Torch compared with strobe

[Nicholas J. Sennett]

Hi guy
I am wondering how much success people have had taking photos with a good torch instead of a strobe, I own a 2000 lumes green force LED light. My intrest is macro, will I get significantly better pictures if I buy a strobe ?

Cheers Nick

 

[edclee]

Nick, I have taken lots of very good photos with an Intova torch. The beam tends to be a bit narrow, and if you are really close for the macro shot, hopefully your torch has a reduced power choice (mine does), otherwise, it will be too much light. Here are some samples with my canon Elph and cannon housing:

 

[PatW]

Nick,

I use a Sola 600 focus light on quite a few of the macro shots I try. Macro shots can be tricky if the subject is in a nook or a cranny. With a focus light, I can see if the subject is illuminated. It is more by guess and by gosh with a strobe. The strobe has an advantage in not spooking the subject as easily.

 

[bvanant]

I think it is much more difficult to use a torch instead of a strobe due to the sheer number of photons that you get from a strobe. Torches CAN be used but your pics will be much better with a good strobe.
Bill

 

[Nicholas J. Sennett]

Hi guys
some different perspectives
i think I will give it a go, if the results are mixed, maybe take a hammer to the piggy bank and buy a strobe.
I am probably just being tight fisted
thanks guys

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

I thought continuous lighting is the next big thing, giving you the equiv of WYSIWIG when composing.

 

[smoore]

The other thing that a strobe does is freeze the action because the strobe duration is so short. This tends to mask camera movement during the exposure. That will not happen with a torch. You just need to hold the camera steadier.

 

[danvolker]

I shoot a canon 5 d mark II primarily for video ( 16 to 35 lens) with a dual head 50 wat HID can light as the illumination
..this is a monster cave video light with a focus system for either great diffused beam, or tight...I tend to leave it on very diffused.... For video, this is great....Occaisonally, I will pull off a still. What I find is that with 100 foot vis and good ambient light, I can get rich colors ( I am used to being less than 2 feet from subject when shooting video anyway) with the video lights....I will need to white balance, but it works pretty well with good ambient to assist. However, if it is dark, it would take too high an iso setting ( too noisy) for the shot to even be seen as more than a black frame in the live view window on playback. Night time shots pretty much get so noisy with the max iso settings that I could not use them for anything, while my wife sandra, also shooting with a canon 5d mark II but with dual Inon strobes, will get fantastic shots at night ( she uses the Sola focus light, AND the 2 strobes at all times when shooting).
Hope this helps.

 

[bvanant]

I thought continuous lighting is the next big thing, giving you the equiv of WYSIWIG when composing.

Continuous LED lighting is indeed the next big thing for shooting on land but those LED panels have adjustable color temps and adjustable intensity and they aren't shooting through water. Do the math and figure out how much LED light you need to shoot at 1/200 sec and f16 at ISO 100 and you will come to the conclusion that a strobe makes more sense.
Kirk Tuck has a great little book about shooting LED panels for photos but he usually isn't wearing scuba gear.
Bill

 

[DazedAndConfuzed]

Continuous LED lighting is indeed the next big thing for shooting on land but those LED panels have adjustable color temps and adjustable intensity and they aren't shooting through water. Do the math and figure out how much LED light you need to shoot at 1/200 sec and f16 at ISO 100 and you will come to the conclusion that a strobe makes more sense.
Kirk Tuck has a great little book about shooting LED panels for photos but he usually isn't wearing scuba gear.
Bill

with the continuous increase in brightness in LED light's output and the rapid decrease in cost of those really powerful models, it could become inevitable that shooting with torches become more and more popular. As said, the WYSIWYG aspect means you can judge how the shadow area will look, thus you can adjust the light's position for the desired outcome before you take the picture instead of adjusting and re-adjusting after taking each pix.

I still use strobes, but much of my pet peeves when using strobes are resolvable with torches. Although I wouldn't want to be stuck with only torches. Maybe there should be combo units that could act as both.


Andy Sallmon gave a presentation on the subject in DEMA

Continuous Lighting in Still Photography