Strobes

[John Orphan]

Wondering if anyone has had any significant experience with lighting with strobes. Not the strobe lights you might find at a dance club, but the kind used usually for high speed cinematography. Am considering using these for 24fps photog. as well as some highspeed. Any advice based on past experiences would be helpful. Thank you in advance for your response.

[Michael Nash]

Hey John, glad to see you here. I haven't seen you since L.A Riot Spectacular (premiering in April at the Tribeca Film Festival NYC).

 

It's sounds like you're talking about Unilux strobes, which are synched to the camera. I haven't used them myself, so I can't offer any firsthand advice. I have been warned though that people with Epilepsy and others prone to seizures should take caution when exposed to these lights.

 

I'm not quite sure how you go about metering these either, since most stills meters with a flash settings are looking for a single flash, and might get thrown off by the quick refresh of the strobe.

 

Also keep in mind that when operating you're not seeing the strobe in the viewfinder.

 

I think there may me an archive about this on the CML site. Also check out:

 

http://www.unilux.com/home.htm

[Sam Wells]

I'm not quite sure how you go about metering these either, since most stills meters with a flash settings are looking for a single flash, and might get thrown off by the quick refresh of the strobe.

 

Also keep in mind that when operating you're not seeing the strobe in the viewfinder.

 

 

http://www.unilux.com/home.htm

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Unilux will supply a flash meter that has been tested with their units.

 

They can fire twice per frame - once for for the negative exposure, once for the viewfinder.

 

-Sam

[John Orphan]

Michael:

 

Good to hear from you. Thanks for the reply. I checked out the Unilux website. Lots of great information. I haven't gone through it all yet. Clairmont has a system of strobes, however I was a little disappointed with the photometric specs. They didn't seem to put out a lot of light especially if one were to soften or gel the sources. I'll check Unilux for specs. etc. Thanks Again!

[boy yniguez]

Wondering if anyone has had any significant experience with lighting with strobes. Not the strobe lights you might find at a dance club, but the kind used usually for high speed cinematography.  Am considering using these for 24fps photog. as well as some highspeed. Any advice based on past experiences would be helpful. Thank you in advance for your response.

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why you would use it for normal speed photography escapes me the light output being lower than most film lights. the stobe gives a considerably shorter exposure of light compared to the length of time the shutter is open for every frame, in effect a higher effective shutter speed much like closing down the shutter of your film camera. an interesting use for it is mixing strobes and continuous lights un undercranked shots wherein you would get a blend of sharp and blurry images of the same action.