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Lightweight portable flash suggestions

ParkerSmithPhoto

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Okay, I'll admit I hate "suggest gear" threads, so now I feel like a jerk! But I will try to be specific.

I'm used to using White Lightning studio strobes which I love, but they are a bit heavy when I want to take a simple rig on location with the RZ or Hassy. I have been using the Sunpak but it leaves a lot to be desired, especially on manual.

I'm looking for something that has the following:
  1. lightweight
  2. battery powered
  3. easy to add a soft box or umbrella, although I can just buy a swivel mount
  4. easy to adjust MANUAL power output (The WL have a simple slider, my current Sunpak is very fiddly)
  5. threaded tripod mount
Any suggestions?
 
The Nikon SB600 speedlight is one generation out of date now, so tends to go for about $100 used. It has manual adjustment down to 1/64 full power. There is a plastic stand it comes with, and the stand has a tripod socket. I use an umbrella bracket with a cold shoe so I don't need the stand. It does not have a PC connector, so you will need a radio trigger or a pc to hot shoe adaptor. The slightly more powerful and more expensive SB800 has an optical trigger slave mode and goes down to 1/128 power.

Oh, I also just read that the ubiquitous Vivitar 285HV has a manual mode with full, 1/2, 1/4 and 1/16 settings.
 
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I rented a Profoto D1 and loved it. I've been lusting after one ever since, but haven't yet saved up the $$$. It will be my next piece of gear for sure.
 
LUMEDYNE
and a trusted seller is selling a full kit in the classifieds !
i have had one ( 244 ) with 2 heads, the normal battery ( 200 ws )
and i have the handle unit too. allows for asymetrical lighting split between 2 heads
with 1 head down to 2 ws or up to 200, and it has a thyrister. the heads can take umbrellas
and can take soft boxes as long as you have the right speed ring.
lumedyne has been around for a long long time and will service, sell and support their lights.
if you aren't familiar with them: http://www.lumedyne.com
i've had mine since 1988, and have used it a ton, never an issue. i've used it with 35mm / Dslr doing newspaper / editorial work
as well as 4x5 and 5x7 doing location portrait work. they are worth every penny they charge for them ..
( if i had the $$ i would buy the kit/s for sale in the classifieds, in a heartbeat )

good luck finding something that suits your needs !
 
The Quantum Q flash (I believe it is called something else now) was always a favorite as was the Norman 200B as was the Lumedyne John mentions.

I have an old Elinchrom Ranger that is mighty handy. It can go anywhere I can go, although the batteries are a little heavy, but it packs a wallop (1100 w/s). Those aren't really cheap though. Neither are the other true quality battery strobe options like ProFoto for example. You get what you pay for as they say. On the upside the power is there and they are easily modified for light shape. On the downside they cost more than your White Lightning setup if you buy new.

I guess it just depends on how much juice you want, how much money you want to spend and how flexible (attachment-wise) you want it to be.

You could also harness the most powerful battery in the solar system, which is free, and it shines just about every day unless it is hidden. Then you are stuck with the softbox option....
 
As mentioned the Q Flash is great, but there are a few "copy" brands that have very similar bare bulb portable flashes like theirs. Godox AD360 and Adorama's Streaklight 360 are fantastic. I have the Streaklight 360 and plan on getting more to replace my big 400 w/s monolight.
 
How much light is required? How portable do you need for location work?

I use a set of Yonguo EX560 III speed lights. Fully manual, can be controlled (power and zoom adjusted) via a handy and inexpensive controller. I can mount them in anything that takes a speed ring. For B&W no issues at all (and plenty of light output for my needs, which is usually ISO200 or 400, but I have used them with iso 25 film). I have found the light coming out of them is NOT perfect. When shooting in colour they tend to exaggerate skin imperfections and redness. So, the CRI isn't perfect. But, I have a set of four I carry with me in a messenger bag complete with triggers, gels, smaller light modifiers, flash meter, extra batteries (I've never had a set of batteries die on me during a shoot, so they are pretty good), and two light stands strapped under the bag. All in all, a good portable lighting setup for single person portraits. Not something I would recommend for group photos or where colour accuracy is paramount.
 
Call me old-school, but I've always liked the trusty old Vivitar 285. Not a huge range of manual control, but they're cheap and tough (and work decently on auto as well, though it's not TTL or anything).
 
I had a couple of vivitar 285s. If you can find them in working condition and for a good price, they are OK. I switched to Nikon SB 24s.

Only problem with shoe mount flashes is you need some extra gear to go with them. Radio triggers or ir commanders. Brackets to mount them on the stands and mount umbrellas on. Also they are not suited well to soft boxes.

Have not looked at the other options mentioned. Would be nice to have a small battery powered kit that was a bit more sturdy than shoe mounts.
 
I'll toss another option in the mix that will have more light that the shoemount options mentioned - a Metz CT-60. Easy to modify to take an off-the-shelf sealed lead acid battery with capacity only limited by how much battery you want to carry around. OEM battery is still available and an an Lithium ion option from 3rd party (but you need separate charger).
 
These are really good flashes, although they may be a bit harder to use with light modifiers than some of the other suggestions.

I made a cheap and cheerful beauty dish modifier for mine using a Dollar Store cake plate.
 
MattKing said:
These are really good flashes, although they may be a bit harder to use with light modifiers than some of the other suggestions.

I made a cheap and cheerful beauty dish modifier for mine using a Dollar Store cake plate.
Click to expand...

I'd like to see a photo of your homemade beauty dish.

There are a few softboxes usable with the Metz. It's not comparable to a true monolight, but still more than most shoemount flashes. Photoflex used to make a clamp that would allow you to position the flash in a speed ring.
 

When I worked commercially, I had three Metz CT-60s that I used very successfully for location lighting. The big trick with them was to immediately chuck away the NiCad batteries and replace them with Metz's 'Dry fit' batteries. These held a lot of charge, had no 'memory' like the NiCads and could be put on charge even when only half used. Mine were synched with radio slaves.

Bests,

David.
www.dsallen.de
 
How about Nissin i40. Rotary dial for manual power and it will do TTL when you need it.
 
I like the Nikon SB800 and its descendants. I use it with my Nikon SLRs and my Hasselblad.
 
I can suggest the Visitor 283.They are very reliable and dirt cheap 2nd hand.I attach a soft box with a strip of Velcrnly negative.They have a fairly high trigger voltage;even for the Hasselblad
 
RalphLambrecht said:
I can suggest the Visitor 283.They are very reliable and dirt cheap 2nd hand ...
Click to expand...

+ 1 for the Vivitar 283 !

--
I have a Nikon Speedlight SB-24 (cheap as chips) - I even use it with medium format.
It won't work in TTL mode, but it does in auto mode.
 
Rent a Profoto 7B (or whatever model it is now)...sure they have them in Atlanta area.
They take all of the Profoto modifiers...great system.

Not sure how much light you need, but they are great. I used Hensel Porty's too, but
never really liked their head design.

If you want to go smaller, I LOVE Nikon SB 26's...they have a built-in optical slave, and
using a cold-shoe with a super clamp/stud or ball-head mount on a small stand, they are
great for back lights etc.
 
I've got 3 of the Youngnuo YN600 EX-RTs and the remote YNE3-RT that I use with my "other format" camera. Very easy to control a handful of speedlights with the remote and pretty flexible in manual mode. Now I just need to get the bits to be able to use them with my Yashica Mat 124 and Canon AE-1.
 
I have rewired the Metz 45 CL-4 to use NiMH batteriers with normal battery basket. Very powerful flash but may be hard with light modifiers expect umbrellas.

You can use 7.2 volt RC batteries but may need to drill a hold in battery basket. The advantage with RC batteries is very fast recycle time in full power.
 
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