Alien Bees and Bowens - Compatibility (Speedring Adaptors etc.)

<p>Hi guys,<br>

My question is a pretty simple one.<br>

I own four Bowens strobes which I'm very happy with but would like to invest in some new bigger softboxes, beauty dishes, grids etc. and have noticed that Alien Bees provide what I'm looking for a lot cheaper than Bowens do..<br>

Are the two compatible? is there a speedring adaptor that allows you to use Alien Bees accessories with Bowens lights?<br>

Are there any other companies that offer cheaper accessories that do fit Bowens lights?<br>

Any help will be massively appreciated..<br>

Cheers,<br>

Alex</p>

<p>Alien Bees are compatible with the Balcor mount. I don't know of a source for Balcor-Bowens adapters.</p>

<p>Be careful with this. The collapsible boxes by Alien Bees have the speed ring permanently attached. So they can only ever fit onto Balcor mounts. The collapsible feature is very cool and fast to setup/break down. But it does lock you into a mount.</p>

<p>The regular softboxes will go onto different speed rings. So you should be able to find rings that will work. Of course you can't be assured a perfect fit. So make sure you know the return policy. I would try looking at bhphotovideo.com and search for speed rings. I've always found what I needed there.</p>

<p>I have both AB and Photoflex boxes. The AB quality is definately on par if not better.</p>

<p>There's a large Paul Buff user and fan base in here-- so I'm sure you'll get a lot of "comparable" and even "better than" responses. I wish I knew who wrote this in here, so I could attribute his quote, but I like it. He said, "I've never, ever gotten more than I've paid for, but I've often gotten less".</p>

<p>There's speedrings for many brands to be mounted on bowens.</p>

<p>I can't speak for brands like Larson or Chimera (which are supposed to be among the best SB's), but I can tell you that Paul C. Buff (Alien Bees & White Lightning) SB's are better quality than say Photoflex ... and for much less. However, the basic 4 rod Photoflex SB's are easier to assemble than the basic 4 rod Paul C. Buff SB's.<br>

You'll probably find the right speed ring adapter from the Bowens website. Have you checked there, thoroughly?</p>

<p>The Bowens and AlienBee/WhiteLightning monolights each use very different and incompatible adapters.<br>

However, if you are using a good ring like the Calumet/Bowens hinged Quickring, the inner rings arer interchangable with saves on total cost. The photo at the following link illustrates the two parts:</p>

<p>http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/RM6410K/</p>

<p>It is possible to purchase just the inner rings separately. That way it is possible to own a set of outer rings and two sets of inner rings.<br>

The Bowens mount is called an S-type mount, which you are already familiar with, having three equally placed tabs around the circle.</p>

 

<p>Thanks for your help everyone,<br /> Summer - sorry I'm not sure if I understand - are you saying that if I was to buy an inner ring that was compatible with Alien Bees or White Lightning softboxes and attached this to the Bowens outer ring then the softboxes would fit on my Bowens lights? That's great news if so...</p>

<p>Yes Alex, you can buy a set of RM6410K QuickRing kits that have generic outer rings that fit any softbox and in inner ring for the bowens monolight. Then buy a set of inner rings that fit the AlienBee monolights. to switch between monolights, just change the inner part of each QuickRing.</p>

<p>You really need to look at the photograph at the link above. The outer part is generic, and can be attached to any brand of softbox (I use photoflex), while the inner part attaches to a given brand of monolight. I Bowens monolights. Again study the photograph/diagram at the link above.</p>

<p>The only AlienBee product I have is an AlienBee beauty dish, which is very nice.</p>