Unlike most hand-held or shoe-mount flashes, the duration of studio strobes tends to be fairly slow. While a Metz or Sunpak or similar usually sports 1/10,000th of a second or shorter second flash durations, studio strobes can range from 1/250th to 1/500th to 1/10000th of a second depending on brand, model, power setting, and how many heads are attached to a pack. That's not a serious issue for portraiture, but it can be for dealing with dancers or fast-moving objects. If you need your flash to stop action, be sure to check out this attribute.
Some typical rates are listed here.
Note that some systems use T=0.5 (the duration between when 50% of maximum light intensity is reached to when it has decayed to 50% of its maximum intensity.), while others use t=0.1 (the duration in which 90% of the max intensity is reached then decayed to.) T=0.1 is closer to being a shutter speed equivalent, but neither is exactly equivalent.
Also note that this is a short table. Some units have highly variable durations depending on power levels, number of heads attached, etc., and the combinations aren't all the same: some are shorter with more heads; some are not. Some wll have a shorter duration at higher power; some will have a shorter duration at lower power; and some few don't change duration based on power
Light |
Type |
Power
|
t-0.5
|
t-0.1
|
Alien Bees |
||||
| B1600 | Monolight | 640 (max) | 1/1800 | 1/600 |
| B1600 | Monolight | 20 (min) | 1/600 | 1/300 |
Balcar |
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| A 3200 | Pack | 3200 | 1/700-1/8000 | |
| A 6400 | Pack | 6400 | 1/700-1/8000 | |
| Classic 1500 | Monolight | 1500 | 1/900 | |
| Classic 350 | Monolight | 350 | 1/2000 | |
| Concept B3 / Z4 heads | Pack (Battery) |
4800 | 1/1500 | |
| Concept P4 / Z4 heads | Pack | 6400 | 1/1500 | |
| Jazz 350 | Monolight | 350 | 1/2000 | |
| Jazz 750 | Monolight | 750 | 1/1500 | |
| S 1600 | Pack | 1600 | 1/1200-1/8000 | |
| S 3200 | Pack | 3200 | 1/700-1/8000 | |
Broncolor |
||||
| Grafit A2 | Pack | 1600 | 1/250 - 1/6000 (Selectable) |
|
| Grafit A4 | Pack | 3200 | 1/125 - 1/6000 (Selectable) |
|
| Minipuls C200 | Monolight | 1500 | 1/1000 | |
| Minipuls C40 | Monolight | 300 | 1/1000 | |
| Minipuls C80 | Monolight | 600 | 1/600 | |
| Minicom 80 | Monolight | 600 | 1/1500 | |
| Mobil | Pack (Battery) |
1200 | 1/230 | |
| Primo | Pack | 1600 | 1/230 - 1/530 | |
| Primo | Pack | 3200 | 1/80 - 1/230 | |
Dyna-Lite |
||||
| M500XL | Pack | 500 (max) | 1/1000 | |
| M500XL | Pack | 32 (max) | 1/4500 | |
| M800e | Pack | 800 | 1/450 | |
| M1000ER | Pack | 1000 (max) | 1/600 | |
| M1000ER | Pack | 62 (min) | 1/2500 | |
| M2000XL | Pack | 2000 | 1/700 | |
Elinchrom |
||||
| Chic 1, Mini-A head | Pack | 1200 | 1/2200 | |
| Chic 1, Mini-A head | Pack | 2400 | 1/1100 | |
| Chic 1, Mini-S head | Pack | 1200 | 1/1200 | |
| Chic 1, Mini-S head | Pack | 2400 | 1/600 | |
| Digital 1 | Pack | 1200 | 1/1200 | |
| Digital 2 | Pack | 2400 | 1/600 | |
| Digital 3000 AS | Pack | 3000 | 1/450 | |
| Prolinca 125 S | Monolight | 125 | 1/2750 | |
| Prolinca 250 S | Monolight | 250 | 1/2000 | |
| Prolinca 400 S | Monolight | 400 | 1/1750 | |
| Prolinca 500 S | Monolight | 500 | 1/2600 | |
| Digital Style 1200RX | Monolight | 1200 | 1/1450 | |
| D-Lite4 | Monolight | 400 | 1/800 | |
Hensel |
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| Integra Pro 500 | Monolight | 500 | 1/1300 | |
| Integra Pro 1000 | Monolight | 1000 | 1/670 | |
| Integra 1000 | Monolight | 1000 | 1/1500 | |
Photogenic |
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| StudioMax III 320 | Monolight | 320 (max) | 1/4300 | |
| StudioMax III 320 | Monolight | 10 (min) | 1/125 | |
| Powerlight 1250DR | Monolight | 500 | 1/1300 | |
| Powerlight 2500DR | Monolight | 1000 | 1/750 | |
Profoto |
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| Acute 2 1200 | Pack | 1200 (max) | 1/560 | |
| Acute 2 1200 | Pack | 37 (min) | 1/3200 | |
| Acute 2 2400 | Pack | 2400 (max) | 1/320 | |
| Acute 2 2400 | Pack | 75 (min) | 1/1800 | |
| Pro-7A 2400 | Pack | 2400 (max) | 1/1600 | |
| Pro-7A 2400 | Pack | 75 (min) | 1/8000 | |
| D4 2400 | Pack | 2400 (max) | 1/600 | |
| D4 2400 | Pack | 18 (min) | 1/4500 | |
| D4 4800 | Pack | 4800 (max) | 1/350 | |
| D4 4800 | Pack | 36 (min) | 1/2700 | |
| ComPact-R 600 | Monolight | 600 | 1/850 | |
| ComPact-R 1200 | Monolight | 1200 | 1/850 | |
Speedotron |
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| 102 | Head | 300 | 1/1200 | |
| 102 | Head | 2400 | 1/225 | |
| 103 | Head | 300 | 1/1800 | |
| 103 | Head | 2400 | 1/450 | |
| 105 2-Cable | Head | 300 | 1/5000 | |
| 105 4-Cable | Head | 4800 | 1/400 | |
| 202 VF | Head | 300 | 1/1425 | |
| 202 VF | Head | 2400 | 1/300 | |
| 206 VF | Head | 4800 | 1/175 | |
| Force 5 | Monolight | 500 | 1/600 | |
| Force 10 | Monolight | 1000 | 1/850 | |
Sunstar-Strobo |
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| Magnum-13 | Pack | 1300 | 1/870 | |
| Magnum-25 | Pack | 2500 | 1/350 | |
| Mini | Pack | 1200 | 1/740 | |
| Mini-2400 | Pack | 2400 | 1/380 | |
| VP-24 | Pack | 2400 | 1/650 | |
| VP2400 w/4 heads | Pack | 100 | 1/11840 | |
| VP2400 w/4 heads | Pack | 200 | 1/10240 | |
White Lightning |
||||
| UltraZap 2400 | Monolight | 1000 | 1/1300 | |
| X800 | Monolight | 330 (max) | 1/3300 | 1/1100 |
| X800 | Monolight | 10 (min) | 1/1650 | 1/550 |
| X1600 | Monolight | 20 (min) | 1/1800 | 1/600 |
| X1600 | Monolight | 165 (1/4) | 1/6000 | 1/2000 |
| X1600 | Monolight | 660 (max) | 1/900 | 1/300 |
| X3200 | Monolight | 41 (min) | 1/450 | 1/150 |
| X3200 | Monolight | 330 (1/4) | 1/3300 | 1/1100 |
| X3200 | Monolight | 1320 (max) | 1/900 | 1/300 |
| X2400 | Monolight | 250 (1/4) | 1/5000 | |
| X2400 | Monolight | 1000 (max) | 1/1300 | |
Data from
| Alien Bees | http://www.alienbees.com/ | |||
| Balcar | http://www.balcar.com/ | |||
| Broncolor | http://www.sinarbron.com | |||
| Dyna-Lite | http://www.dynalite.com/ | |||
| Elinchrom | http://www.elinchrom.com | |||
| Speedotron | http://www.speedotron.com/ | |||
| Sunstar-Strobo | http://www.sunstarstrobo.com/sunstar/flash-duration.htm | |||
| White Lightning | http://www.white-lightning.com/ |