Studio lights power requirement

[Daniel Prozeller]

Hi Guys,

I am starting to need more powerful/faster lights. I was looking at the Elinchrom 500ttl/hss 2 head system. I was told 500w/s is not really enough for product photography and that one should really be looking at 2400w/s pack to be a pro. I think the pack needs to be that high so that any head could put out its share of the available power and still remain high. I guess I could go with 2 x monoblock heads at 1200w/s.

Can I hear from more experienced product photographers, to do this job well and be in it for the long term as a pro, what is appropriate as far as a system’s power level?

Maybe you could suggest the total number of heads that would be best and the power of each head, please.

Thanks,
Dan

Topic

[Brian Ross]

Hi Dan,

My question to you is why do you need more powerful lights? Without details about what you shoot, it’s difficult to give you specific suggestions, but I’ll tell you a little about what I have done over time.

I shoot small to medium sized products perhaps up to 2′-3′ square in a small studio and normally use 3 lights, sometimes 4, rarely 6. It all depends if I’m shooting something fairly large and need it on white in camera. If so, then I’ve put up to 4 lights on the background with a key and fill in front. If 3 point lighting works well for a subject and I need a spot gradient on the background I use a 4th.

Power wise I started with 160 Ws, then 320 Ws, then 640 Ws, and now recently to 1000 Ws with fast t0.1 times. Each time I moved up in power because I was looking to keep my native ISO low while using a smaller aperture to keep more of my subject in focus and using the sharpest sweet spots of my lenses. All of the power options above have a wide range. This is important to remember if you’re trying to achieve a wide open aperture with a full frame or medium format camera for bokeh. Some high powered lights also have a relatively high lowest output, so be careful of this if you need to go wide open for bokeh effects.

Product photography with a full frame sensor, 640 Ws was a touch weak for some larger projects, and for usable t0.1 output for splashes. My 1000 Ws Profoto D2’s fit the bill perfectly for me as the best all around monolight for what I do. I have 4 D2’s and can bring in some B1’s from my mobile kit in rare cases. I can rent Pro-10’s for larger and faster projects if needed, and use any of the same modifiers I already use for the D2’s.

One of my top concerns with lighting is shot to shot consistency, my D2’s can vary by +/- 20 K (Kelvin), that’s very good, indiscernible. This is important in general but especially when focus stacking jewelry or small objects.

You mentioned 500 Ws, this can be enough depending on what you’re shooting and what you’re shooting with. For my workflow I’ve moved away from my 640 Ws lights, but they were great for most of my small and medium products. I decided to upgrade to 1000 Ws lights for my needs.

You mentioned 2400 Ws, this is great in my opinion depending on power range, perhaps 11 stop range in 1/10 stop increments if you want to do wide open aperture bokeh effects. This type of power is needed for larger areas or distances and products, or in the case of Profoto Pro-10 much more usable power with t0.1 times especially at distances. Think freezing powder explosions while bouncing on a trapline from a distance. This type of studio pack and head system will set you back many 10’s of thousands.

For what I do, I wouldn’t go fewer than 4 lights and 1000 Ws.

Looking forward to more details, hope this helps!

- Brian

[Liz Packwood]

Hi Dan and Brian,is it ok for me to add into this conversation; or should start a new thread? I am just about to buy my first studio lighting setup and progress through the product photography course. I am also a Pro Club member; and will also shoot the assignments in Proclub going forward. As a beginner in studio flash, it is hard to know what to choose, and how much power I will need. I am considering the Godox AD600 Pro, with a kit of 2 AD200’s.there is also the ability to put both the 200’s together which makes my second light 400w. I would appeciate your advice Brian, if you think this will be a good starting point for me? Do you think this will be enough power to begin my assignments? I am using Canon 5D mkii camera with 100mm macro f/2.8 lens, and I also have a Canon 600D as backup (crop sensor).
I aim to shoot wine, beer, spirits; and small to medium products including small jars, bottles, condiments etc.
Let me know if you think I need to start a new thread please.Thanks in advance, Liz