How can I get more flash power for a Polaroid 600SE shooting ISO 100 film?
Asked 8/17/2014
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2 answers
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I’m shooting a Polaroid 600SE on ISO 100 film, with maximum apertures of f/4.7 on the standard lens and f/5.6 on the wide lens. Compared with 35mm work at ISO 400–800 and faster lenses, I’m finding I have to stand very close to my subject when using flash.
I’d like more flash power so I can stand farther back and/or stop down more. The flash needs to work with PC sync, and I may want to diffuse the light. I already use a light meter.
My current flash is a Kako 720sd. Would switching to another hotshoe flash give me significantly more output, or do I need to move to a more powerful type of flash system?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
12y ago
2 Answers
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Looking at an eBay auction description, your Kako 720sd specs out with a guide number of 28-40m (I'm assuming that's across the zoom range of 28-85mm), so chances are that this is a pretty decently-powered speedlight (e.g., in the neighborhood of 30m when zoomed to 35mm), in the range of most of the hotshoe flashes you're going to find. Going to a new hotshoe flash is unlikely to net you more power in place of what you've got.
So, if you really want more power, you'd probably want to go either with a studio strobe (say, a Paul Buff Alienbee), or possibly one of the new Godox Wistro barebulb flashes; or you're going to have to use multiple hotshoe flashes synced together (e.g., with radio triggers).
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
12y ago
0
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Your current Kako 720sd is already in the general power range of typical hotshoe flashes, so replacing it with another standard speedlight probably won’t give you a big increase in brightness.
If you need to shoot farther from the subject or at smaller apertures on ISO 100 film, you likely need a more powerful lighting setup rather than just a different on-camera flash. The usual options are:
- a studio strobe/monolight
- a more powerful bare-bulb flash
- multiple speedlights fired together
Yes, diffusion reduces effective light output, so if you diffuse the flash you’ll need even more power.
Since your camera uses PC sync, make sure any flash or trigger setup can be synced safely and correctly. In short: don’t expect a normal hotshoe flash upgrade to solve this. To gain meaningful flash power, look at studio strobes, bare-bulb units, or combining multiple flashes.
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