|  | | | ALZO Digital | | | Maintained by: | | ALZO Digital sells FACTORY DIRECT photography lighting and accessories for: Portrait, Product, Video and Event photographers. Including: Flip Flash Camera Brackets, Portrait Studio Kits, "Cool Light" softbox imaging tents, economy Quartz Halogen video lighting kits, photo light bulbs & accessories. | |
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| | | | | Continuous Versus Flash Lighting |
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CONTINUOUS VS. FLASH
LIGHTING |
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The debate heats up!
For years photographers have
debated the pros and cons of continuous vs. flash lighting and flash
most often won. This was because the most common and affordable
continuous light was Tungsten HOT lights. Today the debate has
changed. With several continuous light sources to choose from, flash
is no longer the defacto winner.
We sell all of the four light source types
including HID, Fluorescent, Tungsten and flash. Our preference is
always Continuous HID or Fluorescent. As a result of our extensive
studio experience, we believe that flash gets in the way of great
composition and continuous lighting is better suited for digital
cameras.
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CONTINUOUS
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FLASH
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ATTRIBUTE
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HID
ALZO
2000 |
Fluorescent
ALZO 100, 300
& 600 |
Tungsten
Conventional
HOT |
Flash
Options |
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Best use
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Almost all studio photography tasks
Portraits |
Small - Medium objects including food
Portraits with ALZO 600 |
Small - Medium objects, not for food
Portraits |
Portraits &
Stop Motion
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Degree of difficulty mastering
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EASY
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EASY
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EASY
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DIFFICULT
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Subject composition issues
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NONE
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NONE
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Subject can not be close to lights and
will get hot |
Difficult to view subject
with model lights
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Heat on subject
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MINIMAL
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NONE
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EXCESSIVE
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MINIMAL
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Power consumption
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MODERATE
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MINIMAL
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EXCESSIVE
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MINIMAL
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Relative Brightness
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Very Bright
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Bright
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Bright
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Very Bright
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Bulb operational life
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7000 hrs
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10,000 hrs
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20 - 100 hrs
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Model Bulb = 200 hrs
Flash = 20,000 uses
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Color temperature issues
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Daylight
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Daylight
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3200K "warm"
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Dual color temperature
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Triggering Issues
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NONE
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NONE
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NONE
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YES, Reliability?
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Responsiveness
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VERY
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VERY
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VERY
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Restrictive due to
Capacitor Recharge Time
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Reliability
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100%
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100%
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100%
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Triggering issues reduce
reliability
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Light Meter Requirement
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Optional
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Optional
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Optional
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Flash Meter Required
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Color temperature and flash
lights - The color temperature of the model light of flash lights is
different from the flash tube. The model light is typically tungsten at
2700K - 3200K (warm) and the flash tube is 5500K (daylight film). This dual color
temperature is a problem for all digital camera LCD display monitors. The
digital camera must have its white balance set to 5500K for the flash to
render accurate color, but when viewing the subject under the model light
with the LCD, the subject will typically look very orange and not properly
exposed. This eliminates the usage of most digital cameras LCD for subject
composition. SLR digital cameras allow "through the lens" viewing and this
becomes the only acceptable means of subject composition. |
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Reliability - Flash
lights are triggered from the camera and many triggering options are
available including "slave" triggering, hard wiring and wireless trigger
devices. All of these triggering options have drawbacks and hard wiring is
the most reliable and least desirable. During a shoot with many triggered
flash units, it is difficult for the photographer to monitor the
performance of all of the flashes, and some could fail to flash without
notice. Frequently photographers complain about failed flash units after
the shoot is over. Continuous lights do not have trigger issues. |
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Responsiveness
- All flash units require 1 or more seconds to recharge prior to
availability. When using different flash units in a shoot, each unit
will have a different recycle time. With a mixed flash environment,
a photographer must wait about 5 -10 seconds between shoots to
assure consistent illumination. Continuous lights do not
recycle and photographs can be shot at any interval. |
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