Is a 250 Ws studio strobe too powerful for a beauty dish at f/2–f/2.8?
Asked 9/11/2016
2 views
2 answers
0
I’m moving from speedlights and umbrellas to studio strobes for indoor portraits, starting with one strobe and a beauty dish. I often shoot at wide apertures like f/2 or f/2.8, and I also like placing the light fairly close to the subject for stronger falloff.
I’m considering a 250 Ws strobe with about a 5-stop power range and I’m concerned the minimum power might still be too high for close beauty-dish use at those apertures, forcing me to use ND filters. Is 250 Ws generally suitable for this kind of setup, or should I look for something with a lower minimum output?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
1
That light will be fine for that application.
Its always a balance between iris/depth of field/shutter speed/distance to subject. Start at the lowest monolight power for the first shot and work up to mid-range to understand the effect at the subject distance. Adjust ISO or shutter speed, rinse and repeat until the image works for you.
If the process is followed methodically, you will have a sound appreciation for the trade-offs involved.
My monolights are Impact Astral Extreme ASX 400 with 6 stops and a 0.4s charge cycle. With a beauty dish I would keep the power to a low setting 1.0 to 1.5 (the range is 1.0 to 6.0) and play around with the shutter and ISO. You might also want to look at softboxes for softer contrasts.
Originally by user58276. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user58276
9y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes — a 250 Ws monolight should be suitable for indoor portrait work with a beauty dish, even when shooting around f/2 to f/2.8. The key is that flash exposure is controlled by a mix of power setting, light-to-subject distance, ISO, and shutter speed, so you have several ways to keep exposure under control.
The community feedback indicates that with a beauty dish, these lights are typically used at the low end of their power range for this kind of setup, and even 500 Ws units can still be used at f/2.8 when dialed down appropriately.
A good approach is to start at minimum power, place the dish where you want it for the look, then adjust ISO and shutter speed as needed and only raise flash power if necessary. If you want wider coverage later, a softbox is also worth considering for a softer look.
So for your stated priority — indoor portraits with a beauty dish at wider apertures — 250 Ws is not inherently too powerful.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI9y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Is a single speedlight powerful enough for a 22-inch beauty dish?
Budget beauty dish for a Canon 580EX: ePhoto vs Cowboy Studio for learning off-camera flash
How much strobe power do I need for a 60 m² studio shooting fashion and beauty?
For shallow-DOF off-camera flash, is 1/32 minimum power enough or do I need 1/128?
How does a beauty dish affect skin texture, and is the center actually softer than the edge?