Easiest Flash lighting set to carry around

I am looking at the speedotron brown line 2 light kit w/umbrella kit. It does seem like alot to take with me for a photo session. Can I just use Canon Speedlite system. I am not a professional photog and pretty much a newbie so any recommendations on a nice travel system would be appreciated.

Don't be looking at the speedotron setup just quite yet; it's a pretty big commitment. It's for sure not a travel system. And if you're going to be using umbrellas, unless you're looking at some large parabolic one or something like a photek softlighter, you're skimping out in the wrong places. Not to rip on umbrellas, it's just that theyre more a budget modifier, and while the speedotron brown line is their budget series, the commitment towards carrying around a pack head system like that and using umbrellas is sorta like driving a souped up car and skimping on the tires.

Speedlites are great, they're so much more convenient to carry around than studio strobes (I deal with it, but it's a pretty big pain sometimes). They also power down really low, compared to the speedotrons, which one have 2-3 power settings, and you'll be forced to deal with more power than you really want to use.

o2happpy wrote in post #14118560
I am looking at the speedotron brown line 2 light kit w/umbrella kit. It does seem like alot to take with me for a photo session. Can I just use Canon Speedlite system. I am not a professional photog and pretty much a newbie so any recommendations on a nice travel system would be appreciated.

I just bought a Dynalite setup and I'm selling my Speedos for this very reason. I have a full Blackline setup with 5 202VF heads and 2 packs that fits perfectly into a Pelican 1654 case...that weighs over 100lbs fully loaded.

The Dynalites come in at 7lbs for an 800w/s pack and 2lbs per 2050 heads that I have. They're also a lot more expensive compared to some other options.

You could also look at a setup using monolights. Monolights don't require a pack to run them, just a wall outlet or a battery. You could get a VML and two B800's or other cheaper non bi-voltage monolight to help keep the weight down and still have a good bit of usable power.

Speedlights are good if you're not having to overpower strong ambient. Two things I consider a big negative are the batteries and the recycle times. Unless you're running external battery packs, which can be expensive, you'll have to keep track of a lot of AA's and your recycle times will be much slower than with a "studio" strobe.

I have to best of both worlds and have a pack and head setup and a speedlight setup. That's the ideal way to do it, IMHO, but not everyone's budget lets them start there. I do have 24 rechargable AA's, two sets of 4 for each speedlight that I have to keep track of and keep charged when using the speedlights. That's a real pain in the ass some days.

asamimasa wrote in post #14118889
Don't be looking at the speedotron setup just quite yet; it's a pretty big commitment. It's for sure not a travel system. And if you're going to be using umbrellas, unless you're looking at some large parabolic one or something like a photek softlighter, you're skimping out in the wrong places. Not to rip on umbrellas, it's just that theyre more a budget modifier, and while the speedotron brown line is their budget series, the commitment towards carrying around a pack head system like that and using umbrellas is sorta like driving a souped up car and skimping on the tires.

Speedlites are great, they're so much more convenient to carry around than studio strobes (I deal with it, but it's a pretty big pain sometimes). They also power down really low, compared to the speedotrons, which one have 2-3 power settings, and you'll be forced to deal with more power than you really want to use.

Sometimes an umbrella is all you need and speedlights aren't convenient when you run out of battery power.

I'm not sure of the brown lines, but IIRC, the 1200w/s pack I have can go from 1200w/s all the way down to 25w/s.

Good advice guys, I really aprreciate all the opinions. I really do not want to deal with the batteries with the speedlites, but is too much power for the lites a bad thing? Rather have more power than not having sufficient lighting, right?

All of the current speedotron browns have only one stop of adjustability according to the manufacturer site. This means that with a 1200w/s pack, you can only have the full 1200w/s blast or 600w/s, and in my opinion, both are way too powerful. People will tell you that you can never have too much power, but very few people actually use their flashes at full power all the time. You'll find yourself often having to go to f32 and beyond, especially indoors. And because you'll have to move your lights back to use a larger, more reasonable aperture, you'll also be compromising softness of light (since closer your modifier is to subject-> softer light).

Something like a Canon 580EX or Yongnuo 560 will have more than enough power for indoor use unless you're trying to fill up something like a 7' parabolic umbrella and trying to shoot at f22.

You mentioned travel system, so I assumed this would be used outdoors/not in a home studio. If it's a home studio, a pack head system makes more sense, but if you're hopping through some foreign countries, a system like this is not something you want to deal with unless you're specifically going to use it (think Joey L).

I don't get why you'd be so against having to deal with speedlite batteries, even with a pack head system with batteries, you'll only get ~250 1/1 pops with a full charge.

asamimasa wrote in post #14119412
All of the current speedotron browns have only one stop of adjustability according to the manufacturer site. This means that with a 1200w/s pack, you can only have the full 1200w/s blast or 600w/s, and in my opinion, both are way too powerful. People will tell you that you can never have too much power, but very few people actually use their flashes at full power all the time. You'll find yourself often having to go to f32 and beyond, especially indoors. And because you'll have to move your lights back to use a larger, more reasonable aperture, you'll also be compromising softness of light (since closer your modifier is to subject-> softer light).

It sounds like you've never used a pack and head system before.

With one light, you can get 1200w/s, 900w/s, 600w/s, 450w/s, 300w/s, or 225w/s. As you add heads, the power divides. With 2 heads you can get 600w/s, 300w/s, 150w/s, and 75ws. With 4 heads on one 1200w/s brownline pack, you can get as little as 22.5w/s.

It totally depends on when and where you shoot as to whether or not a certain amount of power is going to be too much and then even if it is, you can use ND filters. You can never add more power to the max power rating of a flash. That's why I use packs. I shoot outside and I don't always shoot one person or smaller scenes. I do cars, I've done larger setups. It's simply not enough for me and trying to use HSS in TTL mode to overpower the sun just isn't an option here. Even then, I can turn the power down when I need to. I have an 800w/s Dynalite pack I can shoot at 800w/s or 50w/s, IIRC. Monolights usually have even better adjustability.

asamimasa wrote in post #14119412
Something like a Canon 580EX or Yongnuo 560 will have more than enough power for indoor use unless you're trying to fill up something like a 7' parabolic umbrella and trying to shoot at f22.

What happens when it isn't enough power?

asamimasa wrote in post #14119412
You mentioned travel system, so I assumed this would be used outdoors/not in a home studio. If it's a home studio, a pack head system makes more sense, but if you're hopping through some foreign countries, a system like this is not something you want to deal with unless you're specifically going to use it (think Joey L).

I also mentioned monolights. There's also battery power pack and head systems. Look at the popularity of the Elinchrom Quadra system. You just can't beat it and most everyone on here that's used them love them. But then again, it depends what you shoot and how you shoot. You're not going to be able to overpower the sun with one speedlight unless you're using TTL and then that's something I don't deal with. But my system is light and travels easy for when I need the extra power.

asamimasa wrote in post #14119412
I don't get why you'd be so against having to deal with speedlite batteries, even with a pack head system with batteries, you'll only get ~250 1/1 pops with a full charge.

And when I'm not shooting at full power I get a lot more pops. When I'm on location and I don't need a battery, you still do and you're still at a finite amount of shots. When I have my Dynalites and I'm shooting, I'll have more than enough power that I need and only require one battery, which can be switched out when it's dead. I don't have 4 batteries for each light that needs to be carried around with me. Those days are the ones that I spend the previous night charging up at least 24 batteries.

A neat trick I'd like to try is a light weight monolight that's about 300w/s and a VML velcroed to it. It's an all in one light with way more power than a speedlight and is one mostly self contained unit.

I only take my speedlights when I know I can get away with it.

Ah, forgot about the power halving with extra heads, studying for finals and procrastinating here-> neither gets 100% of my attention

So Mr. Op, it'd help a lot if you could better define what it is you plan to shoot, and what kind of budget you're looking at! Also how much portability plays a factor.

If budget or lots of portability is a priority, a few speedlites with umbrellas would be the safest bet. But seeing as you're looking at speedotrons, it seems neither apply strictly in your case.

If budget isn't so much an issue and you want pretty good portability, I'd go with the Quadras and a deep octa. I'm happy with my Einstein+Vagabond mini, but do look at the Quadras with a little bit of envy

How are you planning on powering the speedotron pack in the field?

for a quick run gun setup I have Einsteins w/ power MC2 reciever. This way I can control 3 groups remotely on camera using a PW flex with AC3 controller.

It all comes down to $$$.

For quick remote stuff for indoor work (no wind) and no sun/bright lights to fight with I'll go with my PW flex w/ canon speedlites and shoot manual mode. (Phottix odin users can chime in aswell).

a big question is where you travelling?? indoor setups?? outdoors??? Einstein with mini lithium packs is a very portable setup and is infact lighter in weight than an elinchrom quadra (weighing battery and light).

AlanU wrote in post #14120084
Einstein with mini lithium packs is a very portable setup and is infact lighter in weight than an elinchrom quadra (weighing battery and light).

I would lean toward the Elinchrom Quadra, while the overall weight on the Einstein VLM combo is slightly less the majority of the weight is on the wrong end of the equation. The Battery side is lighter but the Head is much heavier and thats the part that has to go up in the air. This means heavier stands are needed or a more worn out assistant . You also have an LED modeling light that is designed to be used with the battery pack and thus has much less drain. No matter what you end up with I would stay away from speed lights, while they can be a great option the lack of modeling lights will add to the learning curve of using off camera light. And the lack of power may come into play if your competing with daylight. Also factor in a light meter to the budget, in the age of digital you can get by without one but if you learn to use one you won't want to get by without it.

asamimasa wrote in post #14119987
Ah, forgot about the power halving with extra heads, studying for finals and procrastinating here-> neither gets 100% of my attention

So Mr. Op, it'd help a lot if you could better define what it is you plan to shoot, and what kind of budget you're looking at! Also how much portability plays a factor.

If budget or lots of portability is a priority, a few speedlites with umbrellas would be the safest bet. But seeing as you're looking at speedotrons, it seems neither apply strictly in your case.

If budget isn't so much an issue and you want pretty good portability, I'd go with the Quadras and a deep octa. I'm happy with my Einstein+Vagabond mini, but do look at the Quadras with a little bit of envy

Planning on shooting indoor portraits like taking equipment to customer's homes and/or business. Looking to spend around 1000-1500max. Portability is not that much a factor but I would like to have a quick setup so I do not have to spend too long dealing with equipment.

I like heavier stands then no need for assistants. I used to use AB800 with VML, now using Einstein. Just got CC for remote power control but you can use any plain old triggers.

o2happpy wrote in post #14123447
Planning on shooting indoor portraits like taking equipment to customer's homes and/or business. Looking to spend around 1000-1500max. Portability is not that much a factor but I would like to have a quick setup so I do not have to spend too long dealing with equipment.

If you have access to power and you're not in need of a battery, or not in need of one too often, then don't go with speedlights. They have their place and they're hands down the best option for portability, but like every system I can think of, they have their pros and cons.