Best Speedlite for Home Photography?

We rarely run umbrellas in our family home real estate business, there is often no space for such a set up. In most cases, we just run the AD200 up on the stand and at an angle aimed at the ceiling to light up the space, with a diffuser over the strobe bulb.

With the AD200, do you find that you prefer the bare bulb or the fresnel? And do you use an S-bracket or just screw it onto a spigot? What do you use for diffusion?

I've seen some of Scott Hargis' videos, and in certain situations, he does use an umbrella, but mostly just bounce flash for real estate.

rburgett wrote in post #18491975
With the AD200, do you find that you prefer the bare bulb or the fresnel? And do you use an S-bracket or just screw it onto a spigot? What do you use for diffusion?

I've seen some of Scott Hargis' videos, and in certain situations, he does use an umbrella, but mostly just bounce flash for real estate.

We use the bare bulb and put this over it.

https://www.amazon.com …_SY300_QL70_&dp​Src=detail

This makes the AD200 basically a floor light, but we can angle it however we want by using the S-bracket. With the light stand, we can put these down behind furniture, or raise it up to cast a bright light into the corner of the ceiling to light up the rest of the room, like a giant softbox.

It was nearly impossible to use the tripod threads on the AD200, too difficult to manipulate the light where we wanted it, the S-bracket makes easy work of this.

If you do want to direct the light more tightly, you can use this. I don't think we have used ours yet though for this application.

https://www.amazon.com …fRID=J0XXVZ62M1​6S1TQZDE1X

Dang ... that last thing does look just a little bit 'Gary Fong for Godox'.

FWIW, I have the Godox X1T-N transmitter and by tomorrow *3* TT600 flashes. I'll get one Godox TTL flash later but with 3 manual flashes, I can do studio or what ever I want. The TTL flash will be used for run and gun indoors if the need arises.

Flashpoint R2 and Godox X1 are the same.

Story is in the end, I regret buying the flashes and controllers I bought in the past and not starting with Godox.

The TT600 is really bright so I can do a lot with it!!

I hope this helps,
Andrew

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate your comments and advice. I do have a few followup questions.

1. When shooting real estate images, are the majority of you using one or two lights and is one of the lights on the camera?

2. What light stand do you recommend?

3. Regarding the Yongnuo 600EX RT-II Speedlite kit, can you control those lights from within the Canon 70D menu system?

4. I like the idea of using an umbrella, especially for larger interior shots. Which umbrella do you recommend?

We run 2 lights, and put them on these stands, although I think I paid something around $40 each, not $57. These are compact and fold down to less than 20". This means they can fit into the 1510 Pelican case. Stands not great for outside use if there is any wind and you have modifiers on the lights though.

https://www.adorama.co​m …eyFMo3eHmeOIaAj​cNEALw_wcB

These are another version of the stands that TeamSpeed linked to.

https://mpex.com …and-w-carrying-strap.html

I find Lumopro equipment to be pretty good. I have a couple of their 3-in-1 umbrellas ( https://mpex.com …-43-compact-umbrella.html ) and their 8' light stands ( https://mpex.com …ushioned-light-stand.html ). Good quality.

And, a budget minded knock off, for shoe string spenders like me...

https://www.amazon.com …0&hsa_cr_id=298​7597810901

HTH,
Andrew

Thanks everyone. I ended up picking up (2) refurbished 430EX III's from the Canon store for a ridiculous $149/ea., which includes a 1-year warranty. I do have a few followup questions though.

1. Do I have to purchase the Canon ST-E3-RT transmitter or is there something less expensive that's compatible?

2. Which light stand do you recommend?

3. Which light diffuser do you recommend?

Thanks!

kcrossley wrote in post #18519341
Thanks everyone. I ended up picking up (2) refurbished 430EX III's from the Canon store for a ridiculous $149/ea., which includes a 1-year warranty. I do have a few followup questions though.

1. Do I have to purchase the Canon ST-E3-RT transmitter or is there something less expensive that's compatible?

2. Which light stand do you recommend?

3. Which light diffuser do you recommend?


Thanks!

There are other more affordable options to the Canon ST-E3-RT's. Google that and it should come up with a selection of affordable third party triggers which will do exactly the same thing.
Now that your lights are purchased, this will likely be the second expensive item. YN E3 RT should do fine.

For starters, Cowboy Studio Lightstands are pretty good, and affordable Lightstands

Light diffusers, I'd look at umbrellas to begin with. Something you can use as a reflector and also a shoot-through. Something like Westcott, however there are different makes, sizes and prices.

You will also need a bracket to hold your flash and umbrella on the stand. Something like this one.

There are also all-inclusive kits that will package everything together for you and might save you some money.

As always, suggestions and opinions are varied. These are just mine for getting started.

kcrossley wrote in post #18519341
Thanks everyone. I ended up picking up (2) refurbished 430EX III's from the Canon store for a ridiculous $149/ea., which includes a 1-year warranty. I do have a few followup questions though.

1. Do I have to purchase the Canon ST-E3-RT transmitter or is there something less expensive that's compatible? ...

You could look at the following:

• Yongnuo YN-600EX-RT II speedlight
  
• Yongnuo YN-686EX-RT (Li-ion) speedlight
  
• Yongnuo YN-968EX-RT (has a video LED) speedlight
  
• Yongnuo YN-E3-RT
  
• Phottix Laso transmitter
  
• Jinbei/Orlit TR611C transmitter
  

If they are Canon 430 III they already have radio transmitters and receivers built in to them. I've had them for years and they work first time, every time. There are several YouTube videos on how to set them up, but they are very, very easy to use.

James P wrote in post #18520403
If they are Canon 430 III they already have radio transmitters and receivers built in to them. I've had them for years and they work first time, every time. There are several YouTube videos on how to set them up, but they are very, very easy to use.

Thanks for your response James. In order to use the built-in transmitter one of them has to be on the hot shoe, correct?

Also, may I ask which diffuser you prefer to use with with 430 EX III's?

Yes, one flash would have to be on the hot shoe. Although this may not sound useful at first glance, I often use this method to light a subject straight on and use a second 430 III - RT as a hair light, with and without gels. It suits my style and opportunities when shooting people outdoors when a variety of locations are available. It is also very fast and easy to simply turn off the hot shoe flash and use the second one to light someone from the side. The price of a second 430 III - RT is around the same as the ST-E3-RT and has some of the same triggering capabilities. (not group mode)