Alien Bees -vs- Flashpoint

<p>I am looking to update my budget studio lights with better budget lighting. I have researched Alien Bees and Adorama Flashpoint. Both have advantages and disadvantages but advertising makes all products appear A-1. I am looking for the opinion of photographers. Thats where you all fit in to the equation. Thanks in advance for your opinions!</p>

<p>I have no experience with the Flashpoint strobes, but I use my Alien Bee strobes (2-B400 2-B800) all the time for my studio and location work.</p>

<p>They have worked perfectly every time, and taken what little abuse I hand out. I like the "stepless" brightness control of monolights, rather than the traditional apportioning system of pack and head systems.</p>

<p>My only complaint is a common one wrt ABs, the color temp shifts as the brightness changes. But I'd guess that the Flashpoint strobes will have a similar issue. As long as you shoot a gray card or color balance target every time you change setup it won't be an issue.</p>

<p>Overall, the ABs offer good value, backed by superb customer service.</p>

<p><Chas><br /></p>

<p>A light isn't just a light, it's part of a system.</p>

<p>There are two different companies making excellent wireless remote systems that let you control the power levels of Paul Buff "Alien Bees", "White Lightning", "Zeus", and "Einstein" products.</p>

<ul>

<li> RadioPoppers JrX is small, cheap, reliable, and lets you control the power of three banks of lights from the three knobs on the transmitter. About $70 each for transmitters and receivers.</li>

<li>Paul Buff's own CyberSync receivers are about the same price, the CyberCommander transmitter is a bit pricier, about $200, but it has a built in flash meter, LCD display, controls the power on 16 CyberSync receivers and does wild things like equalizing the modeling lights on all the monolights. </li>

</ul>

<p>It's easy to get a large variety of light modifiers for Alien Bees. The maker Paull C. Buff sells them, and because they're so popular, you can get third party gear from Westcott, Chimera, etc. Anything you want, soft boxes, parabolic umbrellas, shoots, projector spots, beauty dishes, you name it.</p>

<p>There are a lot of very satisfied users of AB products out here, which says much about the lights. They have served me well, and get my unqualified recommendation. But if you are not in a hurry, you might want to wait a bit for the new Paul Buff Einsteins to be released, as they promise to be an even better budget light.</p>

<p>I would go with the Bees. I have a pair of B1600 and they are very well made for the price. They will haver better resale and there are more light modifiers for them.<br>

Kent in SD</p>

<p>Another vote for the Bee's...</p>

<p>I have White Lightnings (same company that makes the Bees) and I love them. More options for modifiers with Bees than the Flashpoint brand.</p>

<p>I have Alien Bee's. They have a lot of modifiers for them, which can all be purchased for a resonable price from the site. I haven't had a problem with the company or my strobes. My entire christmass list revolves around modifiers :)</p>

<p>Bees.. very happy with my B800.. plenty of power for my needs. Flashpoint who? ;)</p>

<p>This was a slam dunk decision wasn't it. If it were not for Alien Bees and White Lightnings I probably wouldn't even BEE in business. Like every one else here another hands down vote for Alien Bees.<br>

I would have still chose Alien Bees even if compared to higher end strobes.</p>

<p>Hi there,<br>

I am just getting started with studio photography and am about to purchase my first set of lighting equipment. I was going to go with Dynalite since that was the brand of lights I used during one of my photography workshops and they offered special discounts to students of the workshop. I can purchase a UNI400JRG for about $500. Needless to say, Dynalite is in a completely different price category than AB, which I recently discovered while searching through Photo.net threads for cheaper inverter options than the Dynalite XP1100 ($1,300). I guess my question is, the AB spec looks like it does everything the much more expensive monolights to, are lighter, and even recycle faster. So why is it tha I see many photogs spend a lot more money on brands like Dynalite? If budget is not an issue, would you all still prefer AB over the more expensive brands? Thanks for your advice!!</p>

<p>Flashpoint 620m's are very good quality monolights. They are less expensive than the Ab's. The AB800 are $279. The Flashpoint 620m's are $189. The 620m's now dial down to 1/32. The battery power pack for the Flashpoint costs $125 and are good for 300-400 shots and only weigh 1 pound. The Vegabond is $299 and weighs in at almost 20 pounds. The light modifiers are also less expensive but the AB modifiers do set up easier. Adorama has really done there homework and are pretty much on par if not better than any monolight in it's class.</p>

<p>We have an in-house Flashpoint expert if you have specific queries relating to the Adorama Flashpoint brand.<br>

Drop me an email if you'd like me to put you in touch:</p>

<p><strong>Helen Oster<br />Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador</strong></p>

<p >http://helenoster.blogspot.com<br>

<a href="mailto:helen.oster@adoramacamera.com">helen.oster@adoramacamera.com</a></p>

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