Strobe or Continuous Lighting?

[Walter]

Do you use continuous lighting or strobes for studio work?

 

[snownow]

Strobes. I tried some constant, but they got hot (small space home studio). AB stobes were very inexpensive as well.

 

[jfrancis]

Strobes.

 

[Czechman01]

Strobes unless you're shooting video.

 

[jonlee]

That's the same question my local camera shop asked my when I told him I was looking for a basic studio setup. In a nutshell, continuous is signicantly cheaper, but can get hot over time, like Snownow said.

For my product shots, its not a problem, but I would hate to put a person under those conditions for a long period.

I ended up with a basic Smith-Victor kit consisting of (2) 8' aluminum, (2) 500-watt bulbs, 10" reflectors, and 32" umbrellas for about $140. I was told that I could easily replace the lights with a few SB-800s (wired or wirelessly) with my D200 to get a basic strobe setup. I haven't tried that yet.

 

[davidzvi]

Strobes unless you're shooting video.

Or trying to heat your house in the winter. :biggrin:

 

[StrongSportsPhotos]

Go strobes! Alienbees are awesome.

I used continuous a few years back and hated them. My model said she felt like she was under french fry lamps at McDonalds!

 

[Czechman01]

Or trying to heat your house in the winter.

Or trying to wear out your AC in the summer. :wink:

 

[davidzvi]

Go strobes! Alienbees are awesome.

I used continuous a few years back and hated them. My model said she felt like she was under french fry lamps at McDonalds!

Now your're making me hungry. :443:

 

[Tom Voegeli]

Strobes. They are cooler, more efficient, more controllable (variable output settings), and can light anything.

That being said, hot lights can work if needed. The first photo studio I worked in (Allen Snook Studio, Chicago; 1979) shot food photography, with ice cream as the specialty. We used a single 500 watt tungsten bulb (with bounce cards) on everything (and used only 8x10 film). The results were superb (about 50% of the images on ice cream packages in the frozen food isle were made by us, and I bet many of the images are still in use).

 

[Nchesher]

I work in TV news for a living so I know a thing or two about continuous lighting. I had a 2 camera shoot earlier this week. It was in a 16x16 room and I was dying after the 45 minute interview was over. Not to mention I burned my hand breaking down for the umpteenth time.

 

[Chris101]

Call me an old fogey, but I use a set of Norman hot-lights. I often use different light sources so having continuos lighting helps me get the balances just right. I also put large polarizers over the lights. I need continous light in order to see the effect correctly (modeling lights are at a slightly different position that the lamp in strobes.)