Ns's users of Alien Bees

lukewalnuts

lukewalnuts

Active member
Hi, I am getting a T2i soon (I know just like every other thread created lately) and I am going to shoot a lot of nighttime stuff. Anyways I was wondering what you guys thought of the alien bee's. How they perform? Worth the money? Good for an intermediate photographer? And any other thoughts

Thanks guys!
 
Alien bees are great! definitely pick some up if you can, and with some cybersyncs you cant go wrong
 
idk anything about photography but ive got a couple friends who are very talented photographers and love alien bees
 
I have a broken B800 :( But i'd definitely suggest a b800 over the 400 or 1600. the 1600 doesn't have a fast enough flash duration and the 400 is just too weak. As for stands, anything works really. Just go on b&h and pick out something decently sized (I have 6foot stands and I feel limited by them, so 9 foot would be solid), decide if you want air cushioning on them or not, and make sure they have a wide footprint. They should run 20-30 bucks a pop. MAKE SURE YOU INVEST IN SANDBAGS, I've seen strobes topple many times and its not pretty. The AB's are tough, but you want to be on the safe side.
 
For those coming in at halftime, what are Alien Bees?

I'm assuming they weren't an awesome breed of bees that are not from our terrestrial realm, as I initially thought.
 
Anything lit up at night, anything that looks like studio portraits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11084378@N05/

Also some of the daytime shots, like this one:

5385311953_1b3fd32d8d_b.jpg


I have 2 1600s. there's no point in only getting one for shooting at night. The flash duration sucks, but they are powerful, which is nice. I feel like I've grown out of my lighting gear, but they are great lights, especially for the price. Really good if you're just getting into strobe photography.

Also, if you get the new PocketWizards, you can probably sync up to at least 1/800. I've achieved full fram syncs at 1/1250 sec with a nikon. They aren't cheap, but once you have the need for it, it's easier than stepping up to faster lights with that much power.

I use the Paul C Buff triggers right now, the CyberSyncs. They work great. I rarely have problems with them at all.

 
You should defiantly head over to photography on the net, in the (I think) studio lighting forum and there are great alienbee threads all over the place.
 
First, read up on an explaination of t1 vs. t5 times:

http://www.paulcbuff.com/pcb2009/flashduration.html

For most strobes, the t5 time (the one that "matters") shortens as your power increases. because the 1600 is more powerful, it has longer flash durations all around. To sync a flash with your camera so that the shot is actually lit up by the flash, you have to shoot at slower shutter speeds. Therefore, the flash duration becomes your effective shutter speed, and so a short t5 time is needed to freeze action.

However, if you shoot full power it's still 1/800 of a second, which is enough to freeze most action, especially if you track your subject with your camera. And, like I said, with the new PW you can sync a lot faster anyways, so you won't outgrow your lights for a long time.

So yea, they are slow. That likely won't be a limit to what you can do with them for a long time to come, so long as you understand the limitations and how to work around them.

But, if you aren't trying to light people up during the day, you don't need that much power, and it might make more sense for you to get the B800 as it will be easier to use.
 
thanks for the info man! do u feel like u get enough power with those or do u think i should just step it up and buy the B800?
 
haha /sarcasm.
For the price i absolutely feel like i get enough. I did have some trouble with jumps but i didn't put a whole lot of time into trying. In other instances i absolutely feel like i get enough power.
 
no it wasn't sarcasm just like a lot of feedback u get i think i might go one B400 and one B800 i feel like that will work for me
 
A photographer who I do a good bit of assisting for shoots with a 400, 800 and some speedlights and gets some amazing shots. While he often mentions that they're not the best lights out there and he needs to upgrade; they continue to get the job done. I also assist for another guy a bit who uses 10k+ worth of profoto gear and you certainly get what you pay for as they're amazing lights and you never have to worry about them malfunctioning. Alien Bees are still great lights though, especially for the price and are the perfect investment for someone looking to get into strobes. At some point you'll outgrow them like Trevor mentioned, but they'll pay for themselves many times over before then. I'd say the 400, 800 combo is a good idea for sure.
 
I hear they're awesome, I love my Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed AS kit though.

Slays in anything, any condition, any time.
 
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