I just tried my first plate using strobe, and it worked fine. I had two Speedotron heads (2400ws not uv-coated with a 22" dish & 1200ws uv-coated with a 16" reflector and diffuser) about four feet from the subject at f11. The exposure looks spot on.
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I just tried my first plate using strobe, and it worked fine. I had two Speedotron heads (2400ws not uv-coated with a 22" dish & 1200ws uv-coated with a 16" reflector and diffuser) about four feet from the subject at f11. The exposure looks spot on.
Good to know, as is the reminder about the non-uv heads. I really need to get some plate holders.
I tried it with a speedlight and umbrella and got f5.6 at 200 ISO, so I'm seven stops short of light with that setup. I'll try it without the umbrella, before bringing out the 640Ws monolights.
I am not convinced that the uv coating makes any significant difference. I have both coated and uncoated strobes, and have never been able to detect a difference with other color-blind or orthochromatic processes. That said, you are going to need at least 1200ws to use strobes at f5.6 at 2 ISO close to the subject with modest diffusion, and at least twice that to use umbrellas. My experience is that a beauty dish provides the greatest (and to my eye most pleasing) diffusion with the least amount of light loss.
Good to know, Jason. I've got about 10K ws available.