Thanks Robert, as always, your video did an excellent job explaining strobe lighting for wet plate photography. Your videos are to the point without theatrics which is appreciate.
Thanks Robert .Look forward to seeing something on exposures and lighting a set up with 3 to 4 heads and high power. You are a very good teacher.You get to the point and never ramble like most videos.
Excellent video, Robert! I had a borrowed 4803 setup with 4 of the lower output heads for a combined output of 4800WS, and it worked great. However, it was really cumbersome with 4 heads / reflectors on a single light stand, and other than an umbrella, was not suitable for using modifiers. And 4 heads in 7" reflectors created a rather odd catchlight. Found a great deal on a 4803 / 206VF combo, and now have that working with a beauty dish setup. Subscribed to your channel, and have enjoyed the rest of your videos. Looking forward to new content!
Hi there, you make it seem like there’s plenty of watt seconds in the 2403 unit. I have one with a 102 flash head with beauty dish on it and I am way underexposed on my plates. My chemistry is new and I’m getting good plates outside but shooting inside is new to me. Do you have any ideas about what I should try? I meter at 3iso and get f11 at 1/500. Thanks for your channel, solid content!
What size plates are you shooting, and what's the max aperture on your lens? Also what developer are you using? Typically I'd say f/11 at ISO 3 is getting me there if everything else is pretty much on point. Fast lens (around f/4), shooting headshot on 4x5 or wider on 8x10, fresh UVP-X, and a well-restrained developer that I can push for a good 30-40s of development. If any of those elements are lacking you may need more light, and these things also just seem to vary from person to person for reasons that are hard to fully pin down. Could be anything from the pH of your silver bath to ambient temperature to collodion recipe
Hi Robert, thanks for your videos about wet plate photography. They are very useful. I have a question for you about strobes light. I own a couple of 1.000 watts/s strobes. Would you consider that they are enough to use them with a beauty dish and a back light for wet plate portraits? Many thanks for your help. All the best.
That's a tricky one. Speedotron makes a battery powered pack, but it maxes out at 1500Ws. Maybe enough for some in-close work with a beauty dish, but you'll be pushing it. Especially outdoors where you might want to stop down a little. I would be surprised if any of the higher powered packs would work well with a battery pack, unfortunately. They do all have a switch you can flip to put them in slow recycle mode, which at least reduces the current draw and should make them easier to run on a lower powered generator. I'd look up the manuals and see if it lists their maximum amperage during recycle, then see if you can find a generator to match
The difference is negligible. Uncoated tubes put out very little UV light, just enough to cause problems for color photography but not enough to really affect collodion exposure
Where did you find them so cheap? I can't find them for less than ~200€ and then they're coming from the US with ~100€ shipping PLUS customs... :( Is there any good resource or a similar brand that is more common in europe? Thanks for making such a long and very informative video!
Flash vs. Strobe historically would be different as old flashes are not electronic at all. I'm old enough to remember flash bulbs that you had to replace after firing. Then if you go way back they used some kind of flash powder that would be lit off. But yea pretty much everyone today is talking about electronic flashes.
It would probably be a little while. I've got a few videos I want to do on shooting in the field, but maybe I'll do a plate sometime in the next couple weeks
Thanks Robert, as always, your video did an excellent job explaining strobe lighting for wet plate photography. Your videos are to the point without theatrics which is appreciate.
Thanks Robert .Look forward to seeing something on exposures and lighting a set up with 3 to 4 heads and high power. You are a very good teacher.You get to the point and never ramble like most videos.
Not the compliment I expected on a 50 minute long video, but I'll take it ;)
Excellent video, Robert! I had a borrowed 4803 setup with 4 of the lower output heads for a combined output of 4800WS, and it worked great. However, it was really cumbersome with 4 heads / reflectors on a single light stand, and other than an umbrella, was not suitable for using modifiers. And 4 heads in 7" reflectors created a rather odd catchlight. Found a great deal on a 4803 / 206VF combo, and now have that working with a beauty dish setup. Subscribed to your channel, and have enjoyed the rest of your videos. Looking forward to new content!
I believe that just turns the modeling lamp on or off
Brilliant video! Well done! 👍👍👍
Hi there, you make it seem like there’s plenty of watt seconds in the 2403 unit. I have one with a 102 flash head with beauty dish on it and I am way underexposed on my plates. My chemistry is new and I’m getting good plates outside but shooting inside is new to me. Do you have any ideas about what I should try? I meter at 3iso and get f11 at 1/500. Thanks for your channel, solid content!
What size plates are you shooting, and what's the max aperture on your lens? Also what developer are you using?
Typically I'd say f/11 at ISO 3 is getting me there if everything else is pretty much on point. Fast lens (around f/4), shooting headshot on 4x5 or wider on 8x10, fresh UVP-X, and a well-restrained developer that I can push for a good 30-40s of development. If any of those elements are lacking you may need more light, and these things also just seem to vary from person to person for reasons that are hard to fully pin down. Could be anything from the pH of your silver bath to ambient temperature to collodion recipe
Hi Robert, thanks for your videos about wet plate photography. They are very useful. I have a question for you about strobes light. I own a couple of 1.000 watts/s strobes. Would you consider that they are enough to use them with a beauty dish and a back light for wet plate portraits? Many thanks for your help. All the best.
1000 Ws is gonna be really tight, but you may be able to pull it off with a fast lens and fresh chemistry
The faster lens I have available on a 4x5 camera is 5.6 lens. Almost impossible?
Probably not gonna cut it, I generally use a little over 1000Ws with an f/4 lens
Many thanks for you help.
32:01 I am probably going with the Speedotron 2403cx with the 102 head.
Good stuff. Thank you
Good video. Subscribed to see more. Do you know what the difference is between speedotron SX vs CX?
Fantastic sir!
is there a way you can use this in the field without an outlet? any sort of generator or power pack that can power the 4803 cx?
I'm sure there are generators that could handle it, but I don't have any personal experience with it
Thanks for the videos, Great!
What would you say are the best options for shooting on location with flash (no electrical available)
Thanks!
That's a tricky one. Speedotron makes a battery powered pack, but it maxes out at 1500Ws. Maybe enough for some in-close work with a beauty dish, but you'll be pushing it. Especially outdoors where you might want to stop down a little.
I would be surprised if any of the higher powered packs would work well with a battery pack, unfortunately. They do all have a switch you can flip to put them in slow recycle mode, which at least reduces the current draw and should make them easier to run on a lower powered generator. I'd look up the manuals and see if it lists their maximum amperage during recycle, then see if you can find a generator to match
Good info but what about coated tubes vs clear tubes?
The difference is negligible. Uncoated tubes put out very little UV light, just enough to cause problems for color photography but not enough to really affect collodion exposure
Where did you find them so cheap? I can't find them for less than ~200€ and then they're coming from the US with ~100€ shipping PLUS customs... :( Is there any good resource or a similar brand that is more common in europe?
Thanks for making such a long and very informative video!
My understanding is that they're much harder to come across in Europe, unfortunately. I think I've seen since European wet platers using Hensel lights
I'm running 2 2403 packs for a total of 4800ws and I'm still under exposed.
Flash vs. Strobe historically would be different as old flashes are not electronic at all. I'm old enough to remember flash bulbs that you had to replace after firing. Then if you go way back they used some kind of flash powder that would be lit off. But yea pretty much everyone today is talking about electronic flashes.
when can we expect a strobe shoot from lighting setup to finished plate?
It would probably be a little while. I've got a few videos I want to do on shooting in the field, but maybe I'll do a plate sometime in the next couple weeks
Sorry, after 5 minutes I‘ve had to quit...
That's funny. I went to your channel and said the same thing in 5 seconds.