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Flash vs continuous light - which is best?
Techniques
16 April 2009 12:25
Flash isn’t the only type of lighting available for setting up a home studio. The other type of lighting is continuous lighting. As the name suggests, rather than flashing, the lights stay on continuously. Traditionally, continuous lights would use tungsten-balanced bulbs that get extremely hot and produce a yellow-tinged light. Modern continuous light systems use daylight-balanced fluorescent bulbs that have a low wattage with a high light output. They’re similar in some ways to energy efficient bulbs commonly used in the home.
Despite having better bulbs now, continuous lights still emit a lot of heat. While this doesn’t cause too many problems for still-life shots, the heat can make your model feel uncomfortable and sweaty, which isn’t going to look great in your shots! As long as you have plenty of ventilation you’ll be fine with continuous lights.
The best thing about continuous lighting is that you can see exactly how your subject will be lit and how any shadows will fall. Modelling lights on flash units provide the same kind of assistance, but having only a fraction of the power, they’re more difficult to judge accurately. Unlike flash, continuous lamps don't require direct connection to the light unit. You can work at any practical shutter speed, as you're not dependent on flash synchronisation.
Overall studio flash is far superior to continuous lighting for the reasons listed below. We prefer studio flash but it really is a matter of personal taste. There are of course those occassions when continuous lights will allow you to do things not possible with flash, but this works both ways. If you're undecided about which is best for you, why not hire the two types of lighting and have a test shoot.
