Nikon's CLS vs Strobes/Traditional Lighting

[BillClark]

I am about to make the investment into some real lighting.
I do not have a studio, but will have a couple of jobs where I will be doing group shots indoors and need something a bit more powerful.
I have to buy stands, umbrellas, etc, but I already have the one SB-600, so I am debating investing in one or more new speedlights vs some monolights via a kit, either AlienBees or a B&H kit.

Sticking with the Nikon stuff, I get the built in wireless control, with it's limitations, and expand on what I have. The downside of course is less power.

I have been reading the Strobist and searching for any past information but nothing has swayed me either way.

I guess the information I am looking for is the Nikon CLS worth investing in? Anyone use this to any extent? And with more than a single unit?

Thanks in advance.

Bill

[ttosifa]

Joe McNally uses it to a great extent. His books are all about CLS. Hard to argue with the results!

Personally, though, I couldn't stand it. I couldn't use TTL because my subjects blink too much. And once that's gone, it just becomes a trigger system that, IMO, requires too much thought -- keeping the sensor facing the right way, avoiding sunlight, so on, and so on. Radio triggers work 100% for me, no thought required.

I really think it comes down to how portable you need your system to be. I use speedlights (with radio triggers) when I need to change positions quickly or when I just don't want to carry much gear. I use ABs all other times.

For what I do, the main difference between a studio strobe and a speedlight is a studio strobe can be turned into an efficient open bulb (no modifiers). A speedlight can be converted into an open bulb with a Stofen-type diffuser, but you lose power. The difference in power is huge for me.

But everybody has an opinion, and people tend to stick with their opinions. You've just gotta figure out what's right for you.

[candleman]

i also tried the whole CLS thing and hated it..
when i mean CLS.. i dont only mean optical triggering.. i mean TTL too.
it just annoyed me, and made mefeel i had to fight the system to get what i wanted. maybe i was stupid, and i my ignorance was doing something wrong.
but i was only using one sb600

for me.. personallty...
the moment i turned to radiotriggers with manual exposure & Manual flash my brain exploded and i actually understood how it all worked.

i use speedlights because they are cheap, easily portable and do all three major functions

1. portable off camera (on location)
2. in home studio off camera
3. on camera

alienbees/monolights really at the best.. (if you buy the bettary packs and have an assistent to help you lug them around) will still only ever fulfill the first two at best.

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by ttosifa

A speedlight can be converted into an open bulb with a Stofen-type diffuser, but you lose power. The difference in power is huge for me.

Luckily I have the Vivitar 4600 Bare Bulb flash head.

[Rob Necciai]

I use Nikon CLS when I am shooting in confined spaces - mostly at home for a makeshift studio. On occasion, I'll bring them on a shoot if I think space will be confined or if the setup of traditional strobes would be difficult. I have a SB-800 and two SB-600s.

For the most part, I use Alien Bees studio strobes with radio triggers. I find that I have better control over the lighting setup and, ultimately, more flexibility. And, of course, studio strobes have significantly more power than speedlights.

One thing the Nikon CLS will give you that you cannot get using traditional studio strobes is the ability to use High-speed Sync (FP Sync). "Focal Plane Sync" is used to synchronize the output of the flash with the movement of the shutter across the sensor. This is necessary if you should require shutter speeds faster than 1/250. This is useful for freezing the pouring of liquid, for example.

So, what's right for you all depends on how you shoot, where you shoot, and what you will be shooting.

[OsmosisStudios]

Most (ie 99%) of my shooting is indoors: i prefer natural light outdoors. So I dont run into the issues that most people complain about with CLS. I sometimes see that the flash output is too low, but it's manageable once I chimp a bit.

[zephod]

Personally I just don't care much for the creative lighting system. That said I know quite a few people who love it just not the in-camera mode CLS. I have/had the su-800 along with 2 sb-600's (which I am selling) and never really fell in love with the whole system. I really like to play with lighting and have a WHOLE BUNCH left to learn but the limitations I'm finding are the line of sight issues which are easily eliminated with radio triggers.

So I'm replacing my 600's with alienbee 800's for indoor portrait work, the alienbee remotes and hot-shoe adapters plus a pair of lumopro manual speedlights. I admit I'm spending a bit more than the initial 450 I have invested now but I'm really excited about the two seperate set ups. That will leave me with the pocket wizards to pick up next year to have a really nice studio set up.

I would suggest learning manual and not messing much with iTTL. I feel like I'm sort of starting over by going back to manual at this point but I'm really excited about expanding my lighting knowledge. I'd suggest heading over to the strobist and really researching lighting and the options available.

Doug