# First monolight purchase



## MOREGONE (Feb 20, 2013)

Hello,

So I am preparing to purchase my first moonlight soon. I do not have a studio and am working towards doing weddings. I will need it to be portable and able to operate off a battery.

I have seen the flashpoint that has been suggested on here and my reservations with it are that it is only 150w and that it doesnt seem to have a standard mount. I don't want to get stuck into a system that could limit me. Or are the adapters and such that I am unaware of?

CowboyStudio sells a 400w on Amazon for $150 that has great review and uses a Bowens mount. I do not believe it has a slave mode and I am not sure I could use a battery pack with it. Slave may not be necessary but it seems like it could come in handy.

Do monolight slaves have S1 and S2 like I am used to seeing on Yongnuo Speedlights?

As for battery power, I have seen the Vagabond mini and really like that it has a standard house hold plug but are a bit pricey. I have a car camping trip coming up and could see where that would be a great accessory to have for misc use. Other than vagabond, I have found Flashpoint/Mettle flashes that have a proprietary battery which looks like a good value considering for $280-320 you get the flash, stand and battery. But it is limited to use with the flash.Are there other options I might not be aware of?
If I go the vagabond mini route, I will probably get that down the road.

Any other monolights you would recommend in the $200-ish range that I can get a battery later for, are > 150w, and have a common mount?


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## pixmedic (Feb 20, 2013)

for portability, get speedlights.  they are great for weddings and portraits, and they double as spare flashes for your body. it might be a little more expensive than the monolights you listed when you add in stands and diffusers. you can always look for used third party speedlights.


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## MOREGONE (Feb 20, 2013)

pixmedic said:


> for portability, get speedlights.  they are great for weddings and portraits, and they double as spare flashes for your body. it might be a little more expensive than the monolights you listed when you add in stands and diffusers. you can always look for used third party speedlights.




Hello, I currently have one SB 600 and a YN-560 II. They have been great and I don't intend to go without speedlights. I actually am picking up another SB 600 tonight just because it is too good of a price to pass up even if I just resell it. 

I am not sure of power output and strength, but this is why I am looking for something more powerful than 150w. 

Could a speedlight adequately fill a 24x36 softbox? I don't like using my speedlights at full power (1/1). Seems like a lot of concerns with over heating, shooting too fast etc. 

I have a external battery pack for my YN-560, roughly speaking, what would that be equivalent to in a monolight?

Is there a difference between strobes and monolights? Don't know, but they seem to be used interchangeably.


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## cgipson1 (Feb 20, 2013)

Cowboy studio is not known for high quality or longevity. Do a google search on "Cowboy Studio Quality" and read for yourself! There is a reason they cost less than anything else out there...

Flashpoints are much higher quality.. and you can use either the Flashpoint battery packs or the Buff Vagabond battery packs.. Calumets have a good reputation also....

S1 and S2 on Yongnuos..  one is an optical slave (sees flash and it fires) and the other is a "Ignore TTL Preflash" mode for TTL usage.... and monolights do not have TTL.


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## MOREGONE (Feb 20, 2013)

cgipson1 said:


> Cowboy studio is not known for high quality or longevity. Do a google search on "Cowboy Studio Quality" and read for yourself! There is a reason they cost less than anything else out there...
> 
> Flashpoints are much higher quality.. and you can use either the Flashpoint battery packs or the Buff Vagabond battery packs.. Calumets have a good reputation also....
> 
> S1 and S2 on Yongnuos..  one is an optical slave (sees flash and it fires) and the other is a "Ignore TTL Preflash" mode for TTL usage.... and monolights do not have TTL.




Thanks for the response. Yeah Cowboy products are hit or miss. I know they don't make all their products and sometimes just rebrand them. The one I mentioned is made by Meinke I believe which also isn't a big name, but does have good solid reviews.

I am aware of what S1 and S2 are for, I was just asking if Monolights have them. I have a Sony NEX-5R camera and thought it would be fun to use it with the mono if possible, without getting a hotshoe adapter, it would need to have S2 because it always fires preflash.

Thanks again


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## Village Idiot (Feb 20, 2013)

Cowboy studio is junk.

Softboxes, beauty dishes, etc... usually mount via a speed ring collar which is attached to the modifier so they can generally be swapped out. I've used the same beauty dish I've had on an Alien Bee, Speedotrons, and Dynalite. That's three seperate mounting systems. I also have an Elinchrom octobox I used on my Speedotron lights and a photo flex box that was mounted on my Speedos that's getting adapated to my Dynalites.


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## cgipson1 (Feb 20, 2013)

You may find this interesting.... it looks more or less accurate:  Better Family Photos: Power Comparison: Speedlight vs. Strobes


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## cgipson1 (Feb 20, 2013)

MOREGONE said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > Cowboy studio is not known for high quality or longevity. Do a google search on "Cowboy Studio Quality" and read for yourself! There is a reason they cost less than anything else out there...
> ...



Really? You can't turn off the PreFlash on SONY's? Interesting...


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## MOREGONE (Feb 20, 2013)

Village Idiot said:


> Softboxes, beauty dishes, etc... usually mount via a speed ring collar which is attached to the modifier so they can generally be swapped out. I've used the same beauty dish I've had on an Alien Bee, Speedotrons, and Dynalite. That's three seperate mounting systems. I also have an Elinchrom octobox I used on my Speedotron lights and a photo flex box that was mounted on my Speedos that's getting adapated to my Dynalites.



Thanks I did not know they were interchangeable from system to system. I'll research more into this so I understand it better



cgipson1 said:


> You may find this interesting.... it looks more or less accurate:  Better Family Photos: Power Comparison: Speedlight vs. Strobes



I did, thank you. So 400w would be noticeably stronger than the SB 800 which is obviosuly more powerful than the Sb600 I have and likely the case compared to the YN-560 II as well.



cgipson1 said:


> Really? You can't turn off the PreFlash on SONY's? Interesting...



It's not a DSLR. It's an APS-C sized mirrorless camera. Kinda like a bridge camera, or the crazy offspring of a RX100 and Sony DSLR. Love the thing though! Amazing IQ for such a small camera!


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## cgipson1 (Feb 20, 2013)

MOREGONE said:


> It's not a DSLR. It's an APS-C sized mirrorless camera. Kinda like a bridge camera, or the crazy offspring of a RX100 and Sony DSLR. Love the thing though! Amazing IQ for such a small camera!



OK.. not familiar with it! Is that what you plan to shoot weddings with? Should be interesting to see the results....


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## MOREGONE (Feb 20, 2013)

cgipson1 said:


> OK.. not familiar with it! Is that what you plan to shoot weddings with? Should be interesting to see the results....



It's my second camera. Much better suited for keeping in the car, taking with you on hikes etc. My D90 is my primary camera for my serious photography. If all goes well, I'll be moving to a D600 in the coming months.

But all joking aside, I left the NEX-5R in the car on accident this last weekend at a wedding I covered. I wish I would have had it cause it has far better ISO performance than my D90. Easily shoot up to 3200 with good results. D90 maxes out at 800. It was a cathcolic wedding and flash was not permitted. Even then, it takes such good pictures, I would have been fine using it for my wide stuff with the 18-55 kit, and keeping the 70-200 on the D90.


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## Designer (Feb 20, 2013)

I see that Menik unit comes with a couple of models.  Sweeet!

You could call the retailer and ask some questions.


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## MOREGONE (Feb 21, 2013)

Me again

Just curious if anyone could recommend a softbox that I could use with a speedlight that could also work with a monolight.

Im still getting a monolight, but want to have something I can setup on a monopod and walk around with too.


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## Mach0 (Feb 21, 2013)

MOREGONE said:


> Me again
> 
> Just curious if anyone could recommend a softbox that I could use with a speedlight that could also work with a monolight.
> 
> Im still getting a monolight, but want to have something I can setup on a monopod and walk around with too.




The speed rings are different. You ever think of a Brolly box?


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## MOREGONE (Feb 21, 2013)

Mach0 said:


> The speed rings are different. You ever think of a Brolly box?



I ordered a set once and Found it hard to insert the when it had a trigger attached to the bottom. The hole in the canter looked more geared towards a monolight being inserted than a speedlight. I could insert the flash all the way in, but then couldn't adjust the settings.

Think I could use a mount like this?

Amazon.com: CowboyStudio Bowen, Calument, Travelite T Speedlight Bracket For Canon and Nikon Speedlight Flash Units: Camera & Photo


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## Mike_E (Feb 22, 2013)

MOREGONE said:


> Mach0 said:
> 
> 
> > The speed rings are different. You ever think of a Brolly box?
> ...



Yes, those will fit most any speedlight.

This is a little more than your stated budget but if you're going to do weddings the extra power will be helpful  Mettle 600 Watt Photo Lighting Mono Master Strobe Lithium Battery Flash Light For Outdoor & Indoor

The Mettle's take a Bowens mount and are pretty robust so if you go with them get the flash adapter for a Bowens so that you can mix and match your modifiers.

BTW Cowboystudios is just a reseller, they don't make anything.


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## MOREGONE (Feb 22, 2013)

Mike_E said:


> MOREGONE said:
> 
> 
> > Mach0 said:
> ...



Good morning,

Thats not out of my budget considering it has the battery included. 

And FWIW, you can get the same setup from Cowboystudio on Amazon for a little less 

Amazon.com: CowboyStudio Mettle600ADstrobe Dual Power AC/DC 110v Mettle 600W Flash, Professional Strobe Flash Light, with Rechargeable Battery Pack: Electronics

I really have been considering this unit. I guess the only thing thats stopped me is the battery being purpose specific. If I purchase a vagabond, I can power other things while camping or more than one flash. For that reason, the extra investment may pay off.


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## Mike_E (Feb 22, 2013)

Well, for that matter you can get a pure sine wave inverter and anything from a gel cell to a boat battery and go as large or small as you like (BTW a boat battery will let you run three monolights with modeling lights on for about three hours, if you need more than that then just get another battery).  

The only problem with something like a Vagabond or most battery packs is that you have a central location for your power.

With independent batteries you can lash them to the bottom of the light stand for extra stability -kids will be kids- plus you don't have to worry about people tripping over the cables.

It's up to you of course, you can find just about anything.  There are almost as many people willing to sell you camera gear as there are photographers.


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## greybeard (Feb 24, 2013)

So, what are you wanting to do with these lights?  Set up a couple of umbrellas for use on site at wedding and events?  I've had good luck with speedlights.


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