The golden shell Sprite 180 studio flash setup.

Today I finally got around to fully test the S180 studio light setup as I had absolutely nothing to do today.
I also decided to take this opportunity to yes one of my other figures in my collection aside from Momo.

Here in her lively splendor is Ayanami Rei by Yamato.

But before we begin here is the rundown about this studio light set. It consist of

1. 3 strobe lights
2. A large square diffuser
3. A large octogonal diffuser
4. A honeycomb head with 4 different colored gel

All the lights are very well built and it seems to be equiped with all the trimmings you would expect from a studio light set, minus the expensive price tag of course.

Also I better put a disclaimer about this review, this is my first time using a studio light set all by myself and without the hustle and bustle of a time schedule but I make no claim that this is an exhaustive review of this studio light and I make no claim that I am very very sure of my techniques here. Right let’s get down to it shall we?







First up in my not-so-professional test, we have the strobe light fitted with the square diffuser.

So what kind of lighting result can you expect when using this diffuser? Well the shot up there was taken with this setup.

The lights are nicely diffused resulting in no harsh shadows, typical of any SB600 outfitted with a stofen diffuser. Nothing special, let’s move on.































Next up with have a shot taken using the octagonal diffuser shown below.

I know what you’re thinking “what the hell?!” There is absolutely no DIFFERENCE!

Actually there is a different but because I am shooting a very small and “inanimate” item, the differences is not very obvious. Remember these lights are typical used to shoot PORTRAITS! You know, those things which are alive and REAL! Their use are only very obvious when you want to manipulate the catch eye in a human’s eyes! Pick up any fashion magazine and look at any photo with people in them and you’ll notice the white light in their eyes are of either a square or round shaped. This is what controls it, the shape of the diffuser.Of course there are also other ways you can use these types diffuser but they require you hang them over the product or model with an overhead light stand which I don’t have.






















Anyway, moving on….

Now we have come to the part I had enjoyed the most when I was testing and reviewing these studio lights, the honeycomb. No studio light set would be complete without it! It is the most versatile piece of equipment in a flash set, studio grade or otherwise.

But what is a honeycomb light? Here is a close up shot of it in the next photo.

It just as stated in it’s name, a honeycomb fitted over a strobe light. What it basically does is that is controls the way the light is directed onto the subject by funnelling it through many small plastic tubes rather than letting the light “splash” onto the subject it direct it in a focused manner.

You can really control where will the light hit. Though here is a tip, DO NOT USE THIS LIGHT FRONT UP! It really creates some harsh shadows!

Here I have 3 shots with the honeycomb light moved gradually from my side till it was pointing directly to the side of the figure, notice how the background gradually disappears? The light is controlled in a focus manner when a honeycomb is used hence you can especially use it to draw attention to a single area in a photo.Also as I mentioned, the set I bought included colors gels which I can use with the honeycomb, I have 4 colors namely red, blue, clouded white, and yellow.

These colored gels can be really used to achieve some funky effect! Needs more exploring!

With that this concludes by review and sharing for today’s entry, I hope you’ve enjoyed it! Thanks~~~~