focal_lengths

I was going to write up a forum post about lens lengths, but I figured this would be a good topic for here instead.
I shoot with 3 lens focal lengths, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm. If shooting on a crop sensor, to emulate this setup, you'd need a 24mm, 35mm, and 50mm lens. These correspond to moderate-wide, normal, and short telephoto. What do I mean by this? Normal means that size ratios line up with what our eyes are used to. Put a person 3 meters in front of a known object like a fire-truck, or a door, and the ratio of the two in how the lens renders them on the camera's 2d plane will look just as our eyes see. Wide means now that far object will look a bit smaller than it should, but since 35 is only moderate wide, you can kind of get away with it. In many situations with a person in the frame, 21/24/28 will look distorted and unnatural. I personally don't like them, but many do. Short-telephoto means that the ratio between objects will slant the other way. The firetruck would look slightly too large, for example. This can be used to one's benefit as well with very long telephoto lenses, keeping the moon huge behind a person, or compressing landscapes, but I find short telephoto gives the affect the way I want it. Off, but not too off as to mis represent reality.
The reason I keep to 3 primes like this, rather than a zoom that encompasses them all like the 24-70mm 2.8, or on a crop, the 17-50/55 from tamron/canon (both good), is because first and foremost, I routinely shoot in lighting situations where I need the extra light. All 3 of my primes are sub f/2 and useable at max aperture. The 35 on my 5D is f/1.4, the 50 and 85 both 1.8. My X100 is 35mm f/2. I find 2.8 too slow for many situations. Secondly, I like having the space between focal lengths. It makes the decision making easier. Expanded, normal, or compressed perspective? With a zoom it's more of a spectrum with lots of choices. Many people like that, but I don't. Creatively I only ever want one of those 3 settings, and having them in set steps helps me focus. In addition, having an out of focus background becomes more difficult the wider your lens goes. So while an 85mm F/2.8 can still give you a headshot with a blurry background, a 35mm f/2.8 at normal viewing distances doesn't really. 50mm 2.8 is kind of mixed bag depending on distance from you to the subject whether you will get background blur or not, but at any distance, F/1.8, 1.4 or even 1.2 will give you much more.
Now for some examples:
35mm

35mm really allows you to get a sense of this space. 50 or 85 would have compressed it too much. You would have only gotten a small edge of the front flower box with 50, less of the branches at the top, and the white area in the back would have been projected physically larger in relation to him, making it more of a middle or high key shot instead of this smoky dark look. Backing up to make 50 work would have made him much smaller and it would no longer really be a portrait. 85 would have made all these issues worse. 35mm gives you a sense of setting.

50mm

This one needed a lot of size ratios going on, and it was already unrealistic and surreal to begin with, so I didn't want to muck with perspective at all, hence the 50mm. 35mm to keep him this size and the front bench would curve away, and the back benches would be very small, and the path wouldn't look very deep or three-dimensional. 85mm would not have shown the side-most benches at all, and the background would look very large and tunnel like. In order to get the whole bench in, I'd need to back up a lot from where I was with the 50, and that would require him being much smaller in the frame.

85mm

This one, the background was very important to the shot. That far building over his right (our left) shoulder is the Dom Cathedral in Cologne, Germany. With a 50 or 35mm, it would have been projected incredibly tiny, and the darker areas around him of the less populated residential area of Cologne would have shown more, making it a less bright and less city-ish feel. He was also on a cramped balcony and I was inside the apartment shooting out. A 50mm might have allowed me to still get all of him without showing the door frame or other parts of the balcony, but the 35 definitely would have unless I got so close as to make him look very distorted.

I chose these three shots specifically because I had decided on the lens focal length before even getting to the location to shoot (or from the original location scout) but they were specifically picked for their affect on perspective. Also because all three relied on fast, sub-f/2 apertures, as all 3 were shot at the widest aperture, either to let in enough light on the 2nd two, or the provide a bit of background blur on the first. Could I have shot these same images with a zoom and had them look very similar? Possibly, but my creative process doesn't work that way, and I like the freedom that this limitation actually brings creatively.

diy_quadra_cables

The Elinchrom Ranger Quadra comes with 2.5 meter cables in the kit, or when you buy a new head. There is also a 5 and 10 meter cable, but the 10 meter is currently 140 USD without shipping, a ridiculous price for a cable. I managed to hunt down the supplier of the end connectors, the US supplier is Binder USA, and create my own do-it-yourself Elinchrom Ranger Quadra cable. If you want the straight ended male and female like I have used in this cable, you order parts:

99-4225-00-07 Series 693-1 Connector

99-4226-00-07 Series 693-2 Connector (both images are incorrect on the webpage, but these are definitely the correct part number for what I ordered, copied from my invoice)

Anyone interested in the hunting process, read this paragraph, if not, skip to the next. I asked around as to what these type of cable connectors are called, 7 pin amphenol connectors with a semi-round master key. I google image searched this phrase, and browsed till I found similar images to mine. In these pages I found a reference to a swiss manufacturer of Amphenol connectors, and as Elinchrom is swiss I figured I might have a lead. I then googled for this manufacturer plus amphenol in google image search and found much closer images and found the US dealer. The actual logo on the OEM quadra cables is of this dealer, so I knew I had a hit. I ordered a male and female connector for 12 USD each, plus 3 dollars shipping to a friend who was coming to iceland and brought them.

After I took delivery of the cables, I asked my father in law to create a 7.5 meter cable for me. I wanted to be sure the part worked before I blogged about it. I did a full shoot with it plugged into both A and B ports, using the modeling light, and doing multiple full power pops. It's a perfect copy of the official cable for 30 USD. (he scrounged a cable, and your price will vary based on length, the longer the length that you make, the more you are saving on the official version). He used a cable where the interior wires were the same diameter as the solder points, but since he did it, I'm unsure of the exact wire diameters or if they are multi strand or solid core. The cable has to be 7 wires (6 plus ground) and they are exactly 1 to 1 in connection (meaning male pin 1 connects to female hole 1).

Here are both OEM and my ordered cable ends next to each other.

Again, showing they are identical.

The straight ends are different than the L ends, but they connect, and the straight end looks exactly like the connector on the Quadra power pack itself. These cables use the exact identical part number as the OEM versions, for a fraction of the price if you can solder or know someone that does. They plug into each other, and into the pack itself. I can plug all 3 of mine in for a total of 12.5 meters (7.5 + 2.5 + 2.5). Apparently the only length with no light loss is 2.5 meters. I count this as a benefit as you can bleed lower than the lowest 8.2 watt setting with all 3 plugged together. If you need to use a long cable plus one at full 400watts, just use the 2.5 meter to your 400 watt head, and use your extension cable to get to the 2nd head. This should also give closer to a 3:1 or even 4:1 ratio rather than 2:1 giving you more control over ratios even when you don't need extra length.

*edit* After testing, using just the 7.5 meter cable loses you .2 stops of light. Adding one stock 2.5 meter cable for a total of 10 meters gives you .3 stops of light, and adding another stock 2.5 meter cable for a 12.5 meter length gives you .4 stops of light.

There you have it, a diy quadra cable of any length for a fraction of the cost of the stock cables.

light_panel_review

Calumet Light Panel Review

For anyone who has not watched the Best of Dean Collins lighting dvds, I cannot recommend them highly enough. Here is a preview video:






Order them here.

Even just the two preview videos can teach a ton. Sadly the lightform brand is no longer sold, so I was hunting around for what the most equal equivalent is. It seems that Calumet's light panels are the most similar, but made out of aluminum rather than PVC. Since there is a Calumet in Dusseldorf, I purchased 2 frames, 2 diffusion fabrics, and 2 clamps. I plan to make my own black/silver version, but fabric store white fabric can introduce unwanted color casts, so I wanted to purchase the official diffusion fabrics, which were also the cheapest. The photos online aren't so great, and I couldn't find any reviews, so this is serving to show how the system works with closeups.

Panel frame itself:



It's made out of thin aluminum tubes, very lightweight, the whole thing probably weighs less than 2kg. It has a shock cord running through it, and square indents that keep it from being able to twist, which adds extra rigidity. It does not flex in the middle like the PVC versions. You can assemble it just like the frames in the Dean Collins videos, but they don't shake together quite as easy. Maybe after some more usage, but it's easy enough.

The Clamp:



The clamp is identical to the one in the videos, with the added benefit of having a clamp that really holds onto the tube. It can be clamped to almost any tubular surface, it rotates, and the middle T-bar can be screwed tight to the holder to clamp the angle tight, not allowing the frame to rotate. One alone is not sturdy enough to hold the frame from the side, but if you clamp it to the top of the frame, you can hang it and it's secure. It's more likely to use two, one on each side of the frame.

The diffusion fabric:


It doesn't completely even the light, as you can see when the panel is severely under exposed, but I haven't found it to affect illumination of the subjects at all. If you photograph it so that the flash isn't directly visible, as in the 2nd image, you get a fairly even soft white light. I also bought the double clips, and can clip both of them together, with diffusion panels on both, for a giant 2x2 meter wall of soft light. Unless the flash is positioned perfectly, you cannot see the light leaking between the two panels, meaning you never have to worry about a line of undiffused light shining through when using them clipped together. The fourth photo shows the panel from the flash side, showing that while the material is thin, it can be used as a reflector, no real need to buy the white fabric panel. I plan to make a double sided black/silver panel, and I would put the silver side on the other of the white, for a more efficient bounce. The 5th final image shows a real white reflector to show the difference in bounce efficiency. The real white fabric would most likely be more reflective, but it's quite expensive, and only comes with either gold or silver on the opposite side. If they made a double sided black/white I might have bought it.

Examples:



The two panels together give incredible soft light, in fact I have a 2x2 meter window in this same room, and the lighting is near identical in terms of it's directionality and softness. Now I can reproduce it at will at any time of day.



Even when I backed the subject up quite far, these panels are so large they still produce quite soft light. this is probably 3 meters from the panels.



This was a quick test to see how they would work as reflectors. Obviously the harsh bare flash is not flattering on the subject, but you can see a nice bit of bounce filling in the shadows, especially on the side of his temples.



These last two show how reflections are treated. Even with the hot spot, it seems to reflect as a solid white surface, which is great for revealing shape, and the large size keeps it from blowing out to a pure white highlight.

Use this link to show the different products from the Calumet panel line. I bought the large 107x198 cm panels, and the white diffusion that goes with it, plus two clamps, but they have kits as well.

The main problem I have now is not having barndoors that fit the quadra reflector. I intend to look around a bit, and even try a DIY solution I have cooking. Barndoors enable to you keep the light only to the diffusion panels, rather than spilling past to a background or the ceiling.

know_thy_equipment

While looking at my previous shoot, my favorite image (the top image in the previous post) I noticed that I don't like the way the light falls on his face. It's an ok placement for rembrandt lighting, but the shadow edge is too hard. I've been thinking about the solution, and I believe it's twofold.

In the future, the further I must place the light away from the subject, the closer to loop lighting I will use. The closer I can place the light, the closer to rembrandt lighting I will use. As a general rule of course. Harder shadow edges seem to work better with loop pattern, and softer shadow edges work better with rembrandt. This is because rembrand pattern allows for a lot of islands of light that look too much like cutouts when they are hard edged. These shapes smooth out and soften with the same light mod moved closer (so as to appear larger to the subject). Loop pattern more evenly illuminates the front mask of the face, so you can get away with slightly harder shadows.

Also, I think it's just good to know your gear inside and out. So you can operate it transparently, spending all your time on taking photos, rather than fiddling with knobs and menus, and also so that you don't lose out on a good shot, for lack of familiarity. At this point I know my lenses, and the camera quite well, but since this is a new light modifier system, I am still learning it. I decided a series of scientific tests were in order.

First, the gear itself (this is also a mini-review):

This is the Chimera XXS (extra extra small) with silver lining. It's 30x40cm (12x16in) It has two baffles, inner and outter. It's super well made, easy to setup, and the rods are nice and sturdy, while being very springy and easy to insert.



This is the 20 degree fabric grid for the above softbox. It's expensive, but it's really well made, and it changes the light in a way you can't really get otherwise. It velcros into the front of the softbox, leaving no gaps, which is very nice. It collapses very small, and comes with a small velcro strip that holds it shut. It also comes with a small drawstring bag.



Here is the grid attached to the flash. notice how it blocks the light from the side.



At 2 meters, the grid restricts the beam to a 1.2 meter circle. At 3 meters, the beam is closer to 1.8 meters in size. It gives me a nice tight beam to put only on a person's face, which is how I prefer to light my environmental portraits.

For the test, my setup was:

1. Matt on the ground to make sure subject is always in the same location.
2. Camera on a tripod to ensure camera to subject distance stays the same.
3. Measuring tape stretched from matt at 45 degree angle, to allow measurement of the light distance.
4. Light moved from 1 meter, then 2 meters, then 3 meters from subject. Flash output adjusted to maintain proper exposure.
   
5. One round with bare softbox, one round with 20 degree grid installed.
6. Crop and process in Lightroom so exposure is the same for all, and in B&W so that the shadow edge and specular could really be visible.

In this first row, you see the bare softbox, no grid. First is 1 meter, last is 3 meters distance.



In this row, you see the softbox with the 20 degree grid. First is 1 meter, last is 3 meters distance.



They really have to be examined both at this small size, as well as in large full size to appreciate the differences. It might appear to be pixel peeping, but when comparing the 1 meter, directly to the 3 meter, there is a definite softness to the 1 meter that the 3 meter lacks. At 1 meter away, the corner of the face that is closest to the light, is brighter than the corner farther away. Once moved to 3 meters, this distance is too small for that affect, so the 3 meter version is very flat. The specular is more pronounced, and the shadow edges are harder.

I definitely prefer the 1 meter version, and with the grid it has slightly more volume, while maintaining almost the same level of softness. However I can't always keep the light just 1 meter away. The 3 meter is not what I want. Too hard edged of shadows, specular hotspots too hot, and the transition from diffused highlight to shadow, is too harsh. It really emphasizes the skin texture, in a way I don't like. The 2 meter is an ok compromise, but still a bit too much.

I'm glad to have done this test, as I now know my "hard limit" for how far away I place this light mod. I will keep it within 1 meter whenever possible, and keep a 2 meter distance as my maximum. The last shoot had the light more like 3.5 meters away, and unnecessarily so. I could have easily brought it to about 1.5 meters, and had I already done this test and known this behavior of the light, I would have.

elinchrom_ranger_quadra_speedring

My Elinchrom Ranger Quadra DIY speedring is all finished.



As of right now, the ERQ does not have any lighting modifiers other than the included reflector, an umbrella with a 7mm shaft, and an 18cm reflector which lets it take the standard 18cm Elinchrom grid spots. Eventually there will be a 40x40cm softbox which mounts directly onto it, but for all else, you must purchase their adaptor, which has it's own light stand mount, so that the weight of the light mod is held by the adaptor, and the flash just sticks out the back. It's a good design for larger mods, but it means you have to purchase their adaptor (80 euro MSRP) PLUS an Elinchrom speedring. The other downside is that it doesn't appear to keep the flash tube entirely inside the mod. You can see a photo of it here, on Isker's flickr. He is the only person with a version yet, because it's not available to purchase from Elinchrom. (he purchased the demo unit from the Moscow Photo show).

So, in order to mount the new ERQ to a softbox, you need the 80 euro adaptor which won't be available for another 2 weeks, AND an Elinchrom speedring (20-30 euro), AND you have to lose some light by having the tube in a slightly recessed reflector. I was unwilling to wait, and didn't want the tube recessed. I want it fully inside the softbox. My softbox is also quite small, I have the XX Small Chimera, so I know the ERQ head can hold the weight of the softbox. Thus, I fabricated my own. You can see more shots of it in the previous blog post.

You can see how it keeps the tube fully exposed and inside the softbox in true bare bulb style.



It's all aluminum, so it's quite lightweight. The biggest problem was grinding down enough of the bolt heads to get it to attach, but not so much they slip out. I epoxy'ed every surface before attaching, for extra strength.

elinchrom_ranger_quadra

It's here! I believe this is the first Quadra delivered to Germany. I think it's also the full writeup from an individual, and definitely the first unboxing post. I normally don't do this kind of thing, but since it's so new to the market, this might help some people decide. There were some things I wasn't sure of, that I would have loved to know before buying.





The box was conveniently sized. Not too large, it fit in my backpack to take home by bicycle.



Everything was packed nice and tight, with cardboard padding to keep it from rattling around.



First things out are the manuals, shoulder strap, PC-sync cable, and the connector cable for the head to power pack.



Everything out of the box. Click through to Flickr to read the notes highlighting what is what. I love the fact the charger has easy to change adaptors, for UK, US and EU, so you don' t have to pack an adaptor. I like how the charging port is on the battery itself, so if you buy a 2nd, it can be charging while you are using the power pack and other battery. It can also run off wall power if the battery is gone, but it won't charge till you turn the pack off. They included 2 standard 20 watt fuses, and there is a tray for both. They recomend to remove the necessary one while traveling, so it's nice to have 2 spots so you can have your main and spare in the pack, so you won't lose it, while traveling.



Closeup of the pack itself. Large size should let you read all the text. Again, click through to flickr to read the notes. I like how it has LEDs for each function so you can easily see. I also like how you can have the power display either in F-stops or in Watt seconds. I picked Ws because I understand that better, coming from someone who never uses a light meter. I like that all the top ports are covered when not in use (like the sync port) to keep out light rain, though they don't recomend using it in the rain. The shoulder strap hooks are also very nice, and I like that they are carabiners to fascilitate easy removal.





The head itself compared to the 580ex II.



Full setup. I particularly like how the battery pack acts as a weight to really stabilize the stand, without being too heavy for these Nano stands.





Closeup of the S-head. Note that the umbrella holder DOES NOT fit Wescott hexagonal umbrella stems. The stems are too large. Also note the lack of a clamp of any sort. These fit the Elinchrom shaft diameter, which I believe is 7mm. I am awaiting the arrival of my replacement Alzo 60cm silver umbrella, which I'm unsure if it fits or not. This is the only dissapointing aspect so far.

This head does not use the standard elinchrom mount. If you want to mount elinchrom modifiers to it, you have to purchase an adaptor. I want to try to build one myself. I plan to get the XXS or XS Chimera softbox with a 20 degree grid, but it will have to wait till next month's paycheck. :-) There is coming a 40x40cm Elinchrom softbox that will mount directly to this head without the need of the adaptor, but it's not out yet, the price isn't known, nor whether it can accept a grid, which is important to me.

Now for some comparisons in light quality. Inside a lighting modifier, the light source itself is practically irrelavent as long as it can fill the light mod, and be bright enough. A 60x60 cm softbox will look the same on the subject regardless of the flash inside it, if the power levels are comparable. However bare bulb is a different aspect. Bare bulb throws far, won't blow over in a strong wind, and is the fastest to set up. It also gives a very edgy harsh look, but it's very rarely desirable.



This is lit with the Canon 580ex II. Bare, at 105mm. Notice the hot specular on nose and forehead, and the razor sharp shadow from the nose on the cheek, the harsh transition from light to dark on the edge of the face, and the sharp shadow on the wall from the chair.



Lit with the Modeling LED light only. This one is interesting, because it's supposed to be daylight balanced, but in actuality runs quite yellow, at least on mine. It's possible it warms up to be properly balanced, but when it just turns on, it's 4500k with a green tint, not 5600k as claimed. So if you're wanting to use this for a video light, be aware that it is not daylight balanced as claimed online in other places. I still find it useful for previewing the light position on the face. I don't know yet if it's bright enough to push through a softbox to see the light on the face, but bare, it works fine, and throws quite far. It has a bit of a hot core, then a much dimmer surrounding. This is because it sits flush, and isn't able to bounce much into the reflector. You can program how long it stays on from 1-60 seconds, with a single button press, or if you hold it for 3 seconds, it stays on till you turn it off again. Very nice that you can leave it on as long as you have battery power, to do some light painting.

You can see the shadows are a bit softer, most noticeable on the chair shadow, but it gives kind of an odd, uneven softness.



Lit with the flash itself. The shadows are softer, but you have to look close to see it. The chair shadow shows it the most. I won't use this bare with the 13.5cm reflector much, but it's nice to know that it is softer than the 580, which I would use bare sometimes. Any amount of built in softness is nice.

Here is an animated gif flashing through all 3, so you can better appreciate the bare flash bulb difference.



The best places to view the differences is in the chair shadow on the wall, and the tip of the nose shadow where it almost joins the cheek shadow.

I'm really excited to use this kit more, unfortunately it will have to wait till I get at least one lighting modifier. I had planned to use my umbrella till I get the Chimera, but since it doesn't fit, I can only use it barebulb for now.

One thing that I wanted to know, and have now confirmed, is that you can change the incremental power changes via skyport. The default setting is 1/10 of a stop per button press, but that's a lot of presses if you're off by a lot on your first shoot. I also don't like doing tiny changes, as I find things normally need a bit more to be noticeable. You can also set it to 1/10-1 stop increments. I've got it set to 1/2 stop increments. So each up or down press goes down 50% or up 100%.

Pros of the Quadra over the 580exII

1. Much MUCH brighter highest power.
2. 1.2 second recycle time at full power, compared to 5 seconds on the 580exII. If you turned the Quadra down to the power of the 580, you'd have near instant recharge.
3. Lower minimum setting. Just 8.2 Watt seconds on the B port.
4. Lighter head. The head is all that must sit on the end of a boom, so the 250 grams of the Quadra head is nicer than the 375 grams of the 580ex II
5. While the battery pack does have to be carried, it can serve as a stand weight to stabilize.
6. Bare bulb, it throws in all directions, whereas the 580ex II only throws straight ahead. This results in the Quadra filling the light mods more fully. As an example, inside a softbox, the 580 just goes straight and hits the first baffle. The Quadra also goes straight sideways and hits the silver of the interior, resulting in more even light coming out of the front.
   
7. Softer bare. As the examples show, with no light mods, it's a softer light
8. Built in skyport. This is the biggie. No pc-sync cable to bother with, no skyport to velcro to the top of the 580ex, it just works wirelessly soon as you turn it on.
9. Built in wireless power adjustment via radio! Yes, with the Canon 220 you can control the 580's power remotely, but it has limited range, and doesn't work that great outdoors. This allows you to control the quadra's power output via the Skyport remote trigger, and it's radio based, so you get crazy range, and sunlight doesn't phase it. This is the number one reason I bought this unit. I can stay in front of my subject, and adjust power without interupting our shoot.
   
10. Built in stand mount. With the 580, I have to also setup the flash mount on the stand, before I can mount the flash. It doesn't take that long, but it's just one more item I have to deal with, that slows my setup time before I can shoot. The S-head has the stand mount attached, so you just pop it on the stand and tighten.
11. Much improved modeling light. The 580 has one, but it's just a 1 second long pulse. You can't really take a photo with it, it's hard to light paint with it, and it's far too weak to fill a light mod. The Quadra's can stay on as long as you need, and doesn't flicker. It's not daylight balanced, which is dissapointing.
    

Pro's of the 580exII over the Quadra:

1. Size/weight of the total unit with flash and batteries included.
2. Can't mount the Quadra directly to the camera (which I never do anyway)
   
3. No TTL on the Quadra (again, never do that)
4. More weather proof.
   
5. That's about it.