What is the LumoPro LP120?  It's a basic, no-frills manual flash that's great for off-camera flash work.  Oh yeah, it costs $130 from MPEX.com.

No stinkin' TTL, ETTL, or whatever. Just one manual control - a switch that controls the flash power. That's it.

On the back you can see that the power setting is really simple. No LCD. No menus. Just flick the switch from 1/32 to full power.

Aside from it's simplicity, the other thing that makes this thing great for off-camera work is that it has a pc outlet and comes with a small cord that will hook this puppy up directly to a Pocket Wizard.

I'm not a real camera gear tester, so I didn't scientifically test the power. However, on a real quick test I find it to be about as powerful as my 580EXII.

Build quality is not as robust as a Canon or Nikon flash, but what do you want for $130?

So should I get one?

For on-camera flash, you'll need your Nikon/Cannon speedlight. If you want to get into off-camera flash, then get the LumoPro.  Why buy a Canon or Nikon flash for $450 when you can buy one that does the same thing, is much easier to use, and is 1/3 the price?  

Laurence Kim Workshops

Building a Profitable Portrait Business, Seattle, Feb. 27: one seat left

Location Lighting 101, Vancouver BC, March 20

The Paul C Buff Parabolic Light Modification System (PLM) is basically a giant umbrella softbox.

It comes in umbrella diameters of 75", 55" and 42".  I have the 55" model.  This thing is big. Really big.

There are 2 models: white translucent and silver.  Get the silver model, it has a much higher efficiency rating and will thus put out more light than the white translucent. By putting the white diffusion sheet over the umbrella it essentially creates a giant softbox.

Better still, since it's configured as an umbrella, it's a snap to set up.

As you can see, even the 55" is huge. It can be used with any brand of flash, even with a speedlight. (correction: might not fit Elinchrom, which uses a proprietary 7mm shaft diameter)

What's the benefit of such a big umbrella-box?

• The bigger the light source, the softer the light. Now softer doesn't always mean better - sometimes you want a harder light. But if you're looking for that big, soft, gorgeous, wrap around light you need a big light like this.

• The bigger light source can cover a bigger subject. You can light cars with this thing.

• It will make nice big, round catch-lights in your subject's eyes

Here are a few quick snaps in the front yard, taken at 2pm. Canon 30D w/17-55mm f2.8 EFS, ISO 100, f6.3, 1/250 sec. This metering knocked down the ambient by about 3 stops.

Look at how this giant light source wraps around Theresa!

Now here's the best part.  The cost?  $80.  That may not seem ultra-cheap to you, but consider the alternatives. The comparable modifiers from Elinchrom and Profoto run $1,100 and $1,485 respectively. That's 12x-15x the price of the Paul C Buff product!  Remember, you can use the PLM system with any brand of flash.

So here's another quiz question. You know me by now so the answer is obvious.  What will make a bigger difference to your images, the $80 PLM or an $8,000 1DsMkwhatever?

Laurence Kim Workshops

Location Lighting 101, Jan 23, Seattle WA:  sold out!

Building a Profitable Portrait Business, Feb 27, Seattle WA: seats available

Location Lighting 101, March 20, Vancouver BC: seats available

What's the one piece of gear you really couldn't do without?

I get this question every once in a while. Although I write occasionally about gear, I'm not really a gear head. I still shoot with Canon 5D and 30D cameras - a half-decade old technology.  

I've also written quite often how the gear doesn't really matter, it's understanding what to do with it that counts. There's not a single piece of gear that I have that I couldn't do without.

Despite all of that, I must admit there is one piece of gear that having to do without would leave me crying in my shoes - my 70-200 f2.8L IS lens.

This lens, (and the Nikon equivalent, the new 70-200 f2.8VR II, which I understand is quite excellent) is the King of lenses. I usually do portrait shoots with just this single lens. I can shoot an entire wedding with just 2 lenses, this one and my 35mm prime.

What makes this lens so great?

• It's absolutely tack sharp. Just about as sharp as any of my primes.

• The image stabilization works great. I've taken sharp images from the back of a dim church hand-held at 1/50 while racked out to 200mm.

• It's a magic beauty lens. People just look better in images taken with it.

• It provides tremendous subject-background separation.

• You can have it both ways:  stop down to f5.6-6.3 from 60 feet away and you've got a 9' depth of field - enough to get nearly any size group in focus - while at the same time still blurring the background beautifully and creating lots of subject-background separation.    

• It's currently out-of-fashion (a big plus in my view!). Every photographer out there is obsessed with shooting with fast wide primes. Read any photography forum and there are dozens of posts about how togs have sold their 70-200, or they only use it for the ceremony then put it away.

Sure you can get cool looks with those wide primes, but let's face facts. At the end of the day, my clients will look much prettier than theirs will, and that's what keeps my clients (and my wallet) happy.

Anything not so great about this lens?

• It's big and heavy. Boo-hoo. Go to the gym.

• It costs $1,750.  Expensive, but worth every penny.

Compared to the 135 f2L:  The 135L is a stop faster and of course, much smaller and lighter. Shots taken wide open provide so much separation that they almost have a 3-D quality about them. It's a fantastic lens. But in the end, the versatile range combined with the image stabilization of the 70-200 wins out.

Compared to the 70-200 f4L IS:  This is also a great lens. Smaller, lighter and cheaper, but every bit as sharp. If you can't afford the 2.8, then buy this lens. Then when you're ready for the 2.8, you can sell it for nearly as much as you paid for it.

The 70-200 @145mm with a Canon 20D. It's a magic beauty lens!

Location Lighting 101 Workshop

1/23/10, Seattle, WA: sold out

3/20/10, Vancouver, BC: seats available

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Building a Profitable Portrait Business

2/27/10, Seattle, WA:  seats available

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Laurence Kim Workshops

This final post on the Canon G11 focuses on portraits.

You may recall Taylor, one of my seniors from last year.  She was kind enough to help me take the G11 for a portrait test drive.

(1) ISO 80, f5.0, 1/800 sec, Alien Bee B800 camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(2) ISO 80, f5.0, 1/320 sec, 580exII camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(3) ISO 100, f3.5, 1/320 sec, 580exII camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(4) ISO 100, f3.5, 1/320 sec, 580exII camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(5) ISO 80, f4.5, 1/200 sec. The sun came out as we were wrapping up the shoot. No flash, white balance as shot using auto white balance.

A note on sync speed:  The specifications state a max sync speed of 1/2000. In practice, I maxed out at about 1/1250.  That's because unless you have some very high-end, expensive flash units with ultra-short flash durations, you'll be limited by the flash duration of the strobe itself, not the sync speed of the camera. But let us not quibble here. The ability to use flash sync at 1/1000 is an incredible luxury compared to the puny 1/200 max sync on my 5D!

As a portrait camera, the G11 will present some challenges. Because of the massive depth of field that comes with a small-sensor, you cannot isolate your subject with depth-of-field control. With a DSLR it's simple - just shoot your subject at 85mm, f2 and voila, instant subject/background separation.

Since you don't have depth-of-field as a tool, you'll have to isolate your subject using composition, lighting or both. In other words, you'll have to work harder and more deliberately to get professional-looking portraits, but it can be done. The G11 is not a miracle camera. Casual grab shots will look.....well....like snapshots from a point-n-shoot.

Compared to the LX3:  The LX3 is a great camera. The G11 is better. It should be, as it's technology is 15 months newer. Noise is about 1 stop better on the G11, and dynamic range is significantly better. Image #5 above would not be possible on the LX3 - the skin would have blown out. Handling is better as well, with lots of control knobs and a more comfortable size. In the LX3's favor is it's wider, faster lens.

What about micro four-thirds?  The Panasonic GF1 and Olympus PEN are really interesting cameras. Much larger sensors than the G11 with bodies that aren't much bigger. If I had an unlimited budget, I would buy one of them today, just for fun. However, in the end they wouldn't really suit my needs. Put the zoom lenses on them and they're pretty big, certainly too big for a small belt pouch. That disqualifies them for me as take-everywhere, always-with-you cameras.  

Conclusion:

My G11 will serve three functions: as a macro camera for weddings, a vacation camera and as an always-with-me camera for casual snapshots and videos of my kids. Professionally, the only time I would consider using it would be when I needed to overpower bright sun with off camera flash using ultra-high speed sync. It's either use the G11 or buy/rent $20,000 worth of high-powered lighting gear.

Landscapes, macro or portraits, there's really nothing this camera can't do. Detail is amazing. Any one of these images would have sufficient detail to print a double truck magazine ad, no problem. In short, the G11 is the best small-sensor compact on the market today.

Part 2 of my G11 overview focuses on macros.  To be honest, doing this little macro test didn't teach me anything. I already knew that high quality compact digicams are the best tool for macro work. I wrote about it here. I pretty much did this shoot just for fun.

My opinion is unchanged:  a high quality point 'n shoot like the G11 is your best tool for macros. Every shot I took was perfectly in focus and tack sharp.

The pencils, strawberry and watch were all set up the same way. I put the items on a white surface - the lid from a plastic storage tub. Behind the items was a softbox with an Alien Bee B800 as a back light. Above and to camera right was a 580EXII with umbrella. To camera left was a white cardboard box that I used for fill. I triggered everything with Pocket Wizards. The leaf was shot outdoors in natural light, no flash. Setting up the shoot took all of 10 minutes.

(1)  ISO 80, 6.1mm (28mm equivalent), f5.0, 1/500 sec. That's right folks, flash sync at 1/500!

(2)  ISO 80, 6.1mm, f5.0, 1/500 sec. Sorry that this strawberry is kinda old and ugly!

(3) ISO 80, 10.8mm (49mm equivalent), f5.6, 1/500 sec.

(4)  ISO 200, 21.5mm (98mm equivalent), f4, 1/160 sec.

I could have done this shoot with a DSLR and macro lens, but it would have been much harder. It would have been harder to nail focus, I would have fewer keepers and I definitely would have needed a tripod. The bottom line:  get a good point 'n shoot and use it! (of course, get it by clicking on the advertisement below...)

Coming next:  G11 part 3:  portraits