In need of Alienbee advice...

[jevidon]

My full time job is done and I have had quite a number of requests for my services as a photographer already. This has prompted my need to acquire a portable and efficient two-light setup for some studio-quality lighting. Money is somewhat of a factor (budget maximum for this has to be $600, though lower would be preferable...) Choices listed above, please select the choice you would advise.

[awad]

definitely get the alienbees.

[ofdphoto]

This really depends on what you mean by "studio-quality".

If you want to power softboxes outdoors and/or have a flash bright enough to overpower the sun, you'll need a set of AB's.

But if you want a substantially more portable setup, you can trigger your 580EX's off-camera (using PocketWizards or cheap eBay triggers) and do most of the same stuff.

I voted for another 580EX because I think portability trumps power. But doing this sort of thing with PocketWizards or similar doesn't need an E-TTL flash. I would actually buy a new Vivitar 285HV and use the spare money on a couple of PocketWizards, light stands, umbrellas, hotshoe umbrella adapters, etc. (Check out strobist.blogspot.com for more info.)

I hope that helps.

[milleker]

I love studio lighting - have a bunch of White Lightning gear. I *HATE* lugging it around everywhere. If you don't mind lugging things around - bee it up.

But, I will admit that once I get this strobist train of thought into my head, I'm never taking my studio lights anywhere.. Strobist (if you don't know) is the whole off-camera flash on lightstands with hotshoes and umbrella mounts.

I will also say, the IR triggering system for the 580 sucks. Yeah, it can be done when everything is pointing back to the main tethered 580, but no thanks. I started with a cheap set of eBay triggers and have since upgraded to Pocket Wizards. Am I using the 580 in my Strobist outfit? No. Canon in their infinite wisdom didn't put a PC socket on the 580 (Though the MKII has it). So, I buzz away with my strobist setup on a bunch of cheap $50 Vivitar 283 flash units.

Another thing to ponder, why would you need another 580 if you want to go the IR route? The 580 you already have and it will send signals to the other flash units, you could easily get a less costly Canon flash - just make sure it works in slave mode. You could probably get two 420's for the price of a 580 - not sure of prices on them nowadays.

[awad]

after doing a few location shoots with strobes, you get used to lugging everything around. i dont mind it at all now actually. just remember you'll need to factor in the portable power. so for 600, you'll probably only get one strobe and a battery.

[Wilt]

If you plan on doing a lot of formal portraiture and have time to set lights, even if on location and not in your normal studio, only studio flash modelling lights will give the opportunity of evaluating the placement of lights visually without firing a shot! Strobe-based lighting is when you need precision in the placement and ratio of the lights on the subject!

Speedlight-based lighting is quicker to set up and take down. It requires that you know in your mind's eye how the placement of lights in a certain way can affect the result. But is it only a GUESS until you fire some shots and chimp them! Speedlight-based lighting is 'portable quick lighting'. But the results you get may not be 'optimal', compared to studio lighting.

[poloman]

If you go the strobist route, you still need stands. An AB800 doesn't weigh very much and has a nice padded case with a good strap. The only bad part is the power supply but you get a lot of extra power for lugging that around.

[aaronevan1]

It seems that buying cheap vivitars and going strobist is the best solution for locational work and some photographers have used these little guys to do whole shoots. That's the situation I face because I do work, but have no studio, so portability is important. Later, at the end of summer I will do in studio work, so I plan on getting a set of powerful not so portable strobes. One light can go a long way along with a reflector...

[ofdphoto]

Modelling lights are nice, but mr strobist is skeptical about how necessary they are, and I'm inclined to agree with him. Especially as I found my AlienBee modelling light pretty useless. That's what digital is for

Don't get me wrong: if you need oodles of power, fast recycling, and the abillity to pump a flash hard for a few hours straight, you need studio strobes. But if you don't need any of those things, there's a LOT you can do with little flashes and a few accessories.

[Wilt]

Originally Posted by linarms

Modelling lights are nice, but mr strobist is skeptical about how necessary they are, and I'm inclined to agree with him. Especially as I found my AlienBee modelling light pretty useless. .

Of course, a different way of looking at is that professionals are more likely to acquire and use 'real' studio units (aimed at professionals, not merely at enthusiasts) that have 250w modelling lights rather than the 100w-150w (if you replace the standard bulb)

[jevidon]

thanks for all of the great advice. this will all take a couple of days to digest.

[SoaringUSAEagle]

Bees will definitely benefit you the most

+1 to many above lol.

[ofdphoto]

FYI:

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/06...ini-shoot.html

[cyclone]

Unless you already have the stands, umbrellas, etc. I don't think you can get a Alien Bees 2 light set-up for $600 (assuming you buy B800s...but probably true even for B400s). You say you want something portable. I would go the Strobist route and get two Vivitar 285s for $90 each.

Yes monolights are great (I love my 2 B800s), but for your budget and the fact that you want portability, I would go Strobist. Make sure you use some of your $600 budget on a light meter.

Once you build up some profit and a customer base, you can step back and re-evaluate your needs. But for now I would start simple.