Strobe Lamps at DVinfo.net

James Connors · February 19th, 2005, 04:00 PM

For a music vid I plan on shooting, i'd like to use a fast strobe on the band....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43120&item=7955752209&rd=1

Annoyingly I saw this auction with 7 minutes to go and didn't want to bid on something that'd be useless... how powerful are these kind of lamps? the venue I'll be using isn't huge, it holds about 200 people in a square room, and we'll be sectioning it off with black sheets in a square so its just really, really dark in there... am I going to need a much more powerful lamp?

If so I'll just hire one (provided we have the $ even for that!) but if something small like this willl suffice (I mean, camera flashes are small but they make such a bright flash hence my guess this MIGHT be possible) then I'll buy it as it could come in useful at a later date too.

Also, something so fast, I wouldn't have to worry about syncing it to the CD track would I, or will it be noticable on cuts if its OOS ?

Michael Carter · February 19th, 2005, 08:54 PM

James-- ever been to a disco or a rave?? There are lighting-rig type strobes for dance/disco setups that are very, very bright, and are designed to "strobe" all night long. However, to buy or rent such a unit, they don't usually give a brightness rating (see the auction link you posted for instance-- the tech specs are 'women dig it' as I recall), especially in a language that means anything in the world of f-stops. (Still strobes are rated by distance at a given ISO and f-stop, for instance).

I'd check with a lighting rental place that does stage and club work. They should let you take a meter reading from various units at a distance. (You'd need a flash meter though). It's possible that these things have variable output brightness (not just speed of strobing). In that case, grab the brightest one they have and you should be covered. (And you can always gel or ND them; in fact, I'd guess a cyan/blue gel would look pretty killer, as the highest intensity would remain white, and it would spill to blue, looking really "electric"...)

The problem with anything made for still shooting -- either a pack & head system of an on-camera unit -- is there's an expected "recycle time" for the capacitors to charge. Hit it too hard, and you'll pop a breaker or overheat the unit. They're not made to just run & run at high speed.

Hope that helps--MC

James Connors · February 21st, 2005, 02:59 AM

Thanks for your post Michael, Yeah I noticed how bad the description was in that auction... I know the units are generally cheap but sometimes you can get away with cheap things and pretend it costs a fortune :)

I'll give my local cam shoot a ring and see if they can help me and I'll get the measurements for the place I'll be shooting at. I like the idea of the gel tho! The band I'm shooting have a thing for red and I can imagine that working quite nice too, definitely a harsher edge than just a pure white flash.

Thanks :)

February 19th, 2005, 04:00 PM	#1
James Connors Major Player Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Cardiff, UK Posts: 223	Strobe Lamps For a music vid I plan on shooting, i'd like to use a fast strobe on the band.... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43120&item=7955752209&rd=1 Annoyingly I saw this auction with 7 minutes to go and didn't want to bid on something that'd be useless... how powerful are these kind of lamps? the venue I'll be using isn't huge, it holds about 200 people in a square room, and we'll be sectioning it off with black sheets in a square so its just really, really dark in there... am I going to need a much more powerful lamp? If so I'll just hire one (provided we have the $ even for that!) but if something small like this willl suffice (I mean, camera flashes are small but they make such a bright flash hence my guess this MIGHT be possible) then I'll buy it as it could come in useful at a later date too. Also, something so fast, I wouldn't have to worry about syncing it to the CD track would I, or will it be noticable on cuts if its OOS ?

February 19th, 2005, 08:54 PM	#2
Michael Carter Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 108	James-- ever been to a disco or a rave?? There are lighting-rig type strobes for dance/disco setups that are very, very bright, and are designed to "strobe" all night long. However, to buy or rent such a unit, they don't usually give a brightness rating (see the auction link you posted for instance-- the tech specs are 'women dig it' as I recall), especially in a language that means anything in the world of f-stops. (Still strobes are rated by distance at a given ISO and f-stop, for instance). I'd check with a lighting rental place that does stage and club work. They should let you take a meter reading from various units at a distance. (You'd need a flash meter though). It's possible that these things have variable output brightness (not just speed of strobing). In that case, grab the brightest one they have and you should be covered. (And you can always gel or ND them; in fact, I'd guess a cyan/blue gel would look pretty killer, as the highest intensity would remain white, and it would spill to blue, looking really "electric"...) The problem with anything made for still shooting -- either a pack & head system of an on-camera unit -- is there's an expected "recycle time" for the capacitors to charge. Hit it too hard, and you'll pop a breaker or overheat the unit. They're not made to just run & run at high speed. Hope that helps--MC

February 21st, 2005, 02:59 AM	#3
James Connors Major Player Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Cardiff, UK Posts: 223	Thanks for your post Michael, Yeah I noticed how bad the description was in that auction... I know the units are generally cheap but sometimes you can get away with cheap things and pretend it costs a fortune :) I'll give my local cam shoot a ring and see if they can help me and I'll get the measurements for the place I'll be shooting at. I like the idea of the gel tho! The band I'm shooting have a thing for red and I can imagine that working quite nice too, definitely a harsher edge than just a pure white flash. Thanks :)