Alien Bees

As I posted before Im a photographer that just graduated from photography

School. Im looking to get studio lights but to be honest i hear so much about

Alien bees. What sets these appart from other lights. I have a grand to

spend. and want to get quality. is Alien Bees the way to go or is their a

better route? I was interested in photoflex and photogentic are these crap?

Like i said i hear so much about these and these have sparked my interest

I've had a dozen White Lightning (same make as Bees)mono flashes for many years and I've been happy with performance and value. We use and abuse them constantly. I got rid of the power pack systems and much prefer monolights. I think the WL's are built better, but you're best to go through both web sites - both made by Paul Buff.

 

Doug

White lightning's are the "pro" version of the Alien Bees. I've heard nothing but good things about both sets of lights.

I dropped a White Lightning after about 4 years. Nothing worked. Fried! It fell over from a 10 foot stand. I sent it out on Monday overnight, got it back on Friday overnight delivery, the charge was $12 for the flash tube. They replaced a lot of stuff, but the tube wasn't covered! I called them saying I dropped it! They said it was under warranty.Again I said I dropped it! No charge! They have a 5 year warranty. AB's are 2 years. I will never buy anything but White Lightnings and I've owned several others throughout the years.

 

The worst was Photogenic. They worked great, but when they die it could be a few months before you get them back or just a few days. They sometimes cannot seem to get replacement parts. The techs told me that some of the parts are made in Germany.

I think you can get a pair of 500watt Hensel mono lights sold as a kit from B&H for around $1200. My buddy uses them and swears by them. I use the bee's.

also, be sure to consider Profoto as they make a great line of products. I have personally used the battery powered 7b unit.

I love my White Lightning. For the price, quality and customer service you can't beat them.

For the price, the AB's are great. I wish to gosh that they were available when I was just out of photo school, I'd have been a lot further along a lot faster. About the only thing I can say negative about them is that when they are dialed down to the lower power settings, there can be a 0.3 stop variance between one pop and the next one. About half of that is normal even in the higher-end strobes. Also, they are not supposed to be as tough as their White Lightning kindred in terms of the number of shots per hour you're supposed to subject them to (600), but I have heard from others on this forum who have greatly exceeded that on a regular basis for years and have had no problems. -BC-

Alien Bees all the way!

 

Check out my portraits (and Justin's)

 

 

Visit the Alien Bees website and then go to the lighting discussion forum.

 

Alien Bees also has the best customer service in the world!

 

Yinka

I have all alien bees, with alien bees accessories. Worth the price. They are great!