is 300 w/s enough lighting?

[paraau]

i want to create a studio-like environment functional for up to 10-12 people. please let me know if 300 w/s is enough lightin for the main light. if not, then is 600 w/s enough? please don't answer with 'it depends'... just picture standard studio quality/needs. thanks!

[iqbal624]

What kind of Studio, what size, how many lights will you have total, what kind of modifiers do you plan on using...
:)

[Titus213]

Welcome to the forums.

I would answer your question but you specifically said you do not want my answer.

[TMR Design]

I don't know why you think it's a bad thing for us to say "it depends". The only way for anyone to help you is to ask for more detail. There's no way to just generically answer you without writing a book about studio lighting. There is no 'standard'.

So if you do want help from this forums members then it would be a good thing if you not tell us how to respond. Give us more to go on and we can help you. Limit us and tell us how not to answer and you're not very likely to get a good response, much less, help.

[Wilt]

It simply depends! (No, I didn't say 'It depends'!)

With my Dynalite, 500 w-s into a reflector head and no softbox resulted in GN88 (f/22 measured at 4') but you might get f/16 less efficient setup or even f/32 with a more efficient set. That is why 'It depends'....which flash unit???

And is the manufacturer of the unit you are looking at trying to obfuscate the issue further by claiming 'effective watt seconds'?!

How would you arrange 10-12 people, and how far away would you put the light to cover that group?!
It simply depends! If my light is 22' away, I need to use f/4. If it is 16' away, I need to use f/5.6

What type of aperture would you need to have sufficient DOF for the group in 1 or 2 or 3 rows?
How far is the camera (that affects DOF), what FL (that effects DOF). It simply depends!

[Wilt]

It simply depends! (No, I didn't say 'It depends'!)

With my Dynalite, 500 w-s into a reflector head and no softbox resulted in GN88 (f/22 measured at 4') but you might get f/16 less efficient setup or even f/32 with a more efficient set. That is why 'It depends'....which flash unit???

And is the manufacturer of the unit you are looking at trying to obfuscate the issue further by claiming 'effective watt seconds'?!

How would you arrange 10-12 people, and how far away would you put the light to cover that group?!
It simply depends! If my light is 22' away, I need to use f/4. If it is 16' away, I need to use f/5.6

What type of aperture would you need to have sufficient DOF for the group in 1 or 2 or 3 rows?
How far is the camera (that affects DOF), what FL (that effects DOF). It simply depends!


If I stand the group in 3 rows, put the light 15' away, and use f/5.6 to have DOF of 9-17' (shooting distance 12') 250 w-s would not be enough light but 500 w-s would., but a 32mm lens sees only 5.6 x 8.4', so I cannot get full standing but I can get 3/4 length standing. It simply depends!

If I stand the group in 3 rows, put the light 20' away, and use f/2.8, 250 w-s would be enough light, a 32mm lens at 16' sees an area 7.5' x 11.2' so I can get a full length standing shot of the group -- but only 7' of DOF would be inadequate to get all three rows in focus. It simply depends!

[Alleh]

Yes 300 will be enough sometimes. Yes 600 will be enough sometimes also.

[hawk911]

I would encourage you to experiment first, and decide if you like the results. If not, ask a question about your results and see what response you get. To shoot 10-12 people off the bat, with no experience on lighting, is a bit bold. Start small and work up to it.

[sandpiper]

Well, I can't really answer your question without saying 'it depends', so I will just say that I use a 600 w/s main light and most of the time that is far more than I need for what I do.

However, on occasion, it has been cranked up all the way - 'it depends' on what I am shooting at the time, what effect I am after, what modifiers I have on the head etc.

My advice would be: You can always turn a 600 w/s down if you don't need all the power, but you can't crank a 300 w/s up, when you do need that much.

I would never replace my 600 w/s with a 300 w/s because I would always prefer to have more power and not need it, than less power than I might need for a particular application. I have no idea how much power you need to do the shots you describe (because 'it depends' !!) but even if the 300 w/s is sufficient for that, are you sure that you won't have something different to shoot in the future which may need more power?

Too much is better than too little.

[Hermes]

As long as you have absolutely no follow-up questions then... yes.

[paraau]

Thanks for answering, sandpiper. Your input helped.

To those who simply answered 'it depends'.. I would hope to shoot more than ONE way that's why I didn't want a simple answer of 'it depends'. I've seen that too much on the forums and it just doesn't help. Thanks anyways...

[René Damkot]

300Ws can be enough, depending on light modifiers, light to subject distance, aperture, ISO.

With different settings, 600Ws might not be enough. So it's impossible to answer your question without knowing those variables.

[sandpiper]

Thanks for answering, sandpiper. Your input helped.



Glad to be of service :D

[PhotosGuy]

I would hope to shoot more than ONE way that's why I didn't want a simple answer of 'it depends'. I've seen that too much on the forums and it just doesn't help. Not giving us enough info doesn't help, either. I'm afraid that you will end up on a lot of Ignore lists.

[The Fox]

Know what ISO does to exposure. You 300w/s light is more then powerful enough for lighting a group of 20 people with one light (using a wall and ceiling to bounce the light off of as a diffuser) if you bump up the ISO to 400-800. If that does not work, then use something higher.
Nick


/Edit: Listen to what the other have to say, as they are mostly right. And it is really rude to tell people how to answer a question if you want help and are a guest to there home.

[noodle_snacks]

Just being anal here, but it is W.s not W/s, they are entirely different things.

[Wilt]

Just being anal here, but it is W.s not W/s, they are entirely different things.

If you want to be anal and correct, it is 'w-s' for 'watt-seconds' :) and not 'w/s' or 'watts per second' nor 'w.s' or 'watts.seconds' (my college physics teacher never taught us any units of measure for power storage or dissipation like that)

[Don Powell]

NO!

[noodle_snacks]

w.s meaning the centered dot symbol for multiplication, the dash is more a puntuation thing. The watt is defined as a joule per second. W-s is therefore Joule Seconds per Second, or Joules, which is a unit of energy, not a unit of power. W/s or watts per second is just wrong.

[Vascilli]

300W is probably enough. Probably.

[Jim M]

Back in the day, I've shot groups of about 30 in a light colored cathedral using ISO 160 flim with two bare Vivitar 283's. I've shot individual ladies, each on a motorcycle and including the whole bike, in a very dark colored night club with high ceilings at ISO 200 using a 2400 W.s power pack firing strobe heads into large soft boxes and wouldn't have objected to more light. It really does depend, but I think 300 W.s will do the job in most cases.

[JLC]

Without modifiers should be enough to get by for groups, but you really could use a bit more power with SB's or UB's.

[JMHPhotography]

I think you see the pattern forming here. Now... to avoid future "It Depends" responses, let me offer a few things to do in your next question.

First... NEVER ask if a piece of gear is efficient for what you intend to use it for without fully disclosing what exactly it is you are using it for.

Second... The more specific you are in the elements surrounding these uses... the less specific your answers will be.

From what you HAVE included in your question, the first thing comes to my mind is... "It Depends" hahaha.

[Stickman]

Thanks for answering, sandpiper. Your input helped.

To those who simply answered 'it depends'.. I would hope to shoot more than ONE way that's why I didn't want a simple answer of 'it depends'. I've seen that too much on the forums and it just doesn't help. Thanks anyways...



The answer of "it depends" is usually given to someone who either didn't understand their own question, or didn't want to write out a complete question on the subject matter.

An honest answer to your question is that it all depends on your intended purpose, or purposes. Without that info, anyone who answers is guessing.


For a lot of us, 300 is NOT enough.