# Question on studio strobes



## Alexander Dingley (Apr 24, 2016)

I'm looking for a studio strobe that is affordable with high speed sync. I was looking at short duration strobes but i'm under the impression that I wouldn't be able to shoot above the max sync speed? Also if anyone knows of any good affordable power solutions for using theses strobes on location (I'm all for DIY projects for the power source if its a good option).


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## tirediron (Apr 24, 2016)

Out of curiosity, what sort of work are you doing?  I'm not aware of any strobes that offer exactly what you want; PCB is makes a big thing out of their short duration flashes, and Profoto has some pretty quick times.  There are a couple of brands that have TTL (Profoto for one), but I'm not aware of any which offer HSS.


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## Alexander Dingley (Apr 24, 2016)

tirediron said:


> Out of curiosity, what sort of work are you doing?  I'm not aware of any strobes that offer exactly what you want; PCB is makes a big thing out of their short duration flashes, and Profoto has some pretty quick times.  There are a couple of brands that have TTL (Profoto for one), but I'm not aware of any which offer HSS.



I'm starting to get into head shot photography and I was needing a flash or two that would allow me to do fill or rim light. What I really need is something to get my shutter speed up there, and I really don't want to use ND filters. I was reading some forums where people used old strobes with a longer flash duration and it allowed for a fast shutter speed. I just need a studio strobe that allows me too shoot at a high shutter speed.


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## tirediron (Apr 24, 2016)

Okay... colour me confused.  I do lots of headshots, in everything from one to five light set-ups and have never needed to get above sync speed.  What technique are you using that requires this?


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## Alexander Dingley (Apr 24, 2016)

tirediron said:


> Okay... colour me confused.  I do lots of headshots, in everything from one to five light set-ups and have never needed to get above sync speed.  What technique are you using that requires this?



I want to do outdoor portraits with a wide open aperture, so to keep the background in check I need to control the ambient light with my shutter speed.


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## Rick50 (Apr 24, 2016)

Maybe an ND filter?


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## tirediron (Apr 24, 2016)

Ahhh... okay, fair enough.  Apparently Profoto B1s do support HSS; I wasn't aware of that.


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## Alexander Dingley (Apr 24, 2016)

I would like to not use a ND if possible, as it makes focusing and composing much more difficult


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## Village Idiot (May 5, 2016)

You don't have to use a 9 stop. I have several that I use in conjunction with other tricks when trying to overpower the sun.


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## Braineack (May 5, 2016)

I can HSS sync my studio strobes using the YN622TX:




Belle in Snow by The Braineack, on Flickr

ƒ/3.2
105.0 mm
1/800
100
Flash (on, fired)

using this light: Impact  Digital Monolight 160W/s (120VAC) VSD-160 B&H Photo Video


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## chuasam (May 5, 2016)

What's your definition of affordable? I think Elinchrom is affordable but Broncolor isn't.
Others might consider Broncolor affordable.


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## Nickilford (May 25, 2016)

Alexander Dingley said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > Out of curiosity, what sort of work are you doing?  I'm not aware of any strobes that offer exactly what you want; PCB is makes a big thing out of their short duration flashes, and Profoto has some pretty quick times.  There are a couple of brands that have TTL (Profoto for one), but I'm not aware of any which offer HSS.
> ...



I think there might be some confusion here with flash duration and HSS. Faster flash duration allows you to freeze action better while HSS has to do with the way your shutter and flash behave in order to use higher shutter speeds. I wrote an article about HSS and ND Filters as options for shooting wide open with flash outdoors with a GIF animation illustrating how this works. You can read it here if you wish.

As Tirediron mentioned the Profoto B1 is capable of HSS but this is not a cheap option. For what you want to do speedlights will be more than enough because you don't need much power.


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