Portable studio flash on small generator

Maybe the first of a series of how-to information for photographers. I'll probably add a video of a location shoot utilizing the information below as a demonstration of this in action sometime early this summer. I'm really just starting to pull these generators into service for the late spring/summer/fall season from having been stored through the winter while I shoot mostly in the studio.

Short video of using a small generator (honda em650) to power a studio strobe pack and head (Speedotron Brownline 800w/s pack, M11 head). This is meant to demonstrate a relatively portable and inexpensive option for photographers needing studio lighting on location. The Honda EM650 is a very quite generator, which is demonstrated by the fact that you can hear the "pop" of the strobe over the sound of the generator. I've compared it to the much newer EU1000 and they are very similar in volume. You could have a conversation without yelling over them even in close proximity. From 20 feet away, the sound is extremely tolerable.

The pack discharged the full 800w/s each time it was triggered. Keep in mind that the flash was too short to catch in video every time it went off, so while you may not see the flash, it's simply because it was to fast for the my video camera most of the time.

Do not use a generator such as this with any pack or monolight that is sensitive to modified sine wave output. I would recommend contacting both the manufacturer of any generator and any strobe that you may wish to use to be sure they are compatible. I was told by Speedotron that the Brownline packs are not sensitive to modified sine wave outputs. Further, they do not draw much power so you can use a small generator such as this Honda EM650 or the Yamaha EF600, both of which are usually available used for around $150-$250 in running condition.

I've successfully powered up to 1 head with the modeling lamp on along with the load of recycling the pack on either the Yamaha or the Honda, which indicates the pack draws 500 watts or less under those conditions. You can power as many heads as you can attach to the pack if you leave the modeling lights off. Additionally, you can use ANY of the Brownline packs up to the largest at 1600w/s (though I think I may have seen an older 2400w/s Brownline before as well) and the current draw will be the same, they just take longer to recycle by a factor equal to the difference from pack to pack. For example, an 800w/s pack recycles in about 3 seconds, while the 1600 w/s will take 6 seconds and the 400w/s will take 1.5 seconds (these times are roughly the same on household power as they are on the generator).

Feel free to visit my website at: http://www.mmoephotography.com

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• Honda
• EM650
• Yamaha
• EF600
• Speedotron
• Studio
• Location
• Flash
• Strobe

[xdancexxinsidex]

do you think it could work with the blackline?

do you really think it could work with the 3 flasheads?

[mmoephotography]

I'm not 100% sure it would work with the Blackline packs, only because I have not asked Speedotron if they are needing a pure sine wave or not. Speedotron is super customer friendly, call them up and ask them if a pure sine wave output is needed. If the answer is that the BLs will work without pure sinewave output, then you can use any generator with enough power. If you were to set the pack to "slow" recycle, then I'd guess that this generator or one very much like it would probably be fine.

[mmoephotography]

Continued:

I'd also recommend looking for some of the other good performing quiet generators that aren't pure sine wave (assuming that you don't need PSW output). The old Yamaha EF1000 and EF600 are good units with a little more or less power respectively than the Honda EM650. I bought a Mitsubishi MGC1101 for $175 on CL. It offers both 950 and 600 watt output, the latter reducing both noise and fuel consumption (it's not that noisy at full power either). I highly recommend the Mitsubishi.

[ehong33234]

@dandaman46dablack - hahaha :)

[dandaman46dablack]

@ehong33234 yeaa i know :p

[ehong33234]

@dandaman46dablack - I was being sarcastic you moron.

[dandaman46dablack]

@ehong33234 are u kdding me? thats the generator dickwit

[ehong33234]

I can't hear anything because of the neighbor mowing the lawn.

Jk, thanks for the vid.