Forums >
Photography Talk >
Alien Bees....good enuf???
Hey everyone....I have been renting different lights for my portrait work...unfortunately I can't seem to find Alien Bees lights for rent....but their price looks great for the 4 light kit. Do any of you use them and can you back up their quality? Are they good for portrait work? Can they run on Pocket Wizard Plus II system? I was thinking about gettin 1-400 2-800s and 1-1600.....is this a good idea? Thanx Chris~ Apr 06 08 08:40 pm Link Depends on your definition of quality. Yes, they're a good price. Yes, they work with PWs. No, they're generally not available for rental. But they do have a good return policy, so it wouldn't hurt to try them to see if you like them. Apr 06 08 08:46 pm Link I love my bees! Apr 06 08 08:47 pm Link You can only rely on the green ones,the other colors don't work that well. LOL I actually ordered an AB400,should arrive soon. I'll know soon enough. Apr 06 08 08:52 pm Link I have 4 AB800's they work fine ( even my pink ones lol )but a little cheesy in construction. If I could do it all over again Id get 1 Speedotron Force 10 2-3 Speedotron Force 5's Not sure why you want a AB400, the AB1600 is a good choice as is the AB800 I wouldnt bother with the AB400 it will be too under powered for everything else S~ Apr 06 08 08:58 pm Link Shelby Wylde wrote: I shoot in a room the is only 14 x 12,don't need any thing more than the AB 400's. When I move into a bigger space in the future I will move up to a bigger set of lights. Apr 06 08 09:01 pm Link Yes. Apr 06 08 09:04 pm Link Buff seems to have a great reputation for customer support. But, their lights are more of a sore point. They are great lights for the money, but the construction of them leaves a lot to be desired. I have been using his lights on and off for many years, without many problems and always had a wonderful experience with having the problems taken care of. Color temp varies, as did the output of the strobe at any given setting. If it is all you can afford, snap them up, but I would save and buy into a better system... t Apr 06 08 09:06 pm Link yes, theyre good. lot of people use them because theyre good. i dont think they get rented out much though, people that rent usually want profoto, not mid-range stuff Apr 06 08 09:07 pm Link Jonathan D Holloway wrote: LOL...so YES to all my questions I take it? Apr 06 08 09:16 pm Link SCrude Photography wrote: yes they're excellent I've never had a problem with them and from what I heard if something does go wrong, they replace it no questions asked.....I own (2)1600's and (2) 800's and the vegabond II and yes PW do fire them.....cheers Apr 06 08 09:21 pm Link SCrude Photography wrote: Hi Chris! Apr 06 08 10:06 pm Link SCrude Photography wrote: Good enough is subjective but for me I'd say yes...but I wouldn't get any kit and I'd look to others for umbrellas and softboxes. And you might check out the Zeus system by them...a step up. And another step up would be their white lightening system Apr 06 08 10:08 pm Link Trent Boysen wrote: The construction isn't amazing but they do get the job done, I use a few of their sister brand, White Lightning, X1600's and they are wonderful. The 1600's are plenty to overpower with sun in the background. The warranty is great; I've had one light replaced about 2 1/2 years after purchase. They also have student discounts along with accessory discounts with lights. Apr 06 08 10:09 pm Link all my stuff is lit with bees or sun. they are great. reliable, sturdy, easy to use. Apr 06 08 10:10 pm Link i have 2 1600's and 2 800's. had 'em 3 years and don't regret the purchase. Apr 06 08 10:12 pm Link Thanx everyone for the GREAT info! I love this site! C~ Apr 06 08 11:13 pm Link I use a total of 5 AB800W lights and anywhere in between.I think they are great and realy wouldnt trade them except for mabe the AB 1600W. I have never had a problem with them.They are well worth the little bit of dough PCB charges for them. Apr 06 08 11:19 pm Link SCrude Photography wrote: Many people think so. Apr 06 08 11:45 pm Link SCrude Photography wrote: I would advise anyone purchasing Alein Bees to buy all 800's. Apr 06 08 11:52 pm Link von francklau wrote: I am about to buy my first AB, and am teetering between a 1600 and 800. Apr 06 08 11:55 pm Link rp_photo wrote: So go with 2 AB800's in one softbox and get the same output and half the recycle time of the AB1600 Apr 07 08 12:26 am Link First I have been using them for the past 4 years, Second, when chosing what power you "need" consider the following: after 2 years of using AB800's and 1600's, I went and bought 2xAB400's because it was too much hassle running the 800's at low power all the time, by "downgrading" to the 400's I don't have too many problems any more. related to this, I tell people, if you shoot at f5.6 and wider get the AB400, if you shoot at f8 to f11 get the ab800, if you shoot f11+ then go for the AB1600 or WL's. I shoot at f5.6 and f2.0, my studio is 15'x20', model is 4-6ft from backdrop, another 4-6ft from lights. And the AB light's variations are at most 1/3rd of a stop at lowest power setting and at 1/8th or higher it is less then 0.009 stops variation base don my personal testing. I have noted no color variation after the first picture with the same setting/costume - changes that I have observed are within the effect caused by change of set/costume/sun coming in the window. But that much of a perfectionist I am not. Apr 07 08 12:27 am Link 60 day after purchase money back guarantee satisfaction. Buy em and put them to the test. J T Apr 07 08 12:35 am Link I have 2 AB800's, the ringlight and the small vagabond. All have been great, even the ab800 that faceplanted when the stand got knocked over. Apr 07 08 12:42 am Link bees rules ! i want a couple of them but it's hard to get them in Mexico. Apr 07 08 12:44 am Link jtsmith wrote: This is honestly what got me to order the AB ring light...figured if it turned ou to be crap I could return it. that was a year and thousands of shots ago! I've since ordered the Vagabond pack and the never Vagabond 2 pack. the first V2 was defective in an odd way..It took a couple of weeks before I noticed it. On the fast recycle it would occasionally not work but on slow it always did. I called AB and they sent a new one to me and then had their shipping service call me to arrange PU of my old one all free of charge. So there truly is NO RISK ordering from them. Apr 07 08 12:50 am Link Alien Bees are excellent lights to start with, reliable, a full range of accessories, and inexpensive. They also offer one of the more interesting lights available, the ABR800, a ring flash which does double duty as a standard studio strobe. Another thing which makes Alien Bees an interesting entry level system is that you can upgrade to the White Lightning monolights as your needs require, mixing lights from both systems because all the accessories (softboxes, grids, etc.) will work with either system. Finally you can make the jump to a full high power pack and head studio system (the Zeus line of lights), mixing in your new equipment with the old as, once again, all the accessories and light modifiers work through out all three lines. Even the Moon Unit softbox (including the new 56" Moon Unit) which fits the ABR800 ring light is the exact same Moon Unit which fits the 2500ws Zeus Ringmaster ring light. While it is true the White Lightning and Zeus pack and head systems feel more substantial (and in fact are), the entry Alien Bees line is well made and will give you years of reliable service. I've had an Alien Bees AB800 monolight for five years now and have used it on too many catalog shoots to count. It works every bit as well today as it did when I first purchased it. Alien Bees has recently introduced a new line of foldable soft boxes (they open like an umbrella!) which are easy to use, and very well made. The price is more than competitive with any other available similar light modifiers. I recently used the new foldable 47 inch Octabox and had it assembled and mounted on the strobe head in a matter of a few minutes. Now, did I mount it on my Alien Bees AB800, or my Zeus 2500ws studio strobe? I forget, it works on both! Fish Sponsored Photographer, Paul Buff Companies -- John Fisher 910 West Avenue, Suite 306 Miami Beach, Florida 33139 305 534-9322 http://www.johnfisher.com Apr 07 08 12:58 am Link so much to say....lol....thank you all again. I think I made up my mind Ok...so this system works with the PW plusII, but do I get the cord with the radio 1/8 connector from Alien Bees or from pocket wizard? When I rent the pocket wizard it comes with a bigger cord than 1/8th inch. C~ Apr 07 08 02:09 am Link Most rental houses get their rental strobes from their retail store operation and Alien bees are sold direct. I would also recommend either the AB 400 or 800's. The 800's are too much power except for large wedding groups. Apr 07 08 06:57 am Link I will get back with you later today. Got an AB400 scheduled for delivery today. After testing with it I am going to figure out what mix of what I want to order to complete a light set. Apr 07 08 10:44 am Link I just ordered an AB800 (in boring "deep space black"). Should have it Thursday or Friday. I will be using Softlighter II's and/or umbrellas for modifiers. For the time being, I will be using existing Sunpak 383 flashes for fill, back, and hair lighting. Apr 07 08 11:16 am Link There are important differences between the 400, 800, and 1600 other than pricing: 1. Recycle time - Longer on higher-powered units even when turned down. 2. Flash duration - Higher-powered units have longer duration when turned down. 3. Power consumption - Higher-powered units use more power at same flash level. Apr 07 08 11:37 am Link SCrude Photography wrote: Assuming that the PW end of the cord is not some oddball proprietary connector, then you can get what you need from Radio Shack. If the PW end _is_ special, then you get the cord from Pocket wizard. If all else fails, go to flashzebra.com As for me, I use the Cactus V2s (aka "poverty wizard"), and simply plug into the sync cord that came with the strobe. Generally speaking, you need only trigger one strobe by wireless. The optical slave sensors on the 'Bees are actually quite good. Apr 07 08 11:45 am Link rp_photo wrote: Actually, the difference between these units is in the number of storage capacitors used. The 400 uses one, the 800 uses two, and the 1600 uses four. The differences in recycle _at full power_ are different based upon the number of capacitors that need to be filled. That said, an 800 set at half power is gonna' be ready just as fast as a 400 set on full power, as the same amount of energy is being sent to the same flashtube. A 400 set on 1/32 power is going to recycle twice as fast as an 800 set to 1/32, but the 800 at minimum is putting out the same light as the 400 does at 1/16 power. Apr 07 08 12:05 pm Link I know the Ab groupies will come out in force but, for the QUALITY and Money have you considered Calumet Genesis 400 http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/CF0514K1/ As you can see they are more powerful then ab800's and come with some very nice features. I have used bees and they are great. However I have tried these and the genesis are very good pieces of equipment. I would check with Calumet and try them out. Just a thought. No Alien bees where hurt during this comment. The poster likes bees and is just offering another alternative. Apr 07 08 01:38 pm Link They are good enough for me for now at least. I have never used any other strobes so I can't compare. But I am so far content with the images I have gotten with using the ABs. Apr 07 08 01:40 pm Link What's important is the images you end up with, not the equipment you start out with. Apr 07 08 01:45 pm Link I am a GWC , but buying AB has not come into my mind. May be I just like German cars Apr 07 08 01:57 pm Link Shelby Wylde wrote: I rarely take my AB800s over 1/2 power for portrait work, usually I'm at 1/4 power. If I remember correctly from my last shoot, I was at f/8 @ ISO 200 with my AB800 at 1/4 power, shooting with a medium softbox just out of frame. Apr 07 08 02:40 pm Link |