Broncolor Flash Pack Bonanza

[Daniel Unkefer]

18x24 Sinar Norma 300 Xenar F4.5 Rembrandt Lighting by Nokton48, on Flickr

The cool thing about having multiple Normas, is that you can leave them set up for a while. Getting ready to shoot this one. Classic Rembrandt Lighting, Broncolor Beauty Light pointed straight down from up high as possible. Silver reflector on the floor tilted towards the subject. Lens is 300mm chrome Schneider Xenar, on custom made Norma board. Xenars are lovely to shoot through at near full aperture. The focus blows out behind the front row of petals which I find attractive. Strobe meter says F22 at EI 50 so just one pop will do. Canvas Background is by David Maheu "Kelly Grey" Like it Stormy Grey middle key with no corner vignettes. I can vignette with light if required

[Daniel Unkefer]

Broncolor discontinued product manuals. Broncolor is wonderful for software and product support. And education as well. See here:

https://broncolor.swiss/discontinued-products-manuals

[NormaN]

Broncolor discontinued product manuals. Broncolor is wonderful for software and product support. And education as well. See here:

https://broncolor.swiss/discontinued-products-manuals

Great, thank you Daniel !

[NormaN]

Hello everyone

I have now found time to take my very first shots with strobe light.
An antique stone bust has proven to be ideal because patient.

The setup:

Main light: From the top right about 45° a screen (white coated) at a distance of about 1.5 m
Strobe light Pulso 3200 J

Fill light: A small softbox (approx. 30x60 cm) at a distance of approx. 0.6 m from the left approx. 45°
Strobe light Pulso 1200 J

Camera: Eastman Commercial 8x10

Lens: Rodenstock Sironar 5.6/300

I took a total of 4 shots with 1/125 and measured the following values with the Sekonic:

f 22.0: Main 246 J (6.3) / Fill 30 J (3.3) / t= 1/810, Total Power: 6.5
f 32.3: Main xxx J (7.6) / Fill xxx J (3.3) t= ? , total power: 7.7
f 38.2: 800 J (8.0) Main / 100 J (5.0) Fill t= 1/405, Total Power: 8.2
f 45.2: Main 1054 J (8.4) / Fill 132 J (5.4) t= 1/325, total power: x.x

The Ilford HP5 8x10 negatives were exposed at half box speed, developed in ID11 (20% shorter development) distance lens to bust 70 cm, resulting in a scale of 1:1.33 and an extension factor of 3.0

Everything worked great:
- The Sekonic 756 connected to the Grafit A4 with a cable always triggered
- The shutter has always released correctly via the radio transmitter to the receiver
- BUT: Out of sheer delight with the lightning equipment, I forgot to calculate the extension factor of 3….So the pictures are 3 stops underexposed (resp. since I took the picture with half box speed, 2 stops underexposed?

Does this mean that I would have to at least reach a flash line with f 64 to get a f 22?

[Daniel Unkefer]

Great start NormaN

Yes, two or three stops under you would need f45 or f64 on the meter, assuming only one POP. This is why large format requires a lot of strobe power! If subject is not moving, you can do multiple POPS, as I have done above.

[Daniel Unkefer]

Also, if you find you need MORE light, consider getting another pack 1600 Joules. You could use that with your fill light, full power with your Pulso 2 Head. Then use the Pulso 4 head at full power 3000 Joules, and you will be maxed out in terms of heads/packs. One stop difference between main and fill.

Just sayin'. 1600J packs can be pretty reasonable. I bought two Primo 2 and one Pulso 2 Fifty US Dollars each

[Daniel Unkefer]

Makiflex 4x5 Shanghai Octobox 150 F16 D23 by Nokton48, on Flickr

9x9cm image 9x12cm film Plaubel Makiflex F16. 4x5 Shanghai 100 film with YG filter D23 1:1 Unidrum Uniroller Omega DII laser aligned 150mm black Rodagon at F16 Arista RC #2 8x10 Dektol 1:2 Testing the new to me Broncolor Octobox 150, beautiful light like movable window lighting. Supplemental Octobox 150 Diffuser added. Notice the attractive catchlight in the glass vase. I bought a couple of C200 Monolights, about $200 each, one from the UK. These are rated by Broncolor at 1600 Joules, no cord means about a stop brighter than a cabled pack system, These C200's are highly recommended for large format shooting! They are great and take the same Pulso Acessories as the bigger pack system. When you need F16 when the light is backed up, you need about 1500J to do it in one pop.

BTW this strobe was over $2000 new, a great deal used at $200. A powerhouse commercial grade monolight.

[Daniel Unkefer]

CFV16 ELM 80 T Star Pulso Beauty Light HoneyGrids 10 deg 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Here I am playing around with my new to me Digital CFV16 Hasselblad Back on my motorized EL/M Body, with 80mm Planar at minimum focus distance. Got a Pulso Beauty Light with a HoneyGrids Ten Degree Grid Attachment straight down. A mirror just off camera left to add some kicker light. Love shooting digitally with the EL/M it's very fluid and user friendly in every way so far. Printed out the instruction book it covers a lot. Loving that the CFV16 Back works so well with my Big Broncolor Lights. The Pulso Beauty just arrived, all the way from Australia.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/272291017162

The HoneyGrids are great Broncolor Compatible Grids, some stuff not available from Broncolor. Prices good and quality excellent

I have a C200 pointed straight down, mounted to overhead floor joists, FOBA parts utilized, heavy duty mounted. Very versatile and I can raise and lower the flash to get it exactly where I want it. Bought a lot of Manfrotto Grip Parts from Gary at World of Used Photography. Now I can set up some more complex shots with ease. And a lot of new stuff from SETSHOP in NYC. Plenty to keep busy with when it gets cold around here

[Daniel Unkefer]

Shell Peco Jr 180mm f5.6 Fuji GX680 PanF+ D23 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Plaubel Peco Junior 180mm F5.6 Fuji GX680 Ilford PanF+ Plaubel Makina Film Back D23 1:1 JOBO Multitank6 Etone Tank Roller Omega DII 180mm black Rodagon laser aligned Arista #2 RC Dektol 1:2. Broncolor C200 Monolight Broncolor Octobox 150 Foamcore Fill Panel. Tim Layton digital background (printed at Sam's Club) on FOBA Sweep Table. Used a lot of camera movements to get the tines sharp as was possible.

https://broncolor.swiss/products/oct...9?variant=3423

I'm so happy and pleased with my Octobox 150. I leave it set up with a C200 Monolight 1500J gives F22 and light's the entire set interior. Love it
$2500 Strobe World's Finest for $275 including UK shipping. Like it so much I bought a second one! It's suspended over my Sweep Table. Bought the Octobox for $249 Used from Adorama in perfect condition.

[Mal Paso]

I have a 4' Softbox on a boom that I leave permanently parked against the ceiling. It's so handy to pull down and adjust if I want to do a quick illustration. I started with a monolight but the power pack driven heads are so much lighter I can extend the boom another 15 inches. Now the softbox has a 2400WS head into a Norman 2424 power pack. The 2424 has 3 banks which can be combined, it has built in optical trigger and I added a radio trigger. Nicest full power strobe I've ever had. I think I paid $165 for the 2424 power pack. New packs are over $3600. I went back and checked 9 months later, all the equipment I didn't buy is still for sale. There is literally no market for older studio strobe equipment but I'm happy with what I've been able to acquire. I shot some 4x5 yesterday, will post after I process.