soft box setup for outdoors

This setup will run two lights up to 600watts each...the light in the picture is 300 watts and runs all day long on a single charge. Cheap wireless trigger. cart and converter came from harbor freight. light came from steve kaeser photography

IMAGE LINK: http://www.mynetimages​.com

IMAGE LINK: http://www.mynetimages​.com

LOL i'm loving the car battery set up!

When I thought about buying a dedicated battery pack at a thousand bucks......this was way cheaper

Just make sure that the inverter is a pure sine inverter and not a modified sine. Strobes don't like the modified sine inverters....

sandbags

Safety, honestly. Couple of $100 is worth it IMHO.

your right the picture doesn't show everything....extensio​n cords,wireless triggers,sandbags,etc.​..this picture was for another site because we were talking about alternative equipment.....so for anyone that was on a budget....you still can own and use a soft box anywhere...

I thought I would share it here.

you can also make your own backdrops... http://www.diyphotogra​phy.net …in-photography-background

just curious, why not the vegabond mini?

I have thought about doing something similar but by time I get done pricing it all out.....

Edit: oh dear, looks like that is: Modified sine wave technology
http://www.harborfreig​ht.com …power-inverter-93761.html

wolfden wrote in post #13823242
just curious, why not the vegabond mini?

I have thought about doing something similar but by time I get done pricing it all out.....

Edit: oh dear, looks like that is: Modified sine wave technology
http://www.harborfreig​ht.com …power-inverter-93761.html

My setup runs 2 600watt lights at the same time.....vagabond mini is rated for 300 watts

How does your rig work for you when you need to go "off the beaten track" ?

In the photos you show, it looks as though you could park your car at the kerb and push the trolly down the footpath to your location.

Have you ever had the need to go more then 5 meters from a paved area ?

That's my only concern with what is otherwise an awesome setup !!

Cheers,

Austen.

most of the places I shoot are paved the farthest I've had to be from the cart was 200 feet extension cords took care of that. I keep telling myself I should change the wheels out for an off road set. procrastination is the only reason I haven't.... this cart is great it folds up...it extends bigger....I've tied the light stand to the cart was even more mobile

stanclark wrote in post #13825318
My setup runs 2 600watt lights at the same time.....vagabond mini is rated for 300 watts

I can run my 640ws Einstein off my mini's no issues. Recycling time at full power is still ok for what I shoot. If more juice is needed original VB II is nice. Paul is suppose to come with lithium ion version of that also. Call me paranoid, I am just worried with all those exposed wires and aluminium hand truck. Any problem and we talking millions is liability. So saving couple of hundred $ is not a smart move IMHO. Now for some it might not matter.

bobbyz wrote in post #13826288
...Call me paranoid, I am just worried with all those exposed wires and aluminium hand truck.....

Those "exposed" wires are all 12v wires, they're not going to hurt you.

Of course, what could be an issue is the zillion amps in the battery all jumping out at once.

That would make lots of big sparks, which could cause other bad things to happen.

IMHO, The OP should have a fuse / circuit breaker as close to the battery terminal as possible, but apart from that, it's a great setup.

The lethal voltages (110v / 240v) are safely contained in the mains power leads just as they are in any other situation, be it PCB inverters or directly into a wall-plug in the studio.

While I've no doubt you can run your Einsteins just fine from a PCM Mini, and it works fine for your needs, the OP won't be needing to worry about recycle times of keeping one eye on the battery charge !!

My $AUD 0.02 !!

Austen.

charlieharper wrote in post #13826358
While I've no doubt you can run your Einsteins just fine from a PCM Mini, and it works fine for your needs, the OP won't be needing to worry about recycle times of keeping one eye on the battery charge !!

Here are the specs from AB site. I think Rob G did some thorough testing.

recycles 160 Ws in approx. 0.75 seconds
recycles 320 Ws in approx. 1.5 seconds
recycles 640 Ws in approx. 3 seconds
recycles 1280 Ws in approx. 7 seconds

typically 400 to 500 shots per charge with 640 total Ws connected
typically 200 to 250 shots per charge with 1280 total Ws connected

I don't know how many pops you need and OP didn't mention anything at all abouts pops or recycling time.

As long as it is a deep cycle battery and the strobes are happy with the inverter, it should work great.