purchase dilemma, to buy or not to buy...???

[dangillan]

so I'm about to upgrade to some better lighting, I shoot mostly band promos and am trying to get into fashion as well, I have a few models lines up to work on portfolios (free shoots) and a few paid gigs lined up for band work and a clothing line. so i've pretty much decided on getting an ABR800 with 30" moon unit and vagabond II for shooting band and model shots on location.

my question is this... at the moment I only have a budget to also purchase one ab800 with 2 13' air cushioned stand (2 for moving the ring flash off camera), 47" octabox, and 48" shoot through umbrella (if ring is off camera) and pocketwizards and a case for the stands.

Is this a decent combo or should I ONLY purchase the vegabond and ring flash/moon unit for now and wait to buy a decent 2 or 3 light studio kit later? If i hold off on the ab800 i currently have an ST-E2 and 2 speedlights to add to the ringflash (with ST-E2 on a bracket with off shoe cord).

any input before I pull the trigger? all advice is appreciated. thanks.

[dangillan]

also, if i put my 430EX or 580EXII in manual slave mode would they fire from the flash of the ABR800 rather than using the ST-E2?

[drPheta]

Canon flashes only fire as slaves from:
1. Other Canon wireless masters (580EX or ST-E2) via IR
2. Some sort of Radio Frequency trigger (PW, Skyports, Cactus Triggers, etc.)

[dangillan]

thought so. that answers that.

any input on the new rig idea?

[dangillan]

bumpity bump.

just really looking for info if anyone has used this combo before, ABR800 + AB800 with some kind of modifier. is it worth holding off on the ab800 and just using my st-e2 with 2 flashes and the ring flash while holding off for a multi strobe set up, or will this combo work well in the meantime?

[sleibrand]

The combo works fine either with the ringlight bare or with the moon unit. I've not used it with the umbrella. You might also consider the 56' moon unit. You could use that off-camera rather than the AB with 47" Ocatbox. That will free up your AB800 to light the background, fill light or rim light.

You'll should be able to use your ST-E2 and use the optical slaves to fire the AB's.