Power Supply for flash units

[resqd1]

I am researching into studio lights, and have found a lot of tutorials on how to position them and how to accesorize them. The one thign that may be a stupid question is, i see people mentioning power packs, due you need a battery pack of some sort, or do these strobe units just run off 110 house current?

[Ronald S. Jr.]

They just have a 3-prong plug that can go into any grounded outlet. The "packs" they speak of are things like the Vagabond System from Alien Bees. Portable Power for outdoor portraits and such.

http://www.alienbees.com/vagabond.html?item=V300

[sboerup]

The only current systems that run off these units are the AB/WhiteLightning lights. Other monolights "might run" off the battery power, but they could potentially damage them in the long run.

The DynaLite Uni400J is a battery powered unit and AC powered unit as well, making it more flexible than most other units.

[FlashZebra]

Most likely these "packs" that are being referred to are not portable battery power like "Vagabond" etc. as cited in the above posts.

They are likely a very common style of studio flash gear that has an AC power supply (commonly called a pack, or a power pack) that can accommodate several flash heads that are plugged into these AC power packs. These individual flash heads are light and uncomplicated due to their lack of internal power supply components.

Numerous high quality manufactures of studio flash gear make power pack/flash head gear like this. These include Speedotron, Dynalite, Profoto, Norman, and many others.

The so called "monolights" are not constructed this way. Monolights have a power supply and flash head all contained in one component. The currently very popular Alien Bee gear are monolights.

Many flash gear manufactures make both types of gear, as each type offers a distinctively different mix of upsides and downsides.

I have used both power pack/head studio gear and monolight type of studio flash gear and either of it is fine. I am mostly ambivalent about the distinct differences in these two common forms of flash gear.

Enjoy! Lon

[resqd1]

Thanks, this cleared it up well. So if I am shooting where there is electricity, I do not need this vagabond, (if I had AB's) if i am on the beach though and want flash I need a vagabond.