Over time my perspective of my 40 years of work is amended. If there is no sweet-spot for my sort of shooter maybe it is because I was doing the easy stuff which can now be done by just about anyone with auto features and AI. The REAL work is done by pros who can spend $50K? Not a thing I want to believe but there you are.
Zowie! $46k for 3200w/s? Back in the day it was...never mind. At the other end of the spectrum we have Blogger kitts for a couple hundred bucks. I guess we are somewhere in the middle, or lower-middle, really.
Back to back-in-the-day. Product was shot 4x5 or 8x10 on Ektachrome 100 @ F32 with 2000-4000 w/s @ 4-8 pops. We would use banks of these for large sets. It was not so demanding with the Hasselblad and 35MM was used for few things and used very little power.
Fast forward 35-40 years: my classes shoot 35mm DSLR. We have to dial-down our strobes to 25-50w/s. The 800/1200/2000/4000 Normans, 1000 Dynalites, and Broncolors gather dust on the floor below the bottom shelf. with 4000 w/s units. We keep saying that we are going to get rid of them but, like the unused darkroom, it is hard to let go; fond memories with old values. We do decline generous donations of such units.
My point here is that I cannot see using 3200 w/s. We used portable Westcott 400s for food in our Culinary department; less than 100 w/s. Location portraits, same thing. We have Norman Monolites 400 & 600, & DC Dynalites and such; far beyond what we need.
That said, this type of Strobe gear gets used weekly or monthly as we teach to Continuous and Available light as well. Pro stuff get pressed into use far more frequently. They are workhorses. I guess I am saying that Pro level gear cannot be measured by w/s alone but the strength of their guts over time.
That said a Norman D24 (2400 w/s) powerpack with 2 heads (with fans), umbrellas and stands is just over $6k. Now you can go light the side of a barn.
I think it's clear the audience for this stuff is more limited than ever. But it seems to me there are enough folks using strobes that there should, in theory, be a spot in the market for attainable, much less affordable, equipment. Zowie indeed.
I guess the counter argument is that actually there isn't such a sweet spot in the market or somebody would be filling it.
Over time my perspective of my 40 years of work is amended. If there is no sweet-spot for my sort of shooter maybe it is because I was doing the easy stuff which can now be done by just about anyone with auto features and AI. The REAL work is done by pros who can spend $50K? Not a thing I want to believe but there you are.
Zowie! $46k for 3200w/s? Back in the day it was...never mind. At the other end of the spectrum we have Blogger kitts for a couple hundred bucks. I guess we are somewhere in the middle, or lower-middle, really.
Back to back-in-the-day. Product was shot 4x5 or 8x10 on Ektachrome 100 @ F32 with 2000-4000 w/s @ 4-8 pops. We would use banks of these for large sets. It was not so demanding with the Hasselblad and 35MM was used for few things and used very little power.
Fast forward 35-40 years: my classes shoot 35mm DSLR. We have to dial-down our strobes to 25-50w/s. The 800/1200/2000/4000 Normans, 1000 Dynalites, and Broncolors gather dust on the floor below the bottom shelf. with 4000 w/s units. We keep saying that we are going to get rid of them but, like the unused darkroom, it is hard to let go; fond memories with old values. We do decline generous donations of such units.
My point here is that I cannot see using 3200 w/s. We used portable Westcott 400s for food in our Culinary department; less than 100 w/s. Location portraits, same thing. We have Norman Monolites 400 & 600, & DC Dynalites and such; far beyond what we need.
That said, this type of Strobe gear gets used weekly or monthly as we teach to Continuous and Available light as well. Pro stuff get pressed into use far more frequently. They are workhorses. I guess I am saying that Pro level gear cannot be measured by w/s alone but the strength of their guts over time.
That said a Norman D24 (2400 w/s) powerpack with 2 heads (with fans), umbrellas and stands is just over $6k. Now you can go light the side of a barn.
I think it's clear the audience for this stuff is more limited than ever. But it seems to me there are enough folks using strobes that there should, in theory, be a spot in the market for attainable, much less affordable, equipment. Zowie indeed.
I guess the counter argument is that actually there isn't such a sweet spot in the market or somebody would be filling it.