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Thread: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

  1. #21

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
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    San Joaquin Valley, California
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    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    I have a Mole Richardson which I find excellent for making quesadillas.
    Got to love a multi-tasker!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  2. #22
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    Smith Victor??? Didn't they connect to a bolt of lightning via a kite? I inherited a bunch of Smith Victor, and its been in a big box way up in the back of a
    shop loft ever since. But this was once standard fare for photo students on a limited budget, and they were expected to make it work.

  3. #23

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    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Smith Victor??? Didn't they connect to a bolt of lightning via a kite? I inherited a bunch of Smith Victor, and its been in a big box way up in the back of a
    shop loft ever since. But this was once standard fare for photo students on a limited budget, and they were expected to make it work.
    Drew, IIRC Smith Victors were nothing but painter's lights on tripods.
    Took darned near forever to warm tortillas with 'em.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  4. #24
    Tin Can's Avatar
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    Dec 2011
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    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    Smith Victors are still sold.

    I want a set of 4 for props and actual lighting.

    Send me your garbage.

  5. #25

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    Sep 1998
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    Loganville , GA
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    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Smith Victor??? Didn't they connect to a bolt of lightning via a kite? I inherited a bunch of Smith Victor, and its been in a big box way up in the back of a
    shop loft ever since. But this was once standard fare for photo students on a limited budget, and they were expected to make it work.
    The company that now owns Smith Victor now also owns Speedatron, Norman, Photogenic, Cool Lux and Quantum, among other lines like Photoflex.

  6. #26
    Drew Wiley
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    Sep 2008
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    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    Hi Randy. Let me see if I can dig that out. It's fairly inacessable; and I think I know what box it's in, if I can squeeze a tall ladder back there. But I can't remember if I modified any of the lamp housings for a temporary copystand, or if there are stands with the set. Ordinary photofloods work pretty well for
    modest durations that won't overheat them. An excellent softbox trick is simply some transluscent polyester sheet velcroed to a simple standing frame made
    of PVC pipe, positioned at a save distance from the hot bulbs themselves, of course. I've got to complete some wood joinery on the work table below there
    this afternoon, but might be able to wiggle up there over the weekend and see what's still in the box.

  7. #27

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    Aug 2000
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    California
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    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    It is not the quantity of light, but the quality. If you want to learn good in studio portrait lighting, start with a 5 watt bulb. I was told this probably 50 years ago, used it and never looked back. When i have a difficult lighting situation, I still begin with a 5 watt bare bulb.

  8. #28

    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Posts
    44

    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    I see I'm not alone...
    a 2k to roast steaks could rise some problems in smoke dealing...

    But really nobody here never tried one of those new LED lights with Fresnels ?

  9. #29

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    May 2015
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    SooooCal/LA USA
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    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    Before anyone poo poos SV's, someone gave me a new set with 650W quartz lamps and a project suddenly came up shooting an environmental portrait of an artist/pro photog... I didn't have time to dig out my pro strobes or hot lights, so I grabbed the SV's... I set up Karsh lighting and he and his pro photog brother laughed and teased about the SV'S but the expression on their faces when I presented the 16X20's were priceless... So it's just light...

    I now use painters lights for tabletop B/W still lifes 90% of the time as I found even just with a CFL has a nice quality with 4x5 b/w, it's just you have to expose longer than much brighter lights... The stand I use with them is an old microphone boom stand that has a small cast iron base and fits anywhere, and a gooseneck that allows very precise placement, and with no heat the heads can be right next to the subject, camera, and your head... And these can be timed with an enlarger timer for long exposures...


    A hot tip for cheap lights is to look for a parabolic reflector inside, as there was some thought and science involved in the design... Then check the falloff with a digital incident meter to see if it's even... Photo floods with that shape have good falloff... So don't knock 'em till you try 'em...

    Steve K

  10. #30

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    Oct 2006
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    Re: Strobes vs Continuous Lighting with MF and LF?

    Makes me think of lots of mechanical repair jobs where you can get the job done with a number of different tools, but it is easier with the correct tool. In the days of film, studio strobes were the appropriate lighting source, esp. for MF and LF. When I was doing this semi-professionally I actually had 5 strobe heads I could use, although on site I typically used 2 DynaLites. They all had modeling lights for setting up, and then you used the strobes themselves for the actual exposures. (A third head was a nice luxury to throw on the background.) Continuous lights became the preferred source when digital took over, I don't think any digital cameras even have a PC connection. (I have actually used strobes with a digital camera, slaving the big strobes and triggering them with an on-camera unit turned away from the subject, using it solely as a trigger.)

    The problem for the OP is that he doesn't have any studio strobes, just one on-camera type flash. It comes down to cost. I would look for some used studio strobes, you might get lucky. Alternatively, as in the tools example, you can make do with multiple on-camera flashes (you need to trigger one and slave the rest) or make do with continuous lights. I remember seeing a YouTube video using garage work lights from Home Depot or similar, bounced into umbrellas.

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