Monolights Kit

Monolights Kit

How many watts per light is a good amount of power?

How many watts per light is a good amount of power?

I have a kit with a power pack (photogenic) and 3 lights. Its set up so 300ws goes to the main and 150ws to the 2 others. Thing I don't like is the pack can't adjust the intensity of each light. It's pretty much set (have to change some ratio fuse, there's no dials or slider).

So looking at buying a few monolights with the power built into them and so I can control the F-stops. Looking at Paul C Buffs ultra 600's or White Lightning 1,200's. Want to know what kind of power I Should be looking at per light.

How has your existing setup performed in terms of power? For most home studios, 300ws is fine even with big old softboxes on them.

There is such a thing as too much power, so don't go overboard unless you plan on shooting outdoors and looking to overpower the sun, or have a very large studio and are taking lots of group shots.

Many monolights have a 5 stop range. Some have less, some more. Even though you "can" shoot at 1/32 power, it's not always the best idea as all moderate or inexpensive strobes have some color shift as you decrease the power. So if you like shooting at large apertures in the studio, you have to be concerned with going too big and always shooting at small apertures.