 Michelle Thalen |
Need Some Serious Help on Lighting! I would like to purchase some studio lighting. One person has suggested the Opus Pro 2 X 250WS Mono Kit or the Opus Pro 2 X 500 WS Mono Kit c/w 2 lights, stand, case, umbrella, snoot, barn doors, and some filters, for $1099, and $1699. He also suggests a Hot Shoot PC adaptor for $129 that protects against frying my camera, or a $20 one that has no protection I guess. I use the Canon Powershot G5 not an SLR. Will this work with my camera? Is this sufficient for doing in studio portraits? The room is not real big. Good buy? Is it compatible with my camera? I don't want to fry it. Do I have any other options? Do I need a light meter? Can I shoot in auto modes or is it manual only? Any info is greatly appreciated. Please point out everything as I am just a beginner doing all the research I can. Thanks.
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BetterPhoto Member |
Hi Michelle- I teach the "Lighting for Commercial Photography" course here at BetterPhoto, and the price sounds right for the lights. But I am surprised that I have not heard of the brand before. I don't know if you can really fry your camera the way they are made these days. I fried an old Nikon F about 25 years ago in the studio, and that was in the days when you used extension cords as your PC cord and if you accidentally crossed the polarity, that fried the camera and made you count your blessings you were still alive. I do not believe that today that can happen with the type of pc cords that are used on monolights. Your camera, as far as I know, does not have a pc connection to plug the pc cord into, so you will need the adaptor to fire the flash. Because your camera has automatic and manual settings, you could use it for strobe photography, but set your camera on manual. You dont need a light meter as you can preview test shots on your LCD and also evaluate your light ratios.
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Michelle Thalen |
Thank you very much. Just a couple other questions. Should I buy the 250W or 500W? And are you saying that I should buy the $20 pc adaptor, rather than the $129? What do you mean I could use my camera for strobe photography? Not sure what that is. You really know what you are talking about, and I would appreciate all the info you can give me. I feel so much better now. Thanks a bunch.
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BetterPhoto Member |
I would definitely get the 500ws as this is more power, and as you learn your lights better and try more difficult shots, you'll be glad you have the extra power. What I was referring to - on using your camera for strobe photography - is that there are so many digital cameras out there, yet not all are suitable for strobe photography ... meaning using the camera with the lights you want to buy, not on-camera flash. Your camera barely makes it as you have to have varied settings such as manual to use supplemental strobes. With strobes. there is no automatic shooting because quality lighting comes from balancing a key light and a fill light in ratios, lighting angle, lighting contrast, etc.
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Michelle Thalen |
I hardly know what strobe lighting is, but let me try summarizing what you are saying. My camera is not best suitable for strobe lighting, as it is not an SLR and need more manual settings. But I will be fine with the mono lights? Sorry, I am just starting out. I don't even know fully how the monolights will work, until I go to buy them (the guy is going to teach me). I guess I want to make sure that this is the right thing to buy. I want to take portraits in my home of children, etc., and I want the colour to be right and I want to shoot with my flash. I was using halogens with my flash, but I am mixing 2 different lights. I want to have the right set-up. Am I on the right track?
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BetterPhoto Member |
Well, you are close to understanding what I meant. Your camera comes with a flash, and that type of lighting is for snapshots. Then you have ambient light, which is any available light - the sun, street lights, fluorescents in a ceiling, etc. Ambient light is usually light you don't have control over. Then you have strobes that are flash. They come as power packs with heads that have a cable and plug into the power pack. These lights are limited to where you can place them in the scene to the length of the cord plugged into the power pack. A monolight is also a flash, but is a stand-alone unit with the power pack built into them and you can put them anywhere in your scene as long as you can plug them into an electrical outlet for power. Your camera is acceptable for what you want to do because it has manual settings - but barely. When you take a picture with the on-camera flash, it is all automatic TTL (thru the lens), but not when you use the monolights, they are not automatic. So you judge your lighting angle, lighting ratio, and exposure VISUALLY by looking at your LCD on your camera.
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Michelle Thalen |
You are AWESOME! I can't believe how cool this place is. You have been very helpful and I can't believe how much you have helped. I am going to get the lights and I will definitely consider your course. One last question. Do you think I need the $20 pc adaptor or the $129 protector one? Ah, this is awesome. I am grinning from ear to ear. Thank you - you are awesome!!!
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BetterPhoto Member |
No problem, Michelle! I would get the $20 version as I cannot imagine why that would not work. If there is a problem, you can always return it and upgrade. You are welcome to send me your email, and I will keep you informed of tips, tricks, and information on upcoming workshops. borlandphoto@earthlink.net
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Ken Reaves |
Charlie, Thank you for your help, and I didn't even ask the question. :-) I am considering taking your class in January. In preparation for that class, I do have question. That is the pros and cons over hot lights and strobes. I shot all digital now, and was wondering if hot lights would be better than strobes for portraits, weddings, and corporate shots. Also, I was told that I should use a pc adaptor with built in surge protection. The one for Nikon D70 are $75. It's to protect against frying the circuits in the camera. Ken
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BetterPhoto Member |
Ken I think strobes are better than hot lights for general commercial photography for the following reasons. You overpower ambient light with a flash and a fast shutter speed, thus not allowing ambient time to expose the picture. If you go into an office that has very bright ambient light and you turn on your hot lights, they are thus mixed with the ambient light for an even brighter ambinet light. This will all make better sense in the course. Now you all have enlightened me with the 'fry the cameras circuits' issue. I have never heard of anything like that and will check it out. I would say get it if you can handle and I'll explore in the mean time.
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BetterPhoto Member |
Ken Be sure and let me know if you have enrolled in my lighting course because students enrolled in my class will get a 10% discount on select items in a lighting package at White Lightning. Charlie
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Leanne |
Michelle i have the same camera as u, and am lost into which lighting to get also. I dont want to spend alot of money yet, but want my pictures to turn out good.please let me know what u got and if u like it. thanks Leanne
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Michelle Thalen |
Leanne, I bought the 2 500 w lights with stands umbrellas, and so forth. They work awesome, and the pictures and great. Fairly straight forward, trial and error. Not that cheap but I want to open my own business so it is not really an option. Michelle
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Karen Weiler |
Charlie: Quick question - I recently bought the same Opus lighting kit to try my hand at studio lighting. I shoot with a Canon 20D. I have the sync cord attached to the camera (with an opus sync protect because I too was told I could fry my camera), but it seems that the studio strobe will not fire unless I press "test" first. When I press the "test" button, it will not fire the first time, but then will fire from the second hit of the button onward. However, to use it from the camera, I have to hit the "test" button on the strobe twice, and then fire the shutter. If I want to take another shot, I have to do the same thing again. So my question is: is this something to do with the sync speeds (it seems the opus strobe has a set speed of 1/500) or is there something wrong with the strobe itself? Or maybe, just maybe, this process of hitting the "test" button first is normal and my expectations were a little off? I bought this kit yesterday, so I am really new to this. Any help would be very greatly appreciated.
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BetterPhoto Member |
Karen Something doesnt sound quite right. First, the 1/500th for the Opus is the speed of the flash, not the camera. So set your camera to 1/60 shutter speed. I doubt that is the reason the flash doesnt fire but try it again. A lot of people do not use the a safe Sync and have not had a problem, but one of my previous students has. I wonder if the sync protect is the problem, but the only way to check is to not use it once and just wire the camera to the strobe for one test. I am not going to suggest you do that, but it is one way to check if the safe protect is the problem. Are you able to visit the place where you bought it and have them check it out. One other thought, on my power pack strobes, the pc cords that connect into the power pack are two prong. What is the OPus? IS it like a radio jack? Geez, I do not even know the proper name of the plugs. If it is two prong, I will reverse it and then the flash fires. I would check with the camera store first if you can and see what they say. Could be a bad safe sync is my best guess.
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