actually know what people are talking about. Well I felt smart!

[steve215]

sorry no link
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=385130