Alien Bees - SRT Forums

Skill · 10-01-2009, 08:40 AM

I think there were a few people that use their equipment here if i remember right?

I ordered my first B1600 last night (alien green

). I need another light source bad as doing shoots with one 580ex2 has limited me, but I seem to make due most of the time.

Anyone that uses their stuff what's your opinion on their build quality? I was talking to a buddy last night that has borrowed some to shoot with, and he says I'm going to be disappointed with the build quality of them. I'm not terribly concerned about that. I was initially thinking WL or pro photo, but decided i need the money more than i need expensive lights around my place.

coolpixer · 10-01-2009, 02:16 PM

i was gonna do some AB's once... then i thought about the lack of portablility and I still prefer natural light.

Skill · 10-01-2009, 07:17 PM

I was the same way, but that was only because i was scared to venture into doing anything with a speedlite or strobe. When i started using my flash units a couple years ago it opened up so much more possibilities. I found the more i experimented and practice using it on myself i learned how to utilize the flash units and better my photography. I now prefer to use them if i can, but don't rely on them.

I think if you are trying to make money in this profession or any serious sort of intent, you should be using artificial and natural lighting.

My B1600 should be here next week i hope. I really could use it this weekend. Now i just need a few more bucks to purchase a vagabond to power it

unnecessary · 10-01-2009, 09:31 PM

I love my Alienbees and customer service is good. As for as portability, just dont be lazy. Get you a Vegabond. That B1600 is gonna be a beast.

The build quality seems fine to me, they are very lightweight. Fires every time I shoot. They regenerate fast, I couldn't ask for more.

Accessories are SUPER easy to find for them too at good prices. Right on their website.

Skill · 10-01-2009, 10:29 PM

Ya i remembered you saying something about picking some up in the past. That's the only person i could remember on here anyways.

I'm looking into a beauty dish paired with a sock, a boom for my tripods as i don't have one, and the vagabond for my next purchases from them. I'd also like another softbox seeing as the one i have is made specifically for flash units (Westcott apollo 28"). But i bet i could get it to work with the AB unit with some tweaking. It's just a small softbox to be using for the B1600.

I was going to go with the B800, but did a little research on both. I wanted something that would be able to kill the sun if needed and the B800 would do it, but not near enough and the B1600 is only 80 bux more so what the heck right? I decided on Alien green too, should be here monday

Parkerman · 10-02-2009, 03:55 PM

We use them at work.. never really have problems out of them.

unnecessary · 10-03-2009, 09:35 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Skill

Ya i remembered you saying something about picking some up in the past. That's the only person i could remember on here anyways.

I'm looking into a beauty dish paired with a sock, a boom for my tripods as i don't have one, and the vagabond for my next purchases from them. I'd also like another softbox seeing as the one i have is made specifically for flash units (Westcott apollo 28"). But i bet i could get it to work with the AB unit with some tweaking. It's just a small softbox to be using for the B1600.

I was going to go with the B800, but did a little research on both. I wanted something that would be able to kill the sun if needed and the B800 would do it, but not near enough and the B1600 is only 80 bux more so what the heck right? I decided on Alien green too, should be here monday

Nice... I do have the AB Beauty Dish and its amazing. I never use the sock that came with it though, but i would love to use a grid with it.

B800's are powerful, you will REALLY like that B1600. Its a beast.

Just about ALL my latest shots are using the Beauty Dish on the B800.

Skill · 10-07-2009, 10:26 AM

I received all the items on Monday, but been to busy to have a chance to use them. I also broke down and ordered the vagabond last night. meh. I'll have to wait on the beauty dish for a bit. I'd also like an octa box too.

unnecessary · 10-07-2009, 11:36 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Skill

I received all the items on Monday, but been to busy to have a chance to use them. I also broke down and ordered the vagabond last night. meh. I'll have to wait on the beauty dish for a bit. I'd also like an octa box too.

Vegabond FTW!

The BD will help out A LOT on outside work mainly because its more weighted. Covers large areas with nice lighting and..... shit you know. Im telling you like you dont know what it does.

Skill · 10-07-2009, 12:31 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by unnecessary

Vegabond FTW!

The BD will help out A LOT on outside work mainly because its more weighted. Covers large areas with nice lighting and..... shit you know. Im telling you like you dont know what it does.

Well I've never used a BD so i have no idea what kind of light it will put on my subjects. Well i mean i've seen pictures of what it can do, but not personally seen it in person.

Their website says they just discontinued their 32" translucent umbrella, their large octabox, and boom arm. Wasn't like that the other day meh.

unnecessary · 10-07-2009, 07:17 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Skill

Well I've never used a BD so i have no idea what kind of light it will put on my subjects. Well i mean i've seen pictures of what it can do, but not personally seen it in person.

Their website says they just discontinued their 32" translucent umbrella, their large octabox, and boom arm. Wasn't like that the other day meh.

The beauty dish spreads light over a large area with soft fall off which is important. You might want to look at some stripe boxes as well. They provide real good rim lighting.

Skill · 10-07-2009, 09:57 PM

Yah I've seen strip lights before i can do without them right now. If i need them they will come, but I don't seem them anytime soon.

Vagabond arrives Friday, then hopefully i can get some time outside shooting.

krnlscott · 10-11-2009, 01:17 AM

I've never really looked into Alien Bees before but after reading about them briefly, everyone seems to love them. Why do people go with them over products like a 580ex or sb600?

Skill · 10-11-2009, 02:37 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by krnlscott

I've never really looked into Alien Bees before but after reading about them briefly, everyone seems to love them. Why do people go with them over products like a 580ex or sb600?

There is a need for both. It depends on the type of shooting and situation you are in.

The main reason i got the AB1600 was to kill sunlight if shooting in broad daylight.

You are talking about huge comparisons in wattage output compared to a standard speedlight.

An AB1600 is at ...
True Ws
640 True Ws
Effective Ws
1600 Effective Ws

And a 580ex2 is somewhere in the range of 65-70 (i don't know the exact number).
The main difference here is power output. How much light do you need?

Quote:

I think D.H. guessimated an SB800 at ~60ws, so an AB800 should be in the range of 5 of them (320ws).

That said, the AB800 has a guide number of 160 (f16 X 10ft @ ISO 100 per the specs) with the standard 7" reflector (with the 11-inch it's GN320), which would equate to 2-4 SB800s.

I don't know that any of this helps, though...

See this link > Flickr: Discussing How many flash units for the power of an AB800? in Strobist.com

krnlscott · 10-11-2009, 10:37 AM

So basically the Alien Bees are just stronger? Why would you need a Canon or Nikon flash then?