Having looked at the strobes available in the normal camera stores and online, I couldn't justify the $400-500 price tags I was seeing for even fairly modest 200WS strobes, and the cost-effective Alien Bees that everyone seems to rave about, appeared to only be available for 120V (not much use to me here in Aus). So it was off to eBay for a search.
There are hundreds and hundreds of ads on eBay for cheap strobes, and lighting kits comprising multiple strobes, but be careful... while the price may look attractive, just check out the specs. The one thing I saw time and time again on pretty much all the cheap models, was that their power range was shown as 8 'steps', or adjustable to 1/8 power. This is NOT equivalent to 8 f-stops. From full power to 1/8 is actually only a range of 3 stops - the equivalent of going from f/8 to f/11 to f/16 to f/22. I really wanted to try and find a strobe that had more control than that - similar to my speedlights which have the ability to go down to 1/128 power, which is a 7 stop range.

So option 2 was the DSLRKIT Flame-200 - a 200WS head for about the same price, but coming from China. After consulting with the dealer, it was (rather vaguely) confirmed that this head should have an 8 f-stop range, not just 8 steps from full down to 1/8 power. I gave the details to my family, who were clubbing together to get this for my birthday.
When the light arrived, my first disappointment was that it came with a European plug on the end of the (extra long) mains lead, but after a quick unplanned trip to Bunnings to buy a new plug, I was able to plug it in and test it. Everything worked, and it flashed OK (phew - always worry about anything glass or fragile coming through the post). The next slight disappointment was that the head has a 2 digit LED display on it, so I had assumed that the power would be adjustable in decimal increments as well as full stops - or at least in halves or thirds... but no, the power settings are 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, and 80. So what is the point of the second LED digit, I hear you ask? Yes - I'm wondering the same... Oh well, this is actually only a very minor inconvenience, and if I ever really need to be that precise, then I can move the light stand slightly, or make the adjustment in camera. Just one more observation - the modeling light power is not adjustable, as it is on the more expensive strobes - I'm not sure I'd even class this as an irritation - simply an observation.

So, the moment of truth... Today, I set up a test to make sure I would actually get 8 stops of adjustment. By my reckoning, if I set up a shot with a very small aperture and the strobe on full power, then decreased the power and opened the aperture by one stop at a time, then in theory, all the pictures should have the same exposure. If you look at the settings in the table below, you can see that my lens doesn't have 8 stops of latitude, so for the final 2 tests, I had to also lengthen the shutter speed to achieve the same exposure value.
And here are the results (excuse the hastily thrown together testbed)...
...so not totally consistent exposure across the whole range of adjustment, but unless you are doing an exercise like this, it wouldn't really matter, as you would most likely be adjusting the light, aperture, shutter speed, angles, distances, and everything by eye anyway. The important result for me is that the minimum power setting IS actually 8 stops away from full power, and not just 1/8th of it.
So am I pleased with it? Yes - absolutely. A minor setback with the plug at the beginning, but otherwise, I'm very pleased. It may not be the most powerful strobe in the world, but I don't feel that at this point in my life, I need multiple 1200WS strobes to light a huge studio from all angles (since I don't have a huge studio), and it fits my needs. I'd certainly consider getting a second one if my move towards portrait and/or product photography goes as I hope...
Until the next time,
Happy Snappin'
Thank you Grumby!
ReplyDeleteVery helpful article.
I have a 600w strobe, but it's not too much adjustable.
I think I need two of these.
Thank you again!
I ave 3 of these flashes, love them. I can use them on my power booster box outside with no problem, can not say the same for my Godox DE300w I need a Vagabond for that one.. :)
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