Well before you rebuy or have the transformers in the units change, I would suggest that you look and see if you can get a separate unit that will convert the 120 here to the 220 you have there. Then all you have to do is plug your current system into that unit, and that unit into the wall and you are good to go.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: Shopping for Lighting and IR
From: Herschel Mair <herschel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, March 27, 2010 10:48 am
To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students
<photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
I've noticed a trend towards less and less studio work and more and
more location work where you take the studio to the set.
I have some battery powered studio lighting (BOWENS) and I make a LOT
of use of ambient daylight. And I try to over expose the backgrounds a
little for modern "Trendoid" lighting.
These days the pix must look as unstructured and unconstructed as
possible. Authenticity is the keyword.
I bang a 6 foot softbox on a light, turn it down to "0" where it gives
me around f:4 up against the subject. An additional 4x6 foot
scrim/reflector on a C-stand for fill so it's softer than soft
(I often have to use ND filters) then I balance the background with
shutter speed. Early morning/sunrise looks like mid-morning. You
couldn't have done this stuff with film... you'd have a nightmare
getting the colour right.
But that's the look and feel that get's me work here and in Dubai,
which is a sophisticated market.
herschel
On Sat, 27 Mar 2010 08:05:13 -0500, David Dyer-Bennet wrote:
On 27-Mar-10 07:54, herschel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> > any idea on flash duration for these?
> > I have a bunch of studio lighting but it's all 240V.
> >
> > I'm moving to the States around August and I'll look for a little
> > commercial work
> > I must weigh up the option of selling and re-buying with getting all the
> > transformers changed.
> >
> > I find that with digital SLR (Even my full-frame) I almost always have
> > too much light to get the shallow DOF I need (Min ISO 200)
> >
> > But some lights have a ridiculously long flash duration (650th) and I
> > need high-speed to capture blur-free movement.
>
> Yes, generally studio strobes are fairly long-duration at full power
> (though mostly they go under 1/1000 sec. at the low end, and you're
> talking about having too much power).
>
> Hey, the flash duration info on the AB400 is at
> <http://www.alienbees.com/specs.html>, measured two different ways
> (duration over 50% outputp and duration over 10% output). They behave
> the reverse of everything I've seen before, longer exposure at lower
> power. But the AB400 gets down to 1/2000 second over 10% output at full
> power; not nearly as fast as an SB-800 can go, but decently fast I think.
>
> It's a big change to have ISO 200 as the MINIMUM you use :-), I think it
> was like ISO 100 max previously, with 64 fairly common and some 25 in
> the studio (I know I shot K25 in the studio some). And with
> medium-format gear we mostly needed a much smaller aperture than we want
> today. So we don't need the kind of power we used to need (if we're
> using a DSLR in the studio now).
>
> I don't know about legalities here, but it's perfectly possible to wire
> your studio space with 240V and just change the plugs on your existing
> units -- if they don't mind 60Hz instead of 50Hz, anyway. In fact if
> the cords are detachable, and you can find a 240V rated US 240V plug to
> the right other end, you might just swap cords. Given international
> shipping, you might be better off selling and buying something new here
> though.
>
> --
> David Dyer-Bennet, dd-b@xxxxxxxx; http://dd-b.net/
> Snapshots: http://dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/data/
> Photos: http://dd-b.net/photography/gallery/
> Dragaera: http://dragaera.info
>
>
