AlienBees and Rebel XT

[05Xrunner]

I am all new to this lighting.
I was lookin at one of those Alienbees and I see it comes with a sync cord and power but what else do I need to use it with my XT or does it come with everything I need.
I am trying to get into some glamor type shooting. I dont wanna start out expensive and it seems everyone loves these Alienbees.
Any words of advice would be great.
Thanks

[SkipD]

You will need a hotshoe-to-PC adapter so that you can plug the sync cord from the AB light into your camera. 20D's have a PC connector, but neither of the Digital Rebels do.

Since the AB sync voltage is very low (below 6 volts DC), you do NOT need a SafeSync type of adapter. The plain-jane $10 types will do just fine, as long as you get one with decent connections. I would suggest looking at a local camera store for the adapter so you can try it out.

[05Xrunner]

great...thanks for the Info

[md_129]

Also, note that you can turn your flash down all the way and it will set the strobes off, (if you are desperate to experiment or know what you are doing). If you are going for the glamour shots make sure to pick up a medium or large soft box with your bees. If you can not afford at least one soft box you can pick up a piece of white nylon and stretch taunt between two pieces of PVC piping or equivalent. This makes a nice “make-shift” soft box until you can get the real deal.

I just picked up 2 x 1600 bees and they are great!

I personally use a generic IR transmitter; I bought off eBay, until I can afford a real one. It works great unless I am using a giant soft box, then I have to reposition the camera to reach the strobe.

Hope this helps a little


Also, Alienbees gives you 10% off if you are a college student!!!

[05Xrunner]

i was thinking of getting the alien bee stand and Umbrella or are the umbrellas no good

[bolantej]

if you sue the flash to fire the Alien Bees they will fire with the preflash, and in your shot you will only have the light from the on camera flash. Just use the cord, it's way easier and cheaper. I got a cheap $15 one when I bought my B800, and it works just fine. I made a PVC pipe and white sheet diffuser to help soften the light. the AB umbrellas will do fine if you don't abuse them. I have one and it serves its purpose. I bought the beginner bee package with the light, stand and umbrella. for a newbie, it's the perfect set, I think. also get a reflector if you can. it'll help lighten up shadows.

[Spiral Photo]

A good hot-shoe-to-pc adapter is the Nikon AS-15. Even though it says Nikon on it, it will work with any hot-shoe equipped camera.
http://www.adorama.com/images/Product/NKAS15.jpg

[05Xrunner]

I am confused now on what to get...Is that Nikon a good piece.
What all does it do. Fire the flash like how it would fire the on camera flash normally

[Spiral Photo]

It simply adds a PC (pulse current) plug onto your camera. Imagine that it doesn't even say Nikon on it. The 20D, for example, already has that plug on it, so you wouldn't need an hot-shoe adapter like that one. On the Digital Rebel series, you'd have to get one in order to plug the PC cord into it and to the lights. If you try slaving the units, the pre-flash of the built-in flash or a flash like the 420EX would cause the studio strobes to fire, therefore NOT firing when the the camera actually exposes the image.

[md_129]

if you sue the flash to fire the Alien Bees they will fire with the preflash, and in your shot you will only have the light from the on camera flash. Just use the cord, it's way easier and cheaper. I got a cheap $15 one when I bought my B800, and it works just fine. I made a PVC pipe and white sheet diffuser to help soften the light. the AB umbrellas will do fine if you don't abuse them. I have one and it serves its purpose. I bought the beginner bee package with the light, stand and umbrella. for a newbie, it's the perfect set, I think. also get a reflector if you can. it'll help lighten up shadows.

I am glad you said this because for some reason, my bees go off completely when using camera flash. I think I will send them back for a check-up

[md_129]

i was thinking of getting the alien bee stand and Umbrella or are the umbrellas no good

It all depends on your prefrences I found a link here that compares the two:

LINK (http://www.apug.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-4379.html)

If you can afford a good hot-shoe-to-pc adapter get it, but if you can't the cheapo IR transmitter works great. It also has PC connector for your lights in addition to its wireless capabilities.

Because I have my laptop hooked up to my camera while shooting and I have a ton of cords floating around my studio, at work, the IR is a lot easier to deal with.

I am in no way saying it is better it just has worked great for me so far.

[05Xrunner]

I was gonna get that hotshoe nikon adaptor that was posted earlier

[SkipD]

I am glad you said this because for some reason, my bees go off completely when using camera flash. I think I will send them back for a check-upWhat do you mean by the phrase "my bees go off completely"? If I could understand what you mean, I could probably help you understand the nature of the problem.

[davidfig]

I am glad you said this because for some reason, my bees go off completely when using camera flash. I think I will send them back for a check-up

You need to disable the pre-flash. You probably have red-eye on. Turn it off.

[likophoto]

The camera's flash is no good if you plan to trigger the ABs. It will give you inconstant results because of the preflash.. sometimes it will work other times it won't. Just buy the cheapo $10 adapter.. I got one from bh and it works perfectly. Or better yet.. go wireless. You can find these triggers on ebay for like under $30.

[Desert Dweller]

What do you mean by the phrase "my bees go off completely"? If I could understand what you mean, I could probably help you understand the nature of the problem.


He is probably referring to the modelling lamp.

When the Alienbees fire, depending on the switch settings the modeling lamp will momentarily go out and will slowly come back up as the flash capacitors charge back up. By slowly I mean the flash takes 1 second or less to go from completely discharge to full charge so during that brief moment it would appear that the alienbees have turned off.

There is a switch on the back of the head that you can change to make the modelling lamp stay on all the time. I don't have my head in front of me at the moment so I can't tell you off the top of my head what switch it is. It might be labelled track or cycle, pretty sure it is one of those two, change the settings and you will find it.

[SkipD]

He is probably referring to the modelling lamp.

When the Alienbees fire, depending on the switch settings the modeling lamp will momentarily go out and will slowly come back up as the flash capacitors charge back up. By slowly I mean the flash takes 1 second or less to go from completely discharge to full charge so during that brief moment it would appear that the alienbees have turned off.

There is a switch on the back of the head that you can change to make the modelling lamp stay on all the time. I don't have my head in front of me at the moment so I can't tell you off the top of my head what switch it is. It might be labelled track or cycle, pretty sure it is one of those two, change the settings and you will find it.I hadn't thought of someone thinking that might really be a problem. I fully understand what you're describing, as I use a set of 'Bees myself.

I'm hoping to hear from MD-129 to learn what his thoughts were about.

[md_129]

I hadn't thought of someone thinking that might really be a problem. I fully understand what you're describing, as I use a set of 'Bees myself.

I'm hoping to hear from MD-129 to learn what his thoughts were about.

What I mean is when I want to take a picture with the Alien bee strobes with out the use of an external or plug in device, I simply turn my "flash exposure com", down to negative 2. When I take a shot at my model, the strobes work the same as they did as if I was using a PC cord or other device.


bolantej suggests that the lights will not output the same amount of light, that they will only do a pre-flash and the light from my camera flash is the only thing that will be seen in the picture. But this is not how it is, the images turn out just the same as if I used an external trigger.

After six light readings using camera flash, I still get a perfect f/8 @ 125.

Does this make sense?

[SkipD]

Michael, you cannot properly trigger studio flash units with a Speedlite unless you do some special setup to the camera and the Speedlite.

You can NEVER properly trigger studio flash units with the built-in flash on your camera.

The camera and the Speedlite need to both be in fully manual exposure modes. This will prevent the Speedlite from emitting a pre-flash (which would trigger the studio lights at the wrong time). This setup also means that FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation) will not do anything for you, as you will be in fully manual exposure mode.

You will need to set your shutter speed to the max sync speed for the camera (or slower) and you will need to set the aperture to a setting appropriate for the amount of light emitted by all the flash units that go off. A handheld flash meter would be extremely useful for this purpose.

If you are thinking that the AlienBees units are not working right, I think you are probably just not understanding how they are designed to operate.

[md_129]

Michael, you cannot properly trigger studio flash units with a Speedlite unless you do some special setup to the camera and the Speedlite.

You can NEVER properly trigger studio flash units with the built-in flash on your camera.

The camera and the Speedlite need to both be in fully manual exposure modes. This will prevent the Speedlite from emitting a pre-flash (which would trigger the studio lights at the wrong time). This setup also means that FEC (Flash Exposure Compensation) will not do anything for you, as you will be in fully manual exposure mode.

You will need to set your shutter speed to the max sync speed for the camera (or slower) and you will need to set the aperture to a setting appropriate for the amount of light emitted by all the flash units that go off. A handheld flash meter would be extremely useful for this purpose.

If you are thinking that the AlienBees units are not working right, I think you are probably just not understanding how they are designed to operate.


Thank you for the advice, but I do understand how this all works.

[LonestarMan]

Your AB lights will fire before the shutter opens. The shutter is not open during the pre flash that is setting off your lights. Yes, It will meter correctly.