Why are Alien Bees the Most Popular Strobe?

[TomBrooklyn]

Why are Alien Bees seem the most popular strobes?

Is it because they have the best marketing and advertising, the best website and the dayglo colored bodies look cool, or something(s) else? If something(s) else--what is it?

[jcpoulin]

Basically 2 reasons:
1)They offer very good ( not the best) quality lighting for a more reasonable price.
2) The companies customer support is rated very good as well.

I love my lighting and never had a problem. One of the weaknesses may be some of the accessories ( i.e. barn doors and such) which are in need of some re-design. They have always shipped fast and are good to deal with.

[SkipD]

I agree with the last post. Their equipment is very well built for the money. The controls are more versatile than a lot of the low-priced competitiors. They recycle faster than a lot of their low-priced competitors. They weigh less than most which can be a huge advantage if you are using booms, etc. There are tons of accessories that you can use with them.

The Paul Buff organization has a Customer Service staff and attitude that is second to none.

[TMR Design]

I own Alien Bees strobes and like them very much. They are very popular for all the reasons mentioned in the previous posts. Additionally, I've done some testing for consistency of output and tracking accuracy of the modeling light and was extremely pleased with the test results. Not only are the strobes quite nice but you can't beat the customer service, warranty and exchange/replacement policies.

Another thing I do like about Alien Bees as a company is that they listen to the end users....US. You see more and more pro's using their equipment and that simply would not be the case if the products didn't deliver.

[FlashZebra]

Well the Alien Bee units are nice units and popular. But price is the most fundamental reason they are popular.

But, I think a part of the reason they are so popular (the price) is bit more complicated.

DSLR cameras are tremendously popular, with so many new owners buying such camera gear in a very short time frame.

This has also created a huge and untypical (historically speaking) demand for studio flash gear. A good example is my Camera Club. I have been a member for about 12 years (about 60 members). When I joined only a couple of members had there own studio type flash gear. Now at least 1/3 (20 members) of the club have their own flash gear. This is a 10 fold increase in a relatively short time, and likely mirrors the photographic population somewhat.

In the past the market for studio flash gear was constant. But, the units that each flash manufacturer moved was relatively low, likely in the few thousand per year.

With low production numbers, the units were mostly hand made with a lot of metal fabrication. This sort of assembly makes a lot of economic sense with small production numbers.

With high production numbers, injection molded parts start to look a lot more attractive. The huge up front costs of complicated and large injection molds are quickly recovered with high production numbers and the manufacturer can then make a very complicated part for a very, very, low cost.

A similar thing would happen regarding the circuit boards. Board assembly can be automated and the expensive up front costs of this automation can be quickly recovered if the production numbers are high.

The owners of Alien Bee either realized that there would be a huge demand for lighting gear and decided to eat the huge up front cost required to produce the Alien Bee flash units, or they took a gamble. Likely it was a bit of both.

This is a very important aspect of the popularity of the Alien Bee gear. The design is such that the economies of scale can be realized, so a nice flash unit can be delivered for a very nice price to the consumer, and the maker can still enjoy a nice profit.

With low incremental production costs (over the historic design of flash gear), possible by the ability to recoup tremendous up front costs, low price points are available that were absurd before.

A nice studio flash unit for less than $300.00 was an absurd concept not that long ago. $500.00 to $1,000.00 was much more realistic.

I find it somewhat amusing when humans complain about the high cost of studio gear (like Alien Bee gear). This reveals these particular humans have no perspective on the current price of good quality studio gear compared to just a short time ago. Studio flash gear is a grand bargain now.

Enjoy! Lon

[nadtz]

By most popular, do you mean on these forums or in the states? you dont hear/see AB's nearly so much overseas.

[jcpoulin]

I do not believe they ship overseas, someone can correct me if I am wrong. They do ship to Canada as I have seen members posts from there.

[magicmikey]

I think Lon put it very well. It's always been Paul C.Buff's plan to offer affordable but high quality studio lights. I owned his original White Lightning 5000 units more than 20 years ago. Although they weren't nearly as good as what he puts out now, they were an amazing offering. There was no such thing as inexpensive monolights until he put those out. (They weren't the most consistent lights in the world but, if I remember correctly, they cost less than $200 then.)

He then went to the Ultra series. More expensive but a much more professional unit. Those units still hold their value on eBay.

When you combine a quality light with a great price and then you add customer service that people rave about, you've got a real winner on your hands.

From what I read on Paul C. Buff's forum, AlienBees dominate the sales of studio strobes in the U.S. He said that 50% of all studio lights sold here are AlienBees. Remarkably, he also said that 15% of all studio lights sold in the U.S. are White Lightning units. That means he has 65% of the U.S. market with his two lines.

I know I'm looking forward to receiving the White Lightning strobes I bought on eBay!

Michael

[hannaxt]

Originally Posted by TomBrooklyn

Why are Alien Bees seem the most popular strobes?

Is it because they have the best marketing and advertising, the best website and the dayglo colored bodies look cool, or something(s) else? If something(s) else--what is it?

If it weren't for AB's I probably would not jave lighting equipment. For what they offer at the price they offer it can't be beat.

Did i mention they are robust ? I have seen images captured with bees and look every bit as good as something costing hundreds more. The comapny as a whole are fantastic and they do care and have a way of communicating with their users - their own forums which with great advisors/users.

I have intentions of spending more with them.

[scottykm]

bit of a downer they don't do an export model though

[magicmikey]

Actually, it does appear that they sell internationally. I found this on their website: http://www.alienbees.com/intsales.html

In order to do an international purchase, you have to call them. It can't be done online.

Michael

[zacker]

cool name and cool colors... lol Actually i think its half advertising, and half value... plus its an easy name to spell... A L I E N B E E S... C A L M U E T ? C A L U M E N T? C A L... ahhh for get it, get the AB'S.

[hard12find]

great product, great price, great service.
Jim

[MikeMcL]

The value is off the charts compared to many other lights at a higher price. They aren't intimidating to newbies also as far as use.

The huge amount of people that use them is good advertising for other new people to buy them - like on this forum. I use them because I heard so many good things about them... just like many people on this and other sites.

I also love the small size - very portable My whole kit fits in a small case, and weighs less than 40 pounds. My friend's calumets take up about 3X the space.

[jaisai01]

i have to go with great product, fast shipping, wonderful customer service, and great value.