{"id":4090,"date":"2014-12-06T15:15:47","date_gmt":"2014-12-06T13:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottlewisphotography.eu\/?p=4090"},"modified":"2014-12-06T21:47:27","modified_gmt":"2014-12-06T19:47:27","slug":"bare-bulb-flash-systems-part-3-using-them-in-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.scottlewisphotography.eu\/?p=4090","title":{"rendered":"Bare Bulb flash systems …. Part 3 using them in reality."},"content":{"rendered":"

Because Godox use a Lumedyne<\/a> style mount the same as Quantum Q flashes a lot of the light modifying accessories are interchangeable. The may be some minor compatibility issues between some systems but from what I have researched around the net there is a great amount of compatibility between the systems and not only with the modifier mount e.g. using 3rd party trigger for HSS, adding several Godox power packs in to a Q flash to reduce recycle time. Not every accessory will be required and using what you already have is logical.<\/p>\n

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\"1517435_10205558883881511_1817939185452691885_n\"<\/a>Thanks to Nam Chau<\/a> for the above photo of 2 Godox power packs on a Quantum Flash<\/em><\/p>\n

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Due to the fact that most of the standard modifiers are relativity small and portable they may not suit every one especially if you like to shoot with larger soft boxes or parabolic umbrellas.\u00a0 It may also be that\u00a0 like me you have a lot of modifiers in your studio that you would like to use with your bare bulb flash depending on your wants and needs there seems to be no limit to what you can do.<\/p>\n

\"14-Speedlight<\/a><\/p>\n

I honestly don’t know how many different speed light to Bowens speed ring mount adapters there are out there, but as most of the flashes coming out of China and Korea use the Bowens mount it has become very universal. Our studio has all original Bowens flash and so many different modifiers that being able use the 2 systems together for me is a no brainier. In fact basically any thing I can mount a speed light on I can mount a bare bulb flash with its extra power.\u00a0 That said there is a lot of light loss due the large opening at the back. If you use Elinchrom I have seen the same thing for the Elinchrom mount as well, and i guess if you look there will be other mounts available as well. There is also a build massive quality difference in these it my be a risk mounting a very large heavy light modifier on one.<\/p>\n

\"SONY<\/a><\/p>\n

I have 2x80cm collapseable octoboxs that I picked at Photokina, I keep them in a tripod bag with a few light stands and basically take them every where with me that I go to shoot (aka studio in a bag). This system is so simple they are just a deep parabolic umbrella with a Velcro in soft box panel and grid. In one side there is a zippier so I put my light stand through it and mount everything inside the octo-box with very little\u00a0 light loss. As everything is mounted inside a sealed unit it can be a problem to change your power settings on the flash unit as well, but Godox have a great solution for this. With the FT-16 trigger I can manually control the power output of up to 16 individual flashes. In my opinion this systems has advantages and disadvantages. First off it is a propriety system that will only work flashes that accept their receiver (that is plugged into a USB port on the side of with flash), I have no real issues with this it kind of makes scene. My real problem starts if you want to shoot HSS (High Speed Sync) or add a flash that doesn’t have\u00a0 the usb port for the receiver e.g my Triopo\/Polaroid. If I want to use HSS either I need a different set of trigger and receivers from Godox called the Cells II and can only use my flashes between full power and 1\/8th power, and as far as I know i lose that ability to remotely control my power out put. There is no receiver for the FT-16 trigger that has a ISO hotshoe or pc terminal so if I add my Triopo flash to a set up it has to be set to optical slave so I can trigger it. That isn’t a real problem unless its a very bright area I’m shooting in, but for my own piece of mind I would love to see Godox add a simple receiver that works with the\u00a0 FT-16 trigger, it only needs a hotshoe and or pc terminal. And in a perfect world they would add HSS over the whole power range to the FT-16 trigger set up, that way you only need one trigger and the appropriate receiver for your set up. To fire mine with HSS I use triggers from Pixel called “Pixel King<\/a>” the rest of the time I use the FT-16 and optical slave for any other flashes.<\/p>\n

\"Products_witstro_AD180_12\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now that I can control the every aspect of my flash from power out put to light modifier all i need to do is actually power it. The small Triopo\/Polaroid has about the same power as a large systems flash and can easily be powered by a few “AA eneloops” it has a maximum power of probably between 90-100 ws. My largest Godox (Genesis Reporter) has a power out put of 360ws, so maybe 4 times the power of my smallest flash, a few AA batteries just aren’t going to be enough. That only leave me with the option of high capacity external batteries, which is why you should never but a 180ws or 360ws separately with out that power pack to start with.\u00a0 The Lithium Power Pack PB960 that is shipped as standard is actually a miracle\u00a0 of modern science, and well though out for the needs of a photographer. Its predecessor the PB-820 it also a great bit if kit but the PB960 out shines it in every way (other then price).<\/p>\n

Features of the external power packs (both PB960 and PB820):<\/strong><\/p>\n