What kind of portable flash is powerful enough for softbox dog portraits at home?
Asked 2/28/2017
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I’m moving from landscapes/wildlife into photographing dogs in clients’ homes. My current setup is a Sony a900 with a Zeiss 24–70mm, a Lastolite softbox, a black/white vinyl backdrop, and a Sony HVL-F36AM triggered remotely. With the black background, the flash seems underpowered and I’m ending up around 1/200 sec, ISO 400, f/5.6. I’ve also tried adding a Manfrotto Spectra LED 500S on the opposite side, but it’s inconsistent and hard to manage because dogs move.
For this kind of portable indoor portrait setup, would a speedlight upgrade be enough, or do I need to move to a more powerful portable strobe? I’d prefer not to spend heavily on another Sony flash unless that’s really the best option.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
9y ago
2 Answers
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If a speedlight isn't enough, chances are good you'll have to move up to more expensive, bigger flashes, which in turn may require bigger, sturdier support gear and modifiers. Most folks would typically recommend a studio strobe, and if you're on a budget and in the United States, one good option are the Paul C. Buff lights, such as the Alien Bees or Einsteins. Another option is to get cheap Chinese-manufactured strobes off eBay/Amazon whatever, but the quality and light output of these varies.
Another option would be to look at the Godox "bare bulb" battery-powered Witstro flashes. These are rebranded under a number of names, such as Adorama's Flashpoint Streaklight and Flashpoint eVOLV. They're roughly the equivalent of ganging two or three speedlights together, and they have bare bulbs, which spread out the light in a pattern that's similar to a studio strobe, and which can fill modifiers like softboxes better. The upcoming AD200 (aka the Flashpoint eVOLV at Adorama) is the same size as a speedlight.
Also, both the AD360II and the AD200 have built-in receivers that can be used with an X1T-S transmitter to enable HSS and TTL from a Sony camera with a multi-interface hotshoe. You may be able to get it to work with an α900 with an ADP-AMA hotshoe adapter.
Originally by user27440. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user27440
9y ago
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A single small speedlight in a softbox can be limiting, especially if you want lower ISO, more depth of field, or faster recycling while photographing moving dogs. If your current flash isn’t enough, the usual next step is a more powerful strobe rather than just swapping to another similar hot-shoe flash.
A portable battery-powered strobe or “bare bulb” flash is often a better fit for this kind of work because it gives substantially more output than one speedlight and works well with softboxes. Units in the Godox Witstro / Flashpoint eVOLV or Streaklight style are roughly like using two or three speedlights together, while traditional studio strobes can offer even more power if mains power is available.
Budget studio strobes can work, but quality and consistency vary. If you need dependable output, sturdier support gear may also be necessary as lights get larger and heavier.
So: if portability in clients’ homes matters, look at a battery-powered bare-bulb strobe; if maximum power matters more and AC power is available, look at a studio strobe.
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