Speedlight Setup or Alien Bees?

[Muskydave22]

I have been debating on which way I should go for my lighting setup. I want to be able to do some studio work and outdoor portraits, I am thinking most of them will be outdoors. I really like using wide open apertures for some of my outdoor portraits, which makes using my 580ex off camera a big advantage with HSS.

However, there is not much power in terms of speedlights and strobes would give better output. I don't think I would mind the issue of dragging the strobes around if it gave me better options and light, especially outdoors. I have been thinking of selling my 580ex because I have a cheap manual flash I can use on camera if I want to have a speedlight on camera.

So what do you think is better, more DOF and HSS but less power and options for modifiers, or less DOF, more power, and more options in terms of lighting?

Dave

[[godfather]]

If you are shooting in the sun, against the sun, I dont think one speedlight would be sufficient. A 400ws more more Strobe might do the strick, considering the size of modifier used.

[c2thew]

"I have been thinking of selling my 580ex because I have a cheap manual flash I can use on camera if I want to have a speedlight on camera."

bad idea. ettl is a must when shooting events. that's one thing canon has most of us by the jewels. 3rd party flashes are ok such as sigma and metz, but they don't offer the recycle time/refresh rate.

[bobbyz]

Dave, who you going to be shooting outdoors? Depending on what you shoot, sometimes a simple reflector is more than enough, sometimes a hot shoe flash will work and sometime you need all the juice that you can squeeze.

[Muskydave22]

It will mostly be seniors outdoors, so I probably won't be shoot against full sun since I like shooting later in the day or in the shade if I am forced to shoot in the middle of the day.

Dave

[[godfather]]

Groups? How big?

[GenuineRolla]

IF you're shooting groups and need to kill some ambient light, you'll definitely have to go with some alienbee's. They give you enough power to hit the higher f/stops, etc.

[Muskydave22]

I might be doing some groups, things like senior friend shoots and stuff like that. I have done a few using just natural light and they turned out great, but I would like to be able to control the lighting for the overall group when the lighting is not as good.

Dave

[gonzogolf]

Dave,
Have you actually put a speedlight in hss and used it for this purpose? The drop in power is significant, enough that if you use a modifier you may not get the results you envision. If not, get your hands on one and try it before you invest much.

[Red Tie Photography]

What i am doing is i bought a few 580s and am going to lean lighting with them. They are much easier to carry around anywhere and will make me want to use them more. Once i learn how to do lighting and find the limitations with my flashes, then i will decide if i need to upgrade to some stobes, but only when i find where i need the extra power. Then i can also use the flashes with the strobes for some fun background lighting or something.

[gonzogolf]

What i am doing is i bought a few 580s and am going to lean lighting with them. They are much easier to carry around anywhere and will make me want to use them more. Once i learn how to do lighting and find the limitations with my flashes, then i will decide if i need to upgrade to some stobes, but only when i find where i need the extra power. Then i can also use the flashes with the strobes for some fun background lighting or something.


Thats a really expensive way to go.

[ian.malone]

I'm still learning multiple off camera flash - I use speedlites (a 580ex and either one or two 430ex depending on my mood). While I like them for indoor as they're easy to set up and carry about, and almost idiot proof, outdoor I've had more fails than I'd like - the wireless isn't that reliable and seems to get worse the more ambient light there is.

[Muskydave22]

gonzogolf- That is my primary setup, I use the 580ex off camera with a 24' ettl cord and use it that way. I have had some great results, especially with backlit subjects and I am using the speedlight as fill light basically. I like using this setup for shallow DOF shots outside.

However, there are some times when I want more power and I have been planning on adding some bees. I think I am going to wait and get an Einstein however, because of the crazy amount of power control you have. I mean a 640 w/s strobe that goes down to 2.5 w/s thats crazy. So I am going to wait a few weeks and add one of those, then determine if I need the vagabond.

Dave

[Red Tie Photography]

Thats a really expensive way to go.

It sure is a lot cheaper than buying a full AB setup and not using them.

[gonzogolf]

It sure is a lot cheaper than buying a full AB setup and not using them. If your goal is to get to studio lighting. usings AB's and stands isnt that much more effort than speedlights and stands and you can get a complete AB setup for the cost of two 580exII's.