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‹ Photo Notes · 14 června, 2012
I have mentioned the issue of flash and continuous lights repeatedly in other articles here, so today’s won’t be long; it will be just a small summary of advantages and disadvantages. I stress that this is again my view of the matter and the reasons for my choice; the decision to invest in photo lights is entirely up to you.
I see the greatest advantage of flash lights in their strong output. Even with weaker flashes you can work outdoors, and with flash heads of about 500 W and up you can afford to outshine the midday sun (it depends, of course, on the distance of the light from the photographed object and the desired effect) and create, for example, the so-called day-for-night effect. Another advantage of flashes is lower consumption of electrical energy.
The greatest advantage of continuous lights is real control of the light, shadows and contrast of the scene. Flash lights do have modelling lamps, but those show only very approximately how the photograph will look. A disadvantage of continuous lights, conversely, is weak output (compared with flashes), permanently constant and thus higher energy consumption, and often also radiated heat.
There’s not much point in discussing which type of light will cost you less, because both kinds can be bought for a few thousand or for a few tens of thousands. I myself sold all my flash lights long ago and use two types of continuous lights. One of them is the so-called daylight light, based on energy-saving bulbs with the classic E27 screw base. These bulbs have a colour temperature of 5500 Kelvin, and thanks to that the light can be combined well with daylight. I shine through transparent white umbrellas and get beautifully soft light. The second, and the one I use more often, is the Dedolight aspheric spotlight, which I once wrote about here. This light is, by contrast, strongly contrasty, as you can see in most of my photographs of recent years.
In conclusion, a few small recommendations for buying lights. Buy flash lights definitely at home; there is after all a bit of electronics in them, and repairs or warranty claims are better handled at home. The Dedolight contains no electronics (apart from the power supply with a dimmer), but you’ll practically save nothing by buying abroad. Daylight-type continuous lights can be bought at home relatively cheaply, but if you look around ebay.com, you’ll find that in China you can buy them for literally a fraction of the price. For example, for a head – that means 4 sockets, two switches, a tripod mount and a hole for the umbrella – I paid over 2000 CZK here; a similar product you can buy in China for 400 to 500 crowns. The bulbs are likewise overpriced here; 4 bulbs in China cost the same as one here. I have experience with Chinese bulbs and they are no worse than those that can be bought at home. On ebay.com even entirely simple holders for one or two bulbs (of course with a tripod mount and umbrella holder) are sold for a ridiculous price of around 100 – 200 crowns. I don’t want to support the Chinese economy, but the price differences are huge, and where do you think our domestic distributors buy these things?