A New Bare Bulb Flash Arrives

awesome!

James1usa wrote in post #17119084
Attached is a spreadsheet showing the various f/stops achieved using the Cheetah CL360 light and 14 different light modifiers I own at 3 power settings and 3 distances from subject. My goal in doing this was to find what combinations would give me Sunny 16 (f/16) sun equalization on typical days and those that do are in bold type on the chart. I do a lot of desert and beach shoots and having this info in a easy to use chart is very helpful. (I print the chart, laminate it and carry with my lighting setups). I originally did this back in March, but reran all the test combinations this past weekend to include 2 new Fotodiox light modifiers recently purchased.

The testing was done in my garage studio with minimal ambient, each flash was 100% contribution per the meter reading. The Avenger C-stand was set up with the CL360 in a S bracket and the stands shaft centered over 3 taped marks on the floor at the different distances from a white wall. This means the light was in the same position for all the light modifiers, even though the front of some modifiers may have been closer to the wall than others. Of course for the shoot back umbrellas, Buff PLM and Westcott modifiers, the light is reversed and pointing away from the wall, which means the light traveled a tiny bit more, but this is how I chose to run the test for uniformity. I set the Sekonic L-358 light meter to ISO 100 and a shutter speed of 1/200, as this is typically what I use in the field. The light meter was held against a tape mark on the wall, equal to the same height as the light, (about 5’ 6” high). The light was triggered by the Cheetah transmitter/receiver set. - BTW 100% fire rate, no misfires during both this, and the AD180 test.

What the results show (to me) is that the CL360 is just adequate to use mid day in Sunny 16 situations. With a few select modifiers; the Godox metal reflector, Elinchrom Maxilite, and bare PLM, Orb, Qbox and 48” Octa at 5’ 6”, you can overpower the sun by 1 stop (f/22 or maybe 1 stop more). But if you want a diffused light at f/22, so as to not have harsh lighting or reduce oily skin shine, only the Godox metal reflector with diffuser will achieve this. Shooting earlier/later in the day, or in shaded/diffused situations, and the CL 360 has a whole raft of light modifiers with diffusers that will work fantastically, just witness the brilliant work of Jesus Padilla and others displayed in this thread.

Other observations: The Westcott Apollo is the weakest modifier, slightly less than shoot thru umbrellas. However the Westcott Orb is pretty darn efficient and at the top of the fold up types. Best bang for the buck is one of the 24 inch pop up softboxes. I have both the Cheetah Q box and Lastolite Ezy-box which tested nearly identical except for 1 reading. Most surprising, the Maxilite is a light cannon like the Godox metal reflector, however put a diffuser on it and it wimps out. The diffuser I used is the one from the 16” Cheetah metal beauty dish, it only takes away 2/3 of a stop of light on the Cheetah BD. But put that same diffuser on the 16” Maxilite and it eats 2 stops! I tested this twice, but this is what it reads.

Also some concerns have recently come up about the batteries for these lights. I used the CL 360 - L4500 battery until the power indicator read 3 out of 4 blue lights. That was approximately 275 shots at full, 1/2 and 1/4 power. It certainly could have lasted further, but I wanted to make sure battery loss of power did not affect the test. Then I switched to a MH 4500 battery from my AD 180 light and finished the remaining 10% of the CL 360 test and all of the same sequence shots with the AD180, about 350 shots total. The MH 4500 still reads 4 out of 4 lights on the indicator! My lights were bought in Feb.-March 2014 and have not had any battery issues. They can go multiple days in my normal shooting, where a lot of the shots are at 1/4 or less power, before needing to be recharged.

Hope some of you find this chart as useful as I do.

Not sure but you might want to check your readings again because they have more output then my testings on some of the same items. I get f/9 to f/10 at full power at 7' and not sure how your out put is so much more.

abbadon31 wrote in post #17119394
Not sure but you might want to check your readings again because they have more output then my testings on some of the same items. I get f/9 to f/10 at full power at 7' and not sure how your out put is so much more.

Scott, which modifiers are you referring to?

I don't mean to disagree, but aren't you the one who produced the Cheetahstand chart below? At ISO 100 full power at 8', I show f/25 with either the standard metal reflector or Maxilite, the Cheetahstand chart also shows f/25, but does not specify the reflector. At 1/2 and 1/4 power my readings for the standard reflector are f/20 vs. f/18 and f/14 vs. f/13, but identical if the Cheetahstand chart readings were based upon the Maxilite.

Having tested these items twice in 6 months, the readings were pretty consistent with last time. It may be that since I am shooting in a (single car garage) studio with white painted walls/ceilings 11' wide by 11' tall by 22' long, I could be picking up some reflection. That is why I choose a 5' 6" height for the light, trying to center it in the room. But I did shoot with the dome retracted on the meter. Or it could be that I am centering the light stand over the 8' mark, and not the front edge of the reflectors. That could throw my reading off 10% from yours with some larger modifiers.

If you point to specific modifiers, I will be happy to retest.
EDIT: But only if you take my boring chart and give it a kewl design like the Cheetah one…..

Does anyone know what the t0.1 times are for the CL360 light?

Thanks in advance

The chart was built for the stock reflector and when used with and umbrella you have to subtract 1 1/2 to 2 stops when using a modifier in front of it.

futureal33 wrote in post #17120339
Does anyone know what the t0.1 times are for the CL360 light?

Thanks in advance

The t.1 on a 360 is 1/300s

mmmfotografie wrote in post #17120454
The t.1 on a 360 is 1/300s

You dont happen to know what other powers flash durations are do you?
Thanks very much

Nick

futureal33 wrote in post #17120455
You dont happen to know what other powers flash durations are do you?
Thanks very much

Nick

Manual lists the range from 1/300 to 1/10000.
Since the flash is IGBT controlled, the duration gets shorter as power is reduced.
Its not linear but it may be a reasonable approximation.

Flash Havoc says: https://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.p​hp?u=67192
March 5, 2014 at 9:19 pm

Hi Taro,

The flash durations for both the CL 180 and CL 360 are state as –

1/1 – 1/300
1/2 – 1/800
1/4 – 1/1500
1/8 – 1/2000
1/16 – 1/3000
1/32 – 1/5000
1/64 – 1/7000
1/128 – 1/10,000

Godox have said they are T.1 times, though I think that may be a little optimistic.

edit: and a litlle more down in the table you find even more specific information up to 1/16 in 1/3 steps:

http://flashhavoc.com …ent-page-1/#comment-17666

mmmfotografie wrote in post #17120672
Flash Havoc says: https://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.p​hp?u=67192
March 5, 2014 at 9:19 pm

Hi Taro,

The flash durations for both the CL 180 and CL 360 are state as –

1/1 – 1/300
1/2 – 1/800
1/4 – 1/1500
1/8 – 1/2000
1/16 – 1/3000
1/32 – 1/5000
1/64 – 1/7000
1/128 – 1/10,000

Godox have said they are T.1 times, though I think that may be a little optimistic.

edit: and a litlle more down in the table you find even more specific information up to 1/16 in 1/3 steps:

[URL="http://flashhavo​c.com/cheetah-cl180-godox-ad180-review/comment-page-1/#comment-17666"]https://photography-on-the.net/forum/member.p​hp?u=67192

Since the 360/180 are IGBT power controlled flash units the t.1 and t.5 times are the same for any power setting below full power.

dmward wrote in post #17120690
Since the 360/180 are IGBT power controlled flash units the t.1 and t.5 times are the same for any power setting below full power.

Today I finally connected the dots on this. I never did get the grading of a frame when I looked at results of HS (HyperSync) at the PocketWizard site. Down the page and the last picture on the right.

link: http://wiki.pocketwiza​rd.com/index.php?title​=HyperSync

When you look at the curves at this page you see that that in a ideal situation t.1 and t.5 would have a more or less straight line. This is the case with a Canon 580EX at 1/4 power.

link: http://www.gock.net …-durations-small-strobes/

More often the cure is curved or has even a spike so obtaining HS and a evenly exposed frame is really difficult.

c2thew wrote in post #17107857
^ curious, was the tennis shot staged? the grass seems kind of high for a grass tennis court. Nice rim lights and good use of the godox strobes.

Obviously Yes. Coming from a former From a nationally ranked player.

I have just done some testing surrounding the t.1 times for the 360 light and it's left me a bit confused... Can anyone help me figure this out.

Camera settings:

1/1000th Fuji x100
F6.4
Iso 100

Very dark room with a base exposure with no light giving me a totally black picture.

Godox on 1/1 = correct room exposure
Godox on 1/2 = correct room exposure
Godox on 1/4 = correct room exposure
Godox on 1/8 = correct room exposure
Godox on 1/16 = very under exposed

So from 1/1 - 1/16th I was getting the same output of light hitting my sensor at 1/1000th.

Reading above, I thought the T.1 times indicated that somewhere between 1/2 and 1/4 I should be getting closer to the point where shutter speed doesn't affect flash brightness?

A quick question for those that use umbrellas with the 360. Has anyone used a Godox S bracket with this unit and a simple umbrella? If so do you just put the reflector on after you put the flash into the bracket?

Isn't this the same as the Cheetah 360 ?

http://www.thephoblogr​apher.com …conds-juice/#.U_4Ov8VdXAQ