If you are a photographer, then you have two options for working with artificial light - constant light and pulsed light. At videographers There is only one option - constant light. Let's take a look at how they differ.
- Permanent light sources give a continuous light output. That is, the subject remains highlighted during the entire shooting. Constant light is also called natural light, because. any light that we see with our own eyes is constant - the light of the sun, lanterns on the street, light bulbs in the entrance during the ransom of the bride, and so on. But we will talk about controlled constant light, which you can customize to suit your needs. This is an artificial constant light.
- Pulse light source fires for a short moment at the command of the photographer. Impulse sources include all kinds of flashes - built-in, on-camera, studio. Such light is more artificial in nature. In nature, lightning can be attributed to impulse sources, but you can hardly use them to illuminate the model.
Each type of light has objective pros and cons. Also, each type of light already has its adherents and fans. In this article, I will mainly talk about the use of light in photography.
Let's start with something simpler permanent light.
Constant light
Traditionally, constant light has always been the prerogative of video/film production. But now, due to the vulgarization of the photograph (my subjective opinion and expression) more and more people with cameras are using constant light instead of the traditional pulsed light. And more and more photo studios focuses on natural constant lighting from huge windows.
PROS
1. It is immediately visible
What they love about constant light is the ability to immediately see what the result will be. What exposure you put on the camera will be seen on the screen. Considering that now everyone is moving to mirrorless with a constant view of the finished result both on the screen and in the viewfinder, this type of lighting greatly simplifies the entire shooting process.
2. You can shoot on your phone
With constant light shoot on phone. Now a lot of people take pictures not on cameras, but on phones. Even for commercial purposes.
For example, the online shop can rent a photo studio with constant light and independently shoot a catalog on a white background on the phone without an invitation professional photographer.
Mobile photography has greatly expanded its scope. Some phones have flash syncs, but their use is the exception rather than the rule.
3. Flexible shutter speed and exposure control
With constant light, you have full use of all the parameters of the exposure triangle: shutter speed, aperture and ISO value.
As for the shutter speed, with constant you can get an intentional blurring effect by setting the shutter speed to be longer. With pulsed light, this will not work - it freezes any movement.
And by setting the shutter speed even longer, you can shoot a static subject at a very closed aperture. This is not correct due to the increase in noise level, possible stirring, light pollution and other nuances. But one way or another, you have the opportunity to expose the frame in almost any way you like.
If you do not have a strong enough impulse source, this can only be cured by purchasing another, more powerful one.
4. "Advantage" of low power
It is convenient to work with constant light on open apertures, because. such sources can be put at very low power. I put the word "advantage" in quotation marks, because. and with a pulsed one you can achieve this effect, but it will be more difficult - you need to buy a more expensive source with powers like 1/256 or put on ND filters on the lens. But this is also possible with pulsed light. But on the contrary, it is much more difficult to work with high powers and closed apertures with constant light for a number of reasons (further in the section about pulsed light).
Therefore, here in the first place is the simplicity of shooting on open apertures, but this is not a unique opportunity.
5. Easy combination of artificial and natural lighting
This point continues the very first advantage - constant light is immediately visible. But it can also be easily combined with other indoor lighting sources. For example, you can use the light from the existing light sources in the room as fills, and use your candy bar with a softbox as painting on the model. This is immediately evident and they are, as a rule, comparable in power.
6. Suitable for both photo and video
If you are buying a light for yourself and doing hybrid shooting, then investing in constant light will be more versatile and pragmatic. With it, you can work in various directions. Another thing is, if you are a highly specialized professional photographer, then pulsed light is better for such work.
DISADVANTAGES OF CONSTANT LIGHT
1. Unmanageability
If we talk about natural constant light, then it is inherently uncontrollable. Whether a cloud appears in the sky or not, the movement of the sun, the weather - these factors can drastically change the intensity of light, its hardness and color temperature.
The light from the window is simply fatal for professional shootings, where you need to completely control the light and the goal is to get a guaranteed result. Therefore, there are photo studios with complete light isolation, where there are no windows. In such studios, constant light becomes completely controllable, because. comes out only from artificial sources.
2. Low power
Even a simple on-camera flash easily interrupts the natural light in the room. What is important again for the control of light. If you have a monoblock with constant light at your disposal, it will be very difficult for you to interrupt the light from the window.
With constant light for shooting at closed apertures, you will have to increase the ISO value or put in very powerful sources, which will be problematic for some shoots. For example, if you want to shoot people on closed apertures, then you will either raise the ISO (which is bad for image quality) or you will have to pile up so much light that it will be very uncomfortable to stand under it and look at the camera.
For subject photography, constant light is conditionally suitable for the same reason. The option to shoot from a tripod at slow shutter speeds is a bad idea.
3. Relatively high cost
For the same price, you will buy a much more powerful source of pulsed light than constant.
Options - and let's buy lamps in a hardware store, glue them with adhesive tape and we will have constant light - work at first with inexperienced enthusiasm. Then it turns out that this light has a low CRI and TLCI, that it is uncontrollable and a bunch of other nuances. Good light costs appropriately and the system cannot be deceived.
4. Light pollution
Due to the relatively low power, artificial constant light is often mixed with other sources in the room - light from windows, incandescent lamps, and so on. Of course, you can shoot like that, but this is clearly an unprofessional approach with the corresponding result. Mixing different sources leads to stray shades, uneven lighting and other problems that are very difficult to fix on the post. The same thing is photographed with a flash much easier and more reliable.
For example, for reportage photography, an on-camera flash helps a lot in this regard. You shoot anywhere in any light, but due to the foreground flash illumination, you don’t have to worry about uneven color with a chaotic color temperature on people’s faces, as you will if you want to shoot the same thing wide open with constant light.
pulsed light
Impulse light today is becoming / has already become niche and narrowly professional. It gives the photographer much more advantages, but at the same time, working with pulsed light is harder.
ADVANTAGES OF PULSE LIGHT
1. High power
Pulsed light works on the principle of stored energy, which is released at the right time. Due to this, much more power can be obtained. Such light, by its nature, coincides with the principle of the camera, which does not shoot everything continuously like a video camera, but captures a specific moment.
High light power solves a bunch of problems:
- You do not need to light-proof the room where you want to shoot. An impulse can even kill the sun (with a source of 400-600 Joules). You do not depend on the location - this is very important.
- You can shoot at any aperture without increasing the ISO.
- You do not need expensive high-aperture optics. In general, even the oldest and simplest camera can be used to work with pulsed light; this will have little effect on the result.
2. Ability to freeze motion
In order to freeze the movement, you need to set a fairly fast shutter speed. If you are shooting a subject, then you also need to close the aperture. Shooting this with constant light is very problematic, because. will require colossal luminous intensity from the source. Pulse monoblocks are capable of shooting with fast series of powerful flashes.
However, even with camera flash freezing traffic is not a problem.
3. Food
Pulsed light consumes less electricity. Even taking into account the fact that modern permanent LED-light has become much more energy efficient, it is far from pulsed.
When you're plugged in, you'll barely feel the difference. But if you have to shoot on the road, then pulse monoblocks can produce very decent power when working from built-in batteries. Even an on-camera flash is ahead of many studio constant sources in terms of power, but at the same time it is compact and works for a relatively long time from simple AA batteries.
If you want to shoot something serious with constant light on the road, then you will need to organize the work of an electric generator to provide the necessary power for several hours. Carrying a generator (gasoline or diesel) with you to shoot is a completely different story.
4. Color accuracy
Switched sources - even the most inexpensive ones - have high CRI values approaching 100. Modern constant sources have a standard CRI in the region of 96, but inexpensive fixtures have problems with this.
With pulsed light, it is much cheaper to get the correct color reproduction.
5. Automation
This item is actually conditional. I personally prefer to always shoot in manual mode with flashes. But I must mention that pulsed light can synchronize with each other and work in TTL mode. That is, your flash itself calculates the distance to the subject, takes into account the focal length and camera settings, and, in accordance with this, produces a pulse of the required power. Constant light doesn't work that way.
6. Cost
Pulsed light sources are significantly cheaper than constant ones. So, for example, for $100 you can buy quite decent GODOX flash. Among the constant light for $ 100, you can’t go wild. It will be a low power on-camera panel or an inexpensive lightsaber.
Among studio monoblocks, there will be approximately the same trend - for the same money you can buy a cooler pulsed light than a constant one.
DISADVANTAGES OF PULSED LIGHT
1. Only photographers need it. He is non-universal. More and more people shoot combined photo + video. The impulse will cover only one need. With constant light, you can also take pictures (albeit with some restrictions).
2. It is difficult to master. When everyone was massively photographed on SLRs, it was not so noticeable. In the optical viewfinder, the result of the shooting is still not visible. Now, in the era of phones and mirrorless cameras, people immediately want to see what happens in the end. Pulsed light does not. Yes, there is an auxiliary modeling light, but this is not the same as working with a permanent one.
Conclusions
Photography ceases to be narrowly professional and one can say that has already become, the property of the masses. A new wave of people with cameras / phones does not want to strain and delve into. Impulse is hard, constant is easy. The crowd chooses what is simple.
Many shoots today are done randomly without a clear understanding of the end result and how everything works. In such conditions, again, the thesis from the previous paragraph is repeated - if you don’t want to bathe, shoot with constant light.
However, there are also experienced photographerspreferring constant light to pulsed light. The fact is that even when using the same studio nozzles, pulsed and constant sources differ in light patterns. This is due to the fact that the light comes from different angles and fills in different ways. light attachment. Constant light tends to look a little softer.
Choosing a light source is a delicate matter. I like a photographer I admire pulsed light. It gives control and it pleases when you want to achieve a specific result (in subject photographyEg). On the other hand, i'm like a bloggerI often use constant light. Working with constant light has developed in me a love for the evening and a dislike for the light from the windows. After all, it is in the evening that there is no stray lighting from the window, which changes the color temperature and adds stray light where they should not be.
Also read about how to choose a softbox
Remind me that I can book a consultation, where I will tell you in detail and tell you which light to buy and how to use it.
Russian
English
Russian