How important are bright modeling lamps?

Ok..I'll try that this weekend. May be there is something wrong with the flashes? Maybe something is causing the modeling lights to fire along with the flashes??

Since modeling lights don't fire, I think you just have an exposure problem. How are you measuring exposure in the first place? How is your camera exposure set - one of the automatic modes or manual? It will have to be in manual to use Novatron or any other manual flash. If you give up on your Novatrons, just send them to me and I will dispose of them properly for you. ;>

I'm sure you would I was shooting on manual, shutter 125 f/stop 5.6..

An amateur who is setting up 'studio space' in a room which is easily controllable for exterior light entry (shades) needs only 150w. Anyone who is anticipating shooting portraits 'on location' where there is likely to be large picture windows with bright light (even indirect!) streaming in will find need for 250w modelling lights to be able to assess light placement!

Notice that most 'bargain' lights for the hobbyist have 100-150w max modelling lights, and serious, pro level units have 250w modelling lights...for a reason!

thanks for the response Wilt.
One of the reasons I asked is that I noticed that WL's have 250w modeling lamps and it seemed to me that they would be helpful but the Elinchrom Style RX line only has 150W modeling lamps. I would have though that the Elinchroms are generally a better light than the WL's.

DavidPhoto wrote in post #3625397
thanks for the response Wilt.
One of the reasons I asked is that I noticed that WL's have 250w modeling lamps and it seemed to me that they would be helpful but the Elinchrom Style RX line only has 150W modeling lamps. I would have though that the Elinchroms are generally a better light than the WL's.

Yeah, well, the ordinarily pricey Swiss-made stuff has to really cut corners to make them cost competitive in the entry-level market!

So other than WL's, what monolights use 250w modeling lamps?

DavidPhoto wrote in post #3625709
So other than WL's, what monolights use 250w modeling lamps?

Broncolor, Elinchrome, Hensel, Norman, Photogenic, Speedotron all have monolights with 250w or higher modelling light. (The lower powered units often come with less powerful modelling lights, BTW)

From what I can tell, the only Elinchrom mono that does is the Style Rx 1200. I'll have to check out all the other brands I guess!