I've been playing around with a couple of Z-240s as off-board strobes for stills. Without a hard wired FO slave cable or a remote trigger, reliable sync'ing has been, well, unreliable...
Already possessing a couple of Green Force Flexi Fun (8 x AA) Tristar lamps and umbilicals, I'm wondering whether a couple of Squid LED 1500 video lamps ( http://www.green-force.com/NewProducts/NewVideoLighting.html ) would be a viable option to strobes. The advantages of a video lamp being no remote triggering and being able to model the light around the subject. Squid LED 1500s are the most powerful video lamps which my Flexi Fun battery packs will support and produce 1500 lumens over an hour burn time. With a coverage of 120 degrees they'll be a nad better than the Z-240s.
Before shelling out around £325.00 for each Squid head I'd like to ask whether 1500 lumens output is going to be sufficient for off-board illumination. I can invest in more expensive HID video heads but will also have to upgrade the power packs too (ouch!).
Grateful as always for your input.
Thanks, Tim
The most important factor for success is the ambient light level. As unlike a strobe both (ambient light and torch) are effected by shutter speed AND aperture. In bright conditions (Red Sea wreck exterior) continuous light can fail to compete with sun. But in dark, murky UK conditions it can be great way of shooting and faster and easier to use than off camera strobes.
Here is a shot with a single Sola 600 inside the Gok Wan wreck (in awful viz) in Shetland:
Alex
Thanks Alex,
I take your point well about competing with high ambient light levels. But for my taste the technique seems to have greater merit in highlighting areas of interest in lower ambient light situations and I am encouraged by your success with the 670 lumen output Sola. The 1500 lumens available from the Squid shouldn't be too shabby then?
Muchos gracias, Tim
From what I remember the SOLA was on its lowest power setting - but then it was very dark!
Alex
How do you do it? It was blaaack, man!
Tim
PS Froaich Bhan is a much more impressive name...
... although the spelling might be all Gok Wan to me!
