Has anybody tested these lights on a model/face and kept them side-by-side to see the real difference in the quality of the lights? Please share the images or post a link if you know of someone who has done this test. I need to buy lights and figuring out the real difference between these three.. Thanks!
Haven't tested them side by side, just in different studios. Wouldn't say there is a big discernible difference.
Apart from durability the handling is the most important aspect. Best would be for you to try them out hands-on (rental studio or trade fair perhaps), including the mobile apps!
Thanks. What mobile apps do you mean?
You need to adjust power settings frequently. Lights live high in the air. So you either have to keep popping them down or adjust via a mobile app. (Good stands make the first option easier.)
Good point.. I assume most of them will have a power control in the remote trigger, but will keep it in mind..
I honest don't know about the remotes - I shoot with a leaf shutter camera a lot of the time, which means the stutter can outpace the remote signal, so I use optical slave.
But if you're trying to control several lights, then a phone or tablet size screen will make a big difference.
What you are asking for is meaningless. Even if there was a consistent difference between brands - which is extremely doubtful - then
1. It would be wiped out by the difference between modifiers
2. There is nothing to say that because you prefer Light A with a medium size raw beauty dish close to the pale model that you wouldn't prefer B shooting a tanned skin with an octa. It's even possible that simply changing the brand of beauty dish or putting a sock on the first one might change your preference - although its more likely still that you wouldn't be to tell them apart, especially if a custom white balance is set.
..The smart thing to do is generally to decide what modifiers you want to shoot, then buy the cheapest reliable lights, making sure they go on good stands. Solid stands will make a huge difference - making one of them a boom stand is a good idea.
Thanks.. Obviously it needs to be the same modifier for all the 3 lights with the same camera settings. Can be either a beauty dish or an Octa. I'm trying to organize a test with the three lights keeping the same modifier, just need to figure out the ring accessories for the lights, shouldn't be hard to find..
>> Obviously it needs to be the same modifier for all the 3 lights with the same camera settings.
You've rather missed the point. Once again, that you prefer light A with modifier P does not reasonably mean that you would prefer it with Q. Assuming you could tell the difference, which is unlikely.
Or to put it another way, any comparison you do is likely to be specific to the modifier used. Well - the most likely thing is that, if custom WB is used, that it will be a flat draw.. But the above is the next most likely possibility.
..Flash tubes from all major makers - and even cheap ebay brands - give a decent light spectrum. And that's all they have to do - pump photons spread over a reason spread of wavelengths into a modifier. You're looking for differences that don't exist.
Now, if you were looking at LED continuous lighting, where you can't be sure of that, then a test would have a point. But you are not.