Does anyone use or have used the Photogenic Studio Max III Lights.....

[The Loft Studios]

Hi All,
I'm thinking about getting a Photogenic Studio Max III 320 Monolight (AC/DC Version).
I've done some research on it but I'm a little confused..... the Photogenic Website says that the Flash Duration of this unit is 1/120 sec.

WOW!!!

I JUST FIND THAT SO HARD TO BELIEVE.....

.....But then I go to their PDF Download and it shows that the Falsh Duration is 1/4300 sec., which sounds a lot better and seems to be more acurate to me for a Flash Unit of that nature. The reason I need to know the correct Flash Duration is I will be using this Unit on Location outdoors and I will be shooting at more of 1/250 - 1/500 sec. therefore I need the Falsh Duration to be faster than 1/120 sec.

Can anyone Confirm the correct Flash Duration of these Units or have any personal experience with shooting these Units?

Thanks!
-Mark

[CobyPhoto]

I use them all the time as my on location light set-up. Love 'em. Just call Photogenic and ask. It may have something to do with the fact these strobes use both battery and AC power. There maybe two different durations. At any rate, I have never had an issue with them at any shutter speed, from 1/60 up to 1/250 or so.

CJ

[Dobick]

Originally Posted by The Loft Studios

Hi All,
I'm thinking about getting a Photogenic Studio Max III 320 Monolight (AC/DC Version).
I've done some research on it but I'm a little confused..... the Photogenic Website says that the Flash Duration of this unit is 1/120 sec.

WOW!!!

I JUST FIND THAT SO HARD TO BELIEVE.....

.....But then I go to their PDF Download and it shows that the Falsh Duration is 1/4300 sec., which sounds a lot better and seems to be more acurate to me for a Flash Unit of that nature. The reason I need to know the correct Flash Duration is I will be using this Unit on Location outdoors and I will be shooting at more of 1/250 - 1/500 sec. therefore I need the Falsh Duration to be faster than 1/120 sec.

Can anyone Confirm the correct Flash Duration of these Units or have any personal experience with shooting these Units?

Thanks!
-Mark

I do not have any info on the photogenics, but your comment about the shooting speed of 1/500 intrigued me? What camera are you using that has a flash sync up to 1/500?

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by Dobick

I do not have any info on the photogenics, but your comment about the shooting speed of 1/500 intrigued me? What camera are you using that has a flash sync up to 1/500?

The Nikon D70 will sync at 1/500th. I'm not aware of any other camera that syncs above 1/250th.

[adirty1]

only if he's shooting a leaf shutter...
Flash duration is the amount of time the flash of light lasts. The shorter the time the faster the motion that can be frozen. You can think of a short flash duration as a short shutter speed.

Shorter flash durations usually occur at the flash's lowest power settings. So to use the shortest flash duration you would set your flash at it's lowest power setting which would not be much light and would force you to use either a very high ISO and/or a very wide aperture, or both.

[Dobick]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

The Nikon D70 will sync at 1/500th. I'm not aware of any other camera that syncs above 1/250th.

Score a +1 for the d70 then!

I did not know that any digital slr's would sync faster than 1/250.

I sure wish that canon would come up with a faster sync speed, if for no other reason than the ability to fire a fill flash on a bright day.

[The Loft Studios]

Originally Posted by Dobick

I do not have any info on the photogenics, but your comment about the shooting speed of 1/500 intrigued me? What camera are you using that has a flash sync up to 1/500?

Only Medium and Large Format Cameras have the ability to sync at 1/500 sec and faster utilizing leaf shutters.

Originally Posted by bondarnes

The Nikon D70 will sync at 1/500th. I'm not aware of any other camera that syncs above 1/250th.

I am not aware of any Digital SLR or Film SLR that can sync at 1/500 sec or faster in the studio. Unless you are refering to the proprietary flash sync, in other words, some DSLR's as well as FSLR's can sync at 1/500 sec. or faster but only when utilizing their hot shoe flash such as a Nikon SB-600 or SB-800. Unfortunately, I am not refering to this, but I am refering to studio flash sync speed, and no 35mm based camera, Digital or Film can achieve this.

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by The Loft Studios

I am not aware of any Digital SLR or Film SLR that can sync at 1/500 sec or faster in the studio.

Not to dispute your statement, but to fully inform all on the forum. I own two Nikon D70 DSLR cameras and they do indeed sync at 1/500th second with studio strobes even when using a wireless trigger. The Nikon D70 owners manual lists 1/500th sec. as the maximum sync speed for the D70.

[bondarnes]

Back to your original question. I have used these lights on a couple of occasions in a class. They work just fine. We were using them with the battery pack to add light outdoors. In my opinion unless you need the battery capability buying these instead of Powerlights is comparable to buying Alien Bees instead of White Lightnings.

[Daniel Bates]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

Not to dispute your statement, but to fully inform all on the forum. I own two Nikon D70 DSLR cameras and they do indeed sync at 1/500th second with studio strobes even when using a wireless trigger. The Nikon D70 owners manual lists 1/500th sec. as the maximum sync speed for the D70.

And if I'm not mistaken, the EOS-1D syncs at 1/500th as well.

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

And if I'm not mistaken, the EOS-1D syncs at 1/500th as well.

According to the Canon website the new 1D Mark III will sync up to 1/300th with Canon speedlights, 1/250th with other shoe mount speedlights, and 1/60th with studio strobes. The other Canon DSLRs sync at 1/250th, except for the 5D and rebel which sync at 1/200th

[Daniel Bates]

I'm not talking about the various Mark II's or later, Don. I'm talking about the 1D Mark I, which has a 1/500th flash sync (probably shoe-mount, I can't find info on its studio specs).

[bondarnes]

Originally Posted by Daniel Bates

I'm not talking about the various Mark II's or later, Don. I'm talking about the 1D Mark I, which has a 1/500th flash sync (probably shoe-mount, I can't find info on its studio specs).

I guess they don't list OLD Cameras on their site.

[The Loft Studios]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

Not to dispute your statement, but to fully inform all on the forum. I own two Nikon D70 DSLR cameras and they do indeed sync at 1/500th second with studio strobes even when using a wireless trigger. The Nikon D70 owners manual lists 1/500th sec. as the maximum sync speed for the D70.

WOW..... I find that amazing!
That seems to be a breakthrough in SLR's.
I could never understand why Camera Manufacturers wouldn't put this feature on all of there Pro and Pro-sumer type D-SLR's.....

Go figure!

[Daniel Bates]

Probably the same reason why camera manufacturers don't put 8 fps on all their pro and prosumer DSLR's - it's a useful feature, but not to everyone. I, for instance, don't even own studio strobes; shoe-mount units are powerful enough for my needs, when used intelligently.