Portable Flash Options...

I'm starting to look at flash options beyond my current pair of 580 EXII's on stands. I've found that I run into situations where I just need more light, at a distance, than they can throw. Think a group of about 100 people standing in front of a building;that kinda' thing.

"Alien Bees" is the recommendation I've been getting most often, but I was wondering if there are other options out there. While I'm not eager to dump a ton of money into them, I also understand that you get what you pay for. I may not need the "best", especially if the "best" is going to require a second mortgage on the house and if a viable, less expensive option is available. But I don't want garbage, either.

I'd appreciate any input. Thanks!

Heya,

I think if I had to light up 100 people in front of a building on a budget, I'd use speedlites. A heap of Yongnuo 560 III's and a single 560TX. The cost of 10~12 of those for the spread and coverage of light would be very effective and one controller, and one transceiver and you're good to go (no need for tons of triggers).

If you want more powerful light sources, you're going to pay to have portability.

So really, it depends on budget.

I would think on a budget, a Godox AD360 system.

But I think of how many lights, even powerful lights you would need to get good area coverage, and I just lean back towards more speedlites rather than more powerful lights.

Powerful lights have fall off with distance too, so a handful of powerful lights will also need a lot of area coverage so your front row and side back row people are not several stops different in exposure.

.... So I think again I would lean towards just having a lot of inexpensive portable wifi capable speedlites.

I wouldn't want a bunch of wired strobes, for 100 people, outdoors.

Do you use modifiers with your current speedlites when shooting large groups?

Very best,

MalVeauX wrote in post #17684683
Heya,

I think if I had to light up 100 people in front of a building on a budget, I'd use speedlites. A heap of Yongnuo 560 III's and a single 560TX. The cost of 10~12 of those for the spread and coverage of light would be very effective and one controller, and one transceiver and you're good to go (no need for tons of triggers).

If you want more powerful light sources, you're going to pay to have portability.

So really, it depends on budget.

I would think on a budget, a Godox AD360 system.

But I think of how many lights, even powerful lights you would need to get good area coverage, and I just lean back towards more speedlites rather than more powerful lights.

Powerful lights have fall off with distance too, so a handful of powerful lights will also need a lot of area coverage so your front row and side back row people are not several stops different in exposure.

.... So I think again I would lean towards just having a lot of inexpensive portable wifi capable speedlites.

I wouldn't want a bunch of wired strobes, for 100 people, outdoors.

Do you use modifiers with your current speedlites when shooting large groups?

Very best,

Thanks for the response. I wasn't familiar with the Godox stuff. I assume they're stand mountable?

Road Dog wrote in post #17684797
Thanks for the response. I wasn't familiar with the Godox stuff. I assume they're stand mountable?

Yeap,

360Ws mountable with portable battery packs. It's the next step up from using portable speedlites if you want more power. Definitely more powerful than a speedlite by quite a bit. But, still not powerful enough to throw all the light you need for 100 people and get even spread on everyone. You'd need several. Even 4 would be questionable for 100 people (and costly).

Very best,