Nikkor Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 I'm totally ignorant when it comes to lights. I was looking into studioflashes for stills but the whole deal with them is a PITA. I remember seeing videos about the aputure 120d and that it was 1000W equivalent, would this be comparable to a 1000W strobe??? Because if it is (even if its just 700W equivalent) it would be a much better deal for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tupp Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Strobes are measured in watt-seconds (not watts) and in guide numbers. Guide numbers rate the actual illumination output of a strobe, while watt-seconds usually measure the electrical expenditure of a strobe's "power pack." A watt-second is equivalent to the expenditure of power of one watt for one second. So, a momentary flash from a 1,000 watt-second strobe is equivalent to leaving the shutter open for one full second with a 1,000 watt constant light source (all other variables being equal). That's a lot of light. Let's make another comparison between a 1,000 watt constant light with a 1,000 watt-second strobe. If you shoot 24fps video with a 180-degree shutter, your shutter speed is 1/48th of a second. So, shooting 24fps video with a 1,000 watt constant light is only yielding the equivalent of 1/48th of 1,000 watt-seconds -- only 20.8 watts-seconds. Generally, if a monoblock strobe and a strobe with a separate power pack have the same watt-second rating, the monoblock will be brighter. Monoblocks are more efficient because they have no head cable to incur line loss. If you intend to do a lot of stills outdoors and/or shoot stills indoors with large sources (umbrellas, soft boxes), then you will probably be much happier with strobes. Strobes are a lot more powerful than most constant sources, and strobes can freeze/sharpen action. Strobes allow one to make daytime exteriors look dark, with a short shutter speed and short flash duration. Most LED and fluorescent sources can't even come close to achieving this power/time density, and using focused tungsten and HMI sources to do the same would probably fry the subject. Chris Oh and Nikkor 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Oh Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Semi-related, because I'd like one less thing to setup/pack. I wonder what the performance of "modeling LED" is like on this: https://paulcbuff.com/db400.php "ultra bright LED modeling lamp (400W equivalent, daylight-balanced)" Nikkor 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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