[comprock]

I travel for work and shooting open source related events. Along the way, group photos are something that's done more frequently. Given that I'm tired of crappy, dim, noisy shots by others and myself, I've been doing my best to make folks look good and be proud of presenting themselves to others. However, I think I'm nearing the limits of my equipment and technique knowledge.

Simply put, what portable lighting equipment would you recommend traveling around the world with?

Based upon recent learnings, 400 watts is my perceived minimum point for power. 250 watts like Profoto B2 might not get me my reach when doing distanced, wide angle shots where the stands might be in the frame.

1. What's your lighting recommendations and why?
2. What's missing on the list that I should look into?

Shortlist

• Elinchrom Quadra ELB 400 Two Action Heads To Go Kit EL10414.1
• Dynalite Baja B6 Battery-Powered 2-Light Kit with Case BK6-2200B
• Dynalite Baja B4 Battery Powered 2-Monolight Kit BK4-2200B B&H
• Profoto B1 500 Air Battery-Powered 2-Light Location Kit 901092
• http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1122648-REG/bolt_vb_22_bare_bulb_flash_and.html

Background

When I'm dealing with smaller groups of people, say under 10, single source lighting, especially if I can use a reflector is good enough. E.g. https://www.flickr.com/photos/comprock/18850452263/in/album-72157653210352373/, https://www.flickr.com/photos/comprock/22018872059/in/album-72157659429079660/

However, as start getting into 30-60 people, one light sourcing, even ceiling bounced barely works for me. I dislike the hard edges and frequent facial shadows. E.g. https://www.flickr.com/photos/comprock/24790833129/in/album-72157664624625911/, https://www.flickr.com/photos/comprock/24793731005/in/album-72157664109065861/.

Lastly, if possible, I'd like to kick additional light sources into dimly lit auditoriums or cloudy outdoor shoots. E.g. https://www.flickr.com/photos/comprock/25029443021/in/album-72157664624625911/, https://www.flickr.com/photos/comprock/16603953667/in/album-72157649011537593/ (for group size ref, not lighting, it's bright enough)

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Last edited by comprock; 02-23-2016 at 09:36 AM. Reason: Added VB 22

[Digitalis]

I'm a bit biased but from my experience: The Elinchrom Quadra ELB units will suit your purposes well, and Elinchrom have a wide amount of light shaping tools to suit your needs. The only limitation with the quadra is the length of the cables, they tend to be a bit short when you have one battery between them. The Elinchrom speed wireless transmitter controller that comes with this kit is compact and well thought out, but rather basic. The EL skyport trigger plus unit is cheaper than the profoto AIR transceiver.

The Profoto units B1 offer slightly more power than the Elinchrom, but not enough to make a significant difference in practical usage*. In use their self contained batteries give you more freedom of placement. Annoyingly with the profoto units you only get one charger: you might want to get a second charger so you can charge both batteries at the same time.

If you are looking for some sturdy but transportable flash stands: the Manfrotto 1052BAC are excellent.

* the difference between 400ws and 500ws isn't all that significant in the end, but 500 vs 1000 is.

[comprock]

Thank you @digitalis. I believe Sara Lando loves her Elinchrom kit. That's almost good enough for me. Still, $2.5K is a serious chunk of change when I see the option of a Bolt VB-22 360 watt bare bulb. Any experience or suggestions for such?

Thank you for the stand suggestion. I thought about those, but they wouldn't fit into the ThinkTank Logistics bag. Instead, I'm considering Matthews Reverse Stand - 7' B387486 B&H Photo Video.

[Digitalis]

Still, $2.5K is a serious chunk of change when I see the option of a Bolt VB-22 360 watt bare bulb. Any experience or suggestions for such?

I work with the Godox witstro AD180 and AD360 units which are re-badged as Bolt,Interfit and cheetah Lights. The Godox units are very compact and are excellent for on location work - I posted a review of the Godox flash units.

[comprock]

Thank you @digitalis. Seems going dual bare bulb now gets me through most of my upcoming needs until I roll with more kit.

[beholder3]

1. What's your lighting recommendations and why?
2. What's missing on the list that I should look into?

You definittely need to look at the Priolite Hot Sync Options (250,500,100 Ws):
PRIOLITE - the revolutionary lighting system for professionals :: 01-0500-04 PRIOLITE MBX 500 HotSync

There is no other portable studio flash option available that allows native HSS support for fast sync speeds natively.

[comprock]

Thank you @beholder3 for the Priolight reminder. I had forgotten about them.

I recall them having a one or two light kit. Does anyone know where those links and pricing pages went?

---------- Post added Feb 25th, 2016 at 10:06 ----------

Found it…

* 1/4000th FLASH SYNC ON 645Z WITH PRIOLITE
* Priolite: Sync Speeds Up To 1/8000s With Pentax - Third-Party Announcements | PentaxForums.com

---------- Post added Feb 25th, 2016 at 10:11 ----------

Ah, one more note. During Gulf Photo Plus, a top Phottix rep said to keep an eye out this summer for something that Pentax users would be interested in for lighting. I don't know what to read into it, but it's given me hope. The conversation was around my buying the Profoto B1 2-light kit that week, but complaining that it didn't have TTL or HSS for my being a Pentaxian.

[Class A]

Have you looked at the Jinbei Discovery II 600?

Some will caution with statements like "you get what you pay for", etc., but in tests Jinbei strobes have shown that they are not worse in terms of colour stability, etc. than strobes from Profoto, for instance. I personally sympathise with this reviewer's of the Jinbei HD-600 view that Bowens mount is preferable over Elinchrome's mount, but of course many roads lead to Rome.

P.S.: Adorama sell some Jinbei strobes as their own "Flashpoint" range. For instance, the RoveLight RL-600 is based on the Jinbei HD 600.

[comprock]

@Class A, I hadn't heard of the Jinbei before. Thank you. I'll see if there's some here in Taiwan to try out. Part of me thinking to try a bunch of lights between now and August, then make my lighting decision.

@All, I'm still open on traveling light kit options.