ALIEN BEES - worth considering?

[kentphoto]

I have been researching Alien Bees studio lighting. I have found very little

negatives, and many positive comments/reviews on these. Are these lights

worth considering? I would probably get 2-3 AB1600's . Any thoughts or

comments on the Bees?

[conraderb]

I use two 1600's and like them. put them on opposite sides of a room and it gives lovely sidelighting. I use them with quantum radio slaves (but have been thinking of switching to pocket wizards so that I can turn one or the other off without turning them both off). have been very reliable so far.

 

of course - they are 'dumb lights'. you set them and they fire. they don't do anything for you. if you can handle a non-TTL flash, alien beesseem to be pretty easy on the wallet if you can handle shooting with dumb lights.

[scott_mcloughlin]

I have 2 800's and they do the trick. I just run a PC cord from the camera to one of them and the other fires automagically. I use a Sekonic 358 for metering.

[bill c.]

Kent-- There are any number of threads in the archives regarding the performance and reputation of the Alien Bee line. A quick search will probably come up with more info than you can absorbe.

 

That being said, I have two of their 800's, and they work well as a lightweight location kit to supplement my bigger and more powerful strobes. Two 800's will light up to four people easily, but if you're ever going to do more than that, you might want to spring for the 1600's. The 800's work well as corner poppers at events.

 

The only caveat is that several members here have reported that the AB's will vary up to 0.3 stop from pop to pop, alternating every other pop. It's usually dealable except for the most critical of applications.

 

Happy shooting, -BC-

[kentphoto]

Thanks for the replies. I want a fairly basic set-up, and was also wondering

what other brand softboxes/reflectors can be fit to the Alien Bees. I was

reading that Balcar products are compatible, but arer there others?

[jtk]

AB's inability to use proper modeling lights means you can't see what's going on except in a dim environment. 150W is like having no modeling light at all if you're working in a relatively well lit environment. 250W is MUCH better. Feeble modeling light a huge drawback to AB Vs most others.

[rdkirk]

AlienBees are nice, cheap people-poppers. I ran some serious consistency tests, and only found a problem at the very lowest power settings...which isn't difficult to avoid.

 

They're great for locations...lightweight, fast recycling, and with the relatively cheap Vagabond, it's easy to keep a couple in the car or in a Domke bag. Anything larger or heavier gets to be oppresive on the road. They're reliable, yet they're cheap enough that if one takes a dunk off the bridge, you won't cry.

[ronald_olsen]

Having a small modelling light is no handicap at all. I'm currently travelling around China and took the modelling lights out completely. The Alien Bees pack smaller that way and the modelling lights are a big drain on the batteries. If you are using a digital camera they are especially superfluous, as you can just instantly review the shot and make adjustments.

[eric merrill]

I don't find the lack of a high-powered modeling light to be a problem, either. In fact, I'm thinking of switching to a 25 W bulb or something like that for when I'm on battery power. That way, it won't be much of a drain, but it provides a great indication of when the flash is ready to go again.

 

Of course, I'm not using mine for applications where I have to critically position a shadow line or with a grid.

 

 

Eric