Tungsten continuous lights?

So I picked up a kit with three 500 watt, Smith-Victor tungsten lights for under $200. Does anyone even use tungsten or hot lights anymore? haha. I have years ago but cant believe all the accessories available for them now. Besides the gels, snoots, diffusers, barn doors etc...probably the most useful is the dimmer control. Plug your light into it and you can adjust the brightness of it all the way down to zero.

I went with the continuous light instead of going strobes for two big reasons. One, I dont want to be stuck shooting at 1/250 where the 40D syncs to strobe lights. Second, these can double as video lights for when I shoot that. Anyone else using these?

Studio strobes have a max sync speed of 1/125th, but the shutter speed is irrelevant as the flash determines the exposure, in conjunction with the iso and aperture. You can use 1/10th and the image would look the same.

With hot lights (and they are hot) you'll be lucky to get 1/250th at ISO100 F8. You probably won't get near that, but modern bodies are fine at higher ISO.

tim wrote in post #6257252
Studio strobes have a max sync speed of 1/125th, but the shutter speed is irrelevant as the flash determines the exposure, in conjunction with the iso and aperture. You can use 1/10th and the image would look the same.

With hot lights (and they are hot) you'll be lucky to get 1/250th at ISO100 F8. You probably won't get near that, but modern bodies are fine at higher ISO.

Doesnt the 40D sync at 1/250? Thats what I have been told.

2112 wrote in post #6259468
Doesnt the 40D sync at 1/250? Thats what I have been told.

With some flashes, yes.

Stickman wrote in post #6259479
With some flashes, yes.

With the Alienbee strobes I used, thats what I shot at. Didnt experiment much. Got some nice results, but I got just as nice results using my old set of tungsten lights I had before I bought this new set. Three 500 watt lights complete with air cushioned stands and 32 inch umbrellas for $200 was just too good to pass up. Paying 5 times more to get strobes just because they arent continuous and dont get as hot is silly. I only care about the end result.

2112 wrote in post #6259468
Doesnt the 40D sync at 1/250? Thats what I have been told.

What I posted is correct. Go read your manual, the section on studio flash, not the section on speedlites.

tim wrote in post #6260006
What I posted is correct. Go read your manual, the section on studio flash, not the section on speedlites.

Ditto! Shooting at 1/250 with strobes NOT the built-in/Speedlites will give a curtain shadow. Also shooting with continuous lighting they might not be enough power. Plus the white balance it is not always consistent. It will also get hot in the room (if shooting indoors) very fast.

Just shot with them tonight and loved the look! I only used two of the lights and had more than enough power. Didnt even have the lights fully on her, was shooting thru the umbrellas to soften it up a bit. will post some samples in a bit

Be aware that with these tungsten lights, as you dial down the intensity, your color balance will shift to the "warmer" side. Usually it's not that big a deal if you shoot RAW.

To me, the only advantage of continuous lights is best used in product photography when your using a tripod for all your shots and you need to be able to clearly see your lighting setup. And, of course, if you're shooting video.

The advantage of using strobes for people shots is that they free you from having to use a tripod and they're a lot more comfortable for you and the subject. They also put out a heck of lot more power per unit than continuous lights.

Are they tungsten, of quartz-halogen? Quartz lights shouldn't be dialed down.
Halogen (Quartz) light notes

I still use quartz lights for some things, & they make great modeling lights for basement portraits with cheap strobes.
Simple 2 Light Portrait Set-up

2112 wrote in post #6257043
So I picked up a kit with three 500 watt, Smith-Victor tungsten lights for under $200. Does anyone even use tungsten or hot lights anymore? haha. I have years ago but cant believe all the accessories available for them now. Besides the gels, snoots, diffusers, barn doors etc...probably the most useful is the dimmer control. Plug your light into it and you can adjust the brightness of it all the way down to zero.

I went with the continuous light instead of going strobes for two big reasons. One, I dont want to be stuck shooting at 1/250 where the 40D syncs to strobe lights. Second, these can double as video lights for when I shoot that. Anyone else using these?

I also use tungsten quite a bit, either alone, or mixed with strobes. They do have a slightly different look that my strobes, and sometimes that adds to the image.

Yes, they can get hot in a confined area, and if the model is lit directly by the lights. I typically put a large diffusion panel between the model and light, and my studio is quite large (1800sq ft), so heats never been an issue.

I use Arri and Lowell lights, such as the ARRI 650, Lowell DP, Omni, VIP, and Tota lights. The Tota and VIP lights look similar and much different than the Omni ad DP lights. The ARRI also have a different look to it. Although when run through a diffusion panel, that look is gone.

Here are a couple images taken with tungsten lighting below, and a link to a series of images all taken with tungsten light here.

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