Indra 500 blew me away last night

OK-- So last night I was teaching a class with some other photographers at our association. Another guy also came in with an Indra 500 and the Phottix trigger systems. I was using the cheetah CL360 which is my set up. We are both pretty good with the lights so we got elected to teach the class..........Must say this was a great head to head test with the 2 lighting systems plus we were able to show others how to use the Youngnuo triggers with their own speedlights and we were able to fire off 2 & 3 Speedlights with the radio triggers and compare HSS systems......Speedligh​ts performed as expected but did great in open shade and at sunset........the other instructor will be sending me images this week so I will share with you guys.

BUT MUST SAY W/O a Doubt..........I think this Indra 500 is the best OCF set up I have seen in terms of affordability and power output that is on the market. Pair it with that Phottix system and you have one hell of a light set up for outdoor use. The advantages over my cheetah were obvious from the get go. HSS, ETTL and enough power to do anything we wanted to do in F/16 light on the water.........I was blown away.....which brought me to a couple of conclusions.

I still like my cheetah lights for what I do. Im a wedding and portrait guy and with ND filter use, there is nothing I have ran into that i cant do with my cheetahs. The exception would action shots. We had the model running through the water and Indra would stop the action with ZERO misses and was at 1/1200 through 1/3200 all day long with power to spare. Perfectly exposed images. The cheetah could not compete even with a cells 2 and 1/2 power pops... just didnt cut it unless I was down around F/2.5 . The bright light on the water killed the cheetah. But the indra was not fazed at all.

The Indra 500 light is simply amazing if you have those needs. But if your just filling in for stills for portraits and needs at a wedding, the CL360 was more than adequate. Especially with ND filter use in brighter light.Hats off to Phottix for this light. If I were buying a light today I might still Buy the cheetah system. Its perfect for what I do........that being said.......The indra is that much more better than the cheetah and its got power to boot with the HSS and ETTL capabilities..........​...No Doubt a better light if you have those needs.......color me very impressed........this was my final shot of the night. Straight off light, cropped and color corrected and it has a NIC pro contrast adjustment on it and thats it.......I used an ND to Kill DOF.......the indra does it easily w/o the use of a ND Filter. I will get his side by side and post...........The Indra is a fricken awesome light set up.

No question that the Indra looks like a great option. However couldn't you have used a different trigger on the 360 to get HSS instead of using a ND filter? That would increase your options with the 360. Either the Yn622C or the Phottix Odin would provide HSS sync with your lights. The Indra would still be a little more powerful and have ETTL.

I have a cells 11 for the 360. I dont like to take the light past the 1/8 setting recommended. Most Ive gone is 1/4 because it overheats the bulbs. Many sories. But you are right, the cells 11 works very well and i use it when im firing Wide open and dont need as much light output----------Trade offs

$1200 light beats $400 dollar light? yup.

and I've never seen the 1/8 rec for cheetah, luckily, 'cuz i haven't limited it.

After thinking about it I don't remember a 1/8 limitation either and I think I have read all the comments in this section on that light.

Are you saying you can't take the 360 above 1/8 power? I haven't heard this, where is this info at?

Guys, he never said you can't go over 1/8 power. He said he doesn't like to take it over that (but also said he will if needed)

At 1/1 over temp protect kicks in at just 10 continuous shots. At 1/1 the bulb will head up a lot quicker that at 1/8.

He said "1/8 recommended"...soooo, who's recommending that you don't go over 1/8?

ShotByTom wrote in post #17679061
He said "1/8 recommended"...soooo, who's recommending that you don't go over 1/8?

Lots of room between 1/8 and 1/1. Even at 1/1 what does 10 continuous shots really mean? If I shoot 6 and then have a model adjust position and shoot 6 more did I go past my 10? I have never had either my 180 or 360 overheat but then again they are mostly in regular not high speed mode and not usually at 1/1.

Not trying to be difficult here. Just wanted to see if there is something about HSS that I should know about and the 1/8 speed limitation. If this is truly a limitation I will look at using my Rovelgiht when I need HSS. The 360 seems like a more portable solution.

If they made an Indra for Sony I would definitely consider that option as well.

i have used my 360 in HSS to take pictures of a bike race where I was asked to get every single racer. I had no problems. I've actually done the same race twice with the same set up. Pretty sure I was at 1/1 but it might have been 1/2, and i took probably 400-500 shots each day, some bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, some not so fast.

also had a recent outdoor portrait session with the sunset as a backdrop where I ran the 360 at 1/1 and 1/2 for a while on a backlit subject. Even If I banged out 10 shots as quickly as it recharged, but then reposed the subject allowing maybe half a minute between shots. The flash body definitely warmed up, but never hit it's thermal cut off point. it was close to 90°F that day.

that said, i'm sure if it was 100°F+ on the shore of that lake with full sun on the flash unit, the bulb/flash would be more likely to overheat. And of course having power to spare is great for a variety of reasons. My main point is that I have never heard of a suggestion to limit the 360 to 1/8 in HSS, and have never done so.

When you manually put the light in HSS it goes in at 1/8 power. I spoke to Ed in detail about this. The MFG recommends 1/8 power so thats what its built into the programming of the light. Yes you can bump the power up. I have done a few full power pops at HSS....start testing.... Light narrows and I dont like the results.......I Rarely go above 1/2 power......Mostly stay at 1/8 power and raise ISO. You can go to 1/8000 so lots of room at 1/8 power

umphotography wrote in post #17686507
When you manually put the light in HSS it goes in at 1/8 power. I spoke to Ed in detail about this. The MFG recommends 1/8 power so thats what its built into the programming of the light. Yes you can bump the power up. I have done a few full power pops at HSS....start testing.... Light narrows and I dont like the results.......I Rarely go above 1/2 power......Mostly stay at 1/8 power and raise ISO. You can go to 1/8000 so lots of room at 1/8 power

I have confirmation from two sources, Godox and Cheetahstand, that this is absolutely not true. There is no recommendation that you stay at 1/8 power from either source.

ShotByTom wrote in post #17686621
I have confirmation from two sources, Godox and Cheetahstand, that this is absolutely not true. There is no recommendation that you stay at 1/8 power from either source.

Thanks Tom

I will check again with Ed on monday. Perhaps I have misunderstood. My concerns have always been over heating the circuits on the Cl360. Dont get me wrong at all. I have 2 Cl360's and a CL180. Love them and use them a ton.

umphotography wrote in post #17686716
Thanks Tom

I will check again with Ed on monday. Perhaps I have misunderstood. My concerns have always been over heating the circuits on the Cl360. Dont get me wrong at all. I have 2 Cl360's and a CL180. Love them and use them a ton.

Hrm,

Not to curb too much, but why even consider a strobe that can't handle 1/1 power pops in the field?

I've never really read about issues with the AD/CL360's. They're pretty much staples for a lot of folk these days.

I'd use that puppy at full power or 1/2 power all day and if it couldn't handle it, I'd get a different unit.

Very best,