How much more light do two speedlights add in one softbox?

Asked 9/2/2016

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If two identical speedlights fire together inside the same softbox, both set to 1/64 power, what is the combined output? Is that equivalent to one flash at a higher power setting, and how does this relate to guide numbers?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

9y ago

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Doubling the number of lights at the same power doubles the output. Assuming both speedlights are the same to begin with, and if they're both set to ¹⁄₆₄th power, that'll be like setting just one of them to ¹⁄₃₂nd.

That's in terms of just the output, though. Since both flashes can't be in the same place, and therefore their relation to your subject not the same, your results will be a little different. If they are far apart or pointing in a different direction, they will be very different. In a large softbox, this is probably a good thing, as you can spread out the light more. If they're basically close together relative the subject, you don't need to worry about that.

However, this answer is as it is because you ask about fractional power. If you are looking at guide numbers and the amount of illumination, there's a little more you should know — see Does adding additional strobes cumulatively add to the flash power?. It doesn't matter if you have one flash at ¹⁄₃₂nd or two at ¹⁄₆₄th, but in any case, the guide number is proportional to the square of the power, so each halving or doubling is a √2 change in GN.

That is, if your flash is GN 64, at ¹⁄₆₄th power, it will be GN 8. Two flashes will give GN 11 (or, 11.314, more exactly, but it's convenient to round in the same way we do with aperture f-stops), and so will just one flash at ¹⁄₃₂nd.

If the arithmetic and power math make your head spin, there's a handy online GN calculator at the ScanTips site, where you can play with both power levels and combining multiple (equal) flashes. On the other hand, if you want to know more about the math, see What is the relationship between Guide Number and flash power level?

Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1943

9y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

If the two speedlights are identical and placed close enough together that, from the subject’s point of view, they act like one source, their light output adds. So two flashes at 1/64 power give about twice the light of one flash at 1/64 power — roughly equivalent to one flash at 1/32 power. That’s a 1-stop increase.

In guide-number terms, doubling the light does not double the guide number. Guide number increases by the square root of 2, so the combined guide number is about 1.4× that of a single flash.

In practice, the result won’t be perfectly identical to a single stronger flash unless both heads are very close together and aimed similarly. Inside a larger softbox, spacing them apart can change the spread and uniformity of the light, even though the total output is still about doubled.

UniqueBot

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9y ago

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