Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

Will a AB 800 be enough power for the medium softbox, shooting mainly indoor portraits. Thanks for all the help.

The AB800 has plenty of power for studio portrait duty in a softbox of that size. I have an AB800 I bought used that provides beautiful light in that scenario, as does the ABR800 (same light output as the AB800) mounted in the big Moon Unit rigged as a softbox.

In fact, when I first bought a White Lightning X1600, the extra punch was an obvious consideration, but what sold me over the AB1600 was it's unique 1/4 power mode, which offered several extra stops of REDUCED power compared to the AB1600.

I have met many satisfied indoor portrait artists who only own a couple of AB400 units, and still feel full freedom in using light modifiers of all types. I like to have a kit that meets whatever lighting needs I might be faced with, but I have been adding, subtracting, and changing the scope of my kit for nearly a half century now, and along the way, people actually pay me to use my stuff, which helps the photo budget a little....

If I had a massive High School senior portrait shoot lined up for today, and all of my lights but one or two AB800's, and a maybe a speedlite were stolen last night, the job would have went off without a hitch, and the results would have been as fine as frogs' hair. The AB800 is an excellent all-around light.

Voyager

I discovered long ago that approximately 300ws per head was a "sweet spot" for routine use. Yes, sometimes or for certain purposes, you may need less than you can dial down from 300 ws, and sometimes you need more, but most of the time 300 ws per head does the job.

Thanks so the ab800 it is then .

I have three AB1600's. I can tell you that I rarely go over about 1/3rd power on my unit in a 42" soft box for portrait work. So an AB800 would be more then enough power.

Sunphoto