MWxPhoto wrote in post #16514766
Alveric, thank you for your inputs. I am leaning toward the list you gave me.
You did mention weight though, and I am going to be working without an assistant, so do you have any comments/advice on how to manage all the equipment solo? Do you find some of the gears in your list to be lagging, in terms of portability?
Thank you.
The system I recommended to you is very portable. It's the same system I've been using for as long as I've been doing commercial assignments. Well, by now I've expanded, of course, but I still take that same arrangement with me to every shoot and are now mixing it with studio strobes. I got lucky, because the Mecablitz, when I purchased it, was only $299, but I'd still buy it at its current price over anything that Canon comes out with (I'll elaborate on this below); point in fact, it's still on my wish list and I do intend to buy at least another 58 AF-2 so as to reinforce the consistency of my lighting setup (the 430EX-II is less powerful and I have to be compensating for this, thank God for my lightmeter that makes things fast and easy).
My first purchase was that Manfrotto lightstand —which, case I haven't mentioned, it's air cushioned, which is a BIG plus for both your fingers and the light on it—, a Photoflex 45" umbrella —a real POS, you'll see soon—, and the Impact umbrella bracket I mentioned before. All that plus my 430EX-II with a PocketWizard TT5/TT1 duo. I worked with that for a few months till I got the Metz and the Photek umbrella and another TT5, and the Rogue grid pack. Woo, two lights now!
Take a look at these pictures, please.
#1 is my old Photoflex. There's Chinese manufacturing for you: the plastic cap went missing after a few assignments, but by then the rips in the seams were there already: those happened within days of getting the brolly. Simply unacceptable, especially because I am not in the least bit hard on the equipment.
#2 shews you the difference in design: that's the Photek's system: a metal ring that prevents damage to the seams and the fabric, and no cap to go missing.
#3 is the silver lining for the Photek 45" (the 60" model does not have this, btw), and the detachable rod, er, detached.
#4 is the Mecablitz and TT5 mounted on a Cowboy Studio T bracket, something I forgot to mention and that you might want to buy in place (or in addition to) of the Manfrotto bracket/cold shoe combo. This bracket allows you to aim the flash head directly to the centre of the umbrella, right where the light is s'posed to hit. Normal brackets fail at this, and the light hits above the centre, especially when you're using a radio trigger or a hot shoe cable.
#5 has the flash/radio combo mounted on a regular umbrella bracket —a Westcott one. Note the problem of the light not being aimed directly at the centre of the brolly. But, the nice thing about the Metz flash, is that you can tilt it 7º downwards —which is also useful for when the flash is on the camera's hot shoe and you're doing macro work—, thus bringing the light closer to the centre.
#6 shews the flash head at 0º vs. the head at -7º in #7.
Finally, in #8 I just wanted to indicate to you that, whichever flash and bracket you purchase, you always make sure both the screw on the cold shoe AND the knurled nut on the flash unit (or the radio) are gently but firmly tightened. Just the screw on the bracket won't always hold the flash in position, and you don't want it to fall to the ground (and wind up with a broken unit) or, Heaven forbid, on someone's head (and possibly wind up with a lawsuit). I learned that from experience, but thank God neither of the options I mentioned happened, the flashes are still kicking.
*Here's the Cowboy Studio T mount I use. Don't let the price fool you, it's rugged and comes with a Bowens type ring that you can use to mount a softbox on it.
Regarding the Canon 600EX: I'd pass. The Metz blows it out of the water easily, for it is cheaper and of equal if not better quality. The inclusion of radio doesn't float my boat either: PocketWizards are cheaper and they can be used with ANY studio strobe with the appropriate cable, whilst the Canon system is most likely than not proprietary. Finally, the 600EX's electronics, improvements, and bells and whistles are mostly geared towards ETTL, for those who want the equipment to make all the decisions. This is another area that can open a whole different can o' worms, so I won't get into that so as to keep the thread focused, but I prefer to think and use manual settings all the way. Besides, working with a lightmeter, what the trout do I need EasyTTL for?
