The Digi Bee - Studio noob question

[jarod]

I'm thinking of getting the Digi Bee package. I'm a total noob to studio equipment and such. If I bought this Digi Bee package, is it going to have _everything_ I need to just start using it? In their photo I don't see any cords of any kind. Do I need to buy a power cord for the flash units? How do I connect my camera to these lights? I know there's wireless transmitters and receivers, but I don't really need wireless. Do I have to buy some special cord or any other devices? I only have a 20D (and lenses).

[Spatch]

I didn't buy the Digi Bee package but I have a couple of B800's and they are shipped with a sysc cord (connects to the sync port on yr camera). As for the power cable - it depends on where you are. In the US they are shipped with the power cable but outside they are not as the plugs are often different. However, when I ordered mine I asked for them to send the cables anyway an I replaced the plug with one suitable for the UK.

Cheers,

[SkipD]

Jarod, each of the the AB flash units come with US power cords and 15-foot PC cables to connect the flash to the camera. You can only wire one unit to the camera, though, with the standard PC cable. The standard (no options purchased) way to trigger more than one flash unit is to use the built-in optical slaves for the additional units. Note that anybody's flash going off in the area will often trigger your additional flash units that are depending on the optical slaves.

I purchased their 4-channed wired remote. This allows me to have wired triggering for up to four units in addition to having a single place where I can remotely set the levels for the attached flash units. This is very handy if you have the flash units higher than you can reach and want to adjust them. I do have to be careful of the possible rat's nest of wires. A little gaffing (duct) tape helps to resolve the problem, though.

Many folks like to keep the wiring to a minimum and use radio links to all the flash units. This is also great for situations where you don't want other folks' camera flashes triggering your setup.

[jarod]

Jarod, each of the the AB flash units come with US power cords and 15-foot PC cables to connect the flash to thwe camera. You can only wire one unit to the camera, though, with the standard PC cable. The standard (no options purchased) way to trigger more than one flash unit is to use the built-in optical slaves for the additional units. Note that anybody's flash going off in the area will often trigger your additional flash units that are depending on the optical slaves.

I purchased their 4-channed wired remote. This allows me to have wired triggering for up to four units in addition to having a single place where I can remotely set the levels for the attached flash units. This is very handy if you have the flash units higher than you can reach and want to adjust them. I do have to be careful of the possible rat's nest of wires. A little gaffing (duct) tape helps to resolve the problem, though.

Many folks like to keep the wiring to a minimum and use radio links to all the flash units. This is also great for situations where you don't want other folks' camera flashes triggering your setup.

So then these flash units in this package can be set to be a slave or master? Do you know how long is the sync cord? If it's shorter than 15 feet I'll probably eventually get wireless.

[SkipD]

So then these flash units in this package can be set to be a slave or master? Do you know how long is the sync cord? If it's shorter than 15 feet I'll probably eventually get wireless.AlienBees units each come with a 15-foot sync cord and a 15-foot power cord. Any lighting scheme I can envision using will have at least one light well within 15 feet of the camera. All the rest of the lights can trigger off the first flash.

With the AlienBees units, if you don't have a plug in the sync cord hole, the unit will respond as an optical slave.

[davepgh1]

If you buy the 4-channell wired remote it uses telephone cable (US) to connect to the flash, I think the ones that come with it are 25 feet, but you can run up to 100. Connected this way you only have to keep the controller within 15 feet of the camera. You can also disconnect the camera and fire the flashes from the remote, this allows for meter readings beyond the 15 foot sync cord. Finally you could buy longer PC cords.

The down side is all the wires. I have found out that you have to have all you lights on the same curcuit for the controller to work properly, so I run an extension cord to the same location as the remote and run the power and telephone wires from there, taped together. You always have to run power to the flashes, by doing this it doesn't seem like additional wires.