AF 200FG Flash

PentaxKangaroo · 01-20-2008, 02:04 AM

Will the AF 200FG Flash have enough power to fill a small 36 inch umbrella?

Matjazz · 01-20-2008, 11:04 AM

Every flash can fill any umbrella at certain distance. The question is will it be bright enough? There's only one way to know: try a flash with simmilar power.

stewart_photo · 01-20-2008, 09:18 PM

Originally posted by PentaxKangaroo

Will the AF 200FG Flash have enough power to fill a small 36 inch umbrella?

In my opinion, not in any truly useful manner. The AF200 FG is simply not strong enough for this type of use. By the time the light from the flash is bounced into an umbrella and travels to a subject three or four feet away, the intensity would likely be similar to a 60-75 watt light bulb (perhaps even less). This output level might be useful if you're in pitch darkness and any light is better than no light, but it's going to severely limit use elsewhere. Indeed, you might as well use an available household lamp.

For a flash unit to be useful in this type of situation (umbrella lighting), I recommend a minimum (more is better) guide number of roughly 125-150-ft (ISO-100, 50mm) for the main light and 75-100-ft (ISO-100, 50mm) for the fill or accessory light. The guide number for the AF200 FG (65-ft @ ISO-100, 50mm) falls well under both of these.

stewart

PentaxKangaroo · 01-21-2008, 03:22 AM

So would you consider using the af200fg as a backlight or in a snoot setup situation?

stewart_photo · 01-22-2008, 12:42 AM

Yes, it might work just fine as a hairlight or effect light with a snoot attached. As for the background, that depends on how strong your main lights are, how far it is from the background, how brightly you want that background, and so on. In other words, maybe.

stewart

JJJPhoto · 02-06-2008, 06:39 AM

Originally posted by PentaxKangaroo

Will the AF 200FG Flash have enough power to fill a small 36 inch umbrella?

As mentioned before, a typical bounce umbrella is probably a bad idea with this flash. However, a translucent "shoot-through" style umbrella or a small softbox "might" work with this flash.

Just be aware that if you diffuse this tiny flash with a softbox or shoot-through umbrella the light output will be considerably reduced. In other words, you'll need to get close and you probably won't get much usefulness out of it in daylight as a fill light.

01-20-2008, 02:04 AM	#1
PentaxKangaroo Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 60	AF 200FG Flash Will the AF 200FG Flash have enough power to fill a small 36 inch umbrella?

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01-20-2008, 11:04 AM	#2
Matjazz Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: EU/Slovenia Photos: Gallery Posts: 774	Every flash can fill any umbrella at certain distance. The question is will it be bright enough? There's only one way to know: try a flash with simmilar power.

01-20-2008, 09:18 PM	#3
stewart_photo Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Posts: 1,864	Originally posted by PentaxKangaroo Will the AF 200FG Flash have enough power to fill a small 36 inch umbrella? In my opinion, not in any truly useful manner. The AF200 FG is simply not strong enough for this type of use. By the time the light from the flash is bounced into an umbrella and travels to a subject three or four feet away, the intensity would likely be similar to a 60-75 watt light bulb (perhaps even less). This output level might be useful if you're in pitch darkness and any light is better than no light, but it's going to severely limit use elsewhere. Indeed, you might as well use an available household lamp. For a flash unit to be useful in this type of situation (umbrella lighting), I recommend a minimum (more is better) guide number of roughly 125-150-ft (ISO-100, 50mm) for the main light and 75-100-ft (ISO-100, 50mm) for the fill or accessory light. The guide number for the AF200 FG (65-ft @ ISO-100, 50mm) falls well under both of these. stewart

01-21-2008, 03:22 AM	#4
PentaxKangaroo Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 60 Original Poster	So would you consider using the af200fg as a backlight or in a snoot setup situation?

01-22-2008, 12:42 AM	#5
stewart_photo Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Heidelberg, Germany Posts: 1,864	Yes, it might work just fine as a hairlight or effect light with a snoot attached. As for the background, that depends on how strong your main lights are, how far it is from the background, how brightly you want that background, and so on. In other words, maybe. stewart

02-06-2008, 06:39 AM	#6
JJJPhoto Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 419	Originally posted by PentaxKangaroo Will the AF 200FG Flash have enough power to fill a small 36 inch umbrella? As mentioned before, a typical bounce umbrella is probably a bad idea with this flash. However, a translucent "shoot-through" style umbrella or a small softbox "might" work with this flash. Just be aware that if you diffuse this tiny flash with a softbox or shoot-through umbrella the light output will be considerably reduced. In other words, you'll need to get close and you probably won't get much usefulness out of it in daylight as a fill light.