Opinions on Alien Bees

Recently I have been in the process of turning my brothers old room into a little studio and I was thinking of buying 2 B800's and starting from there(lighting wise anyway). Are there any downfalls with the B800's or are they a good place to start for studio lighting?
Any help is appreciated.

There are plenty of threads on Alien Bee on this forum.

To summarize:
Pro:
- excellent value/price ratio
- AB800 good power for medium to large size studio and outdoor work
- excellent customer service
- discount for student
- multiple cheap third party compatible softboxes available
- keep their value on the used market (I even seen some sold for more than the retail price...)

Con:
- color shift at lower power setting
- not the most robust construction
- PCB light stands not the best on the market. Better look for other brand.

remarks:
For a little bit more money, the Einstein is a better product.
If you invest in remotes, the CyberCommander (CC) is a great product that is also a light meter (saving some money on this needed tool).
If you buy the CyberCommander, buy only CSR+ and CSRB+ receiver models, as the non + will restrict some of the features available with the CC. Also it is recommended to buy a CST in addition of the CC for more versatility.

Taking some popcorn and waiting for the flame war between pro and opponent of PCB

I've looked into ABs myself in the past, and from what I've read of other's woes, I would caveat "excellent customer service" with "if you're in the United States".

I love ABs and Einstein lights. I will sing praises for them all day long.
But, from what I have read, being you are NOT in the US, you may want to go another route.
My understanding is that you will pay a sizable premium to have the light shipped there.
Also, if/when you have to send your ABs in for repair the shipping would be a LOT!

I don't know the comparability, cost wise to ship and what not, but Elinchrom D-Lites may be an alternative for being in another country. Someone else may be able to answer better on this.

Don't get me wrong, I have Einsteins and an AB and they work absolutely perfect. But I am also in the US.

EDIT: The PCB stands are over priced, although i've heard they are built well. But you can get the same build quality for much less. And the PCB Beauty Dish is poorly constructed. You can fold it up easily, which is not good.

hmm there is a $250 difference in price between the australian and US paul buff sites for the einsteins

I use several AB's and really like them, the color can be a bit variable at low output but i am not very often shooting at low output.

I have had a bit of experience with their customer service and I am in Canada and although the border causes some issues, the CS has been nothing short of fantastic.

Kechar wrote in post #14710631
I love ABs and Einstein lights. I will sing praises for them all day long.
But, from what I have read, being you are NOT in the US, you may want to go another route.
My understanding is that you will pay a sizable premium to have the light shipped there.
Also, if/when you have to send your ABs in for repair the shipping would be a LOT!

I don't know the comparability, cost wise to ship and what not, but Elinchrom D-Lites may be an alternative for being in another country. Someone else may be able to answer better on this.

Don't get me wrong, I have Einsteins and an AB and they work absolutely perfect. But I am also in the US.

EDIT: The PCB stands are over priced, although i've heard they are built well. But you can get the same build quality for much less. And the PCB Beauty Dish is poorly constructed. You can fold it up easily, which is not good.

Fold a beauty dish? Do you mean Octabox?
Because the PCB Octabox is great.

btdvox wrote in post #14713017
Fold a beauty dish? Do you mean Octabox?
Because the PCB Octabox is great.

Ever drop an umbrella from a lightstand and had it taco?
He means fold

I'd echo look at alternatives in Australia...check out local stores and see what they have. The AB is too expensive in Australia for the functionality...Einste​ins at least have unique functionality (IGBT and CC) for the premium...

I have posted several times about Alien Bees. I have used them extensively over the last five years. I have experriance with them as a photo assistant, a digital tech and as a photographer. If you are just starting out I have no problem giving my full recommendation. If you were a professional I would give you a few caveats.

For the money Alien Bees are fantastic. Also I love the PLM modifiers especially for the cost.

Since you live outside the US you may want to talk to some other people in your area about Alien Bee service. I live in Nashville, Tn where they are based and can say my customer service experience has been excellent.

I have looked at buying them from the Australian website, but they are almost double the US price. I do however have a US shipping address so I can get them shipped to the US address and then shipped to Australia for a much cheaper price. As for sending the AB's back, I would probably look for somewhere local that can do the same job if possible.

Bloody Australia, everything is so much more expensive!

International compliance and distribution is a terrific headache for any manufacturer. Buff says

"Paul C. Buff, Inc.™ accepts orders from and ships orders to: •customers living in and having items shipped to their residence or business in the United States and U.S. territories (including Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam)

•U.S. military personnel living/working internationally
•customers living in and having items shipped to their residence or business in Canada
•existing customers living in international locations (customers who have ordered from us before, either formerly or currently living in the U.S. or an international location)

"As a USA manufacturer that deals only direct-to-customer, our company is simply not equipped to navigate through the maze of International regulations, taxes, duties, documentation, monetary exchange, and payment obstacles associated with global direct sales. Our primary concern is to continue to provide the highest level of customer service in the industry, and in order to facilitate this goal, we had to stop accepting orders from new international customers in 2009. We do, however, genuinely wish to make our products available to the world, so we established a partnership with 1st Line Digital Pty Ltd/ First Line Europe Ltd to serve as an authorized dealer, operating as Paul C. Buff Europe and Paul C. Buff Australia.
Why are Paul C. Buff™ products so inexpensive in the USA, but so much higher in other countries? Why does Paul C. Buff, Inc.™ not sell directly to international customers? See our international ordering FAQ here..." http://www.paulcbuff.c​om/faq.php#internation​al


"we have recently set up a primary global agent, Colin Smith (1st Line Digital Pty Ltd/ First Line Europe Ltd), who maintains limited stock and service repair facilities in Australia and Europe. But since our pricing does not allow for the traditional 40% dealer/distributor discounts, we sell to 1st Line Digital Pty Ltd at only a 0% to 10% discount. He must add the cost of consolidated air freight shipment, import duties and taxes, and the cost of maintaining local service facilities, advertising and, of course, a gross markup of about 30% in order to be able to profit from the venture. Added together, this results in a typical export user price of about 150% to 200% of USA prices. Thus, our export customer prices are similar, but typically less than the cost of similar quality products from competitors. This relationship is still a work in progress and has yet to reach the volume needed to significantly reduce the end user costs that may eventually be realized by ocean container shipment and other economy of scale benefits we enjoy in the USA."

Now you understand why it is more expensive.

btdvox wrote in post #14713017
Fold a beauty dish? Do you mean Octabox?
Because the PCB Octabox is great.

Fold as in it's build quality is really bad and it will fold in half if you drop it on edge.
I even had to reshape mine because it got warped during shipping.

btdvox wrote in post #14713017
Fold a beauty dish? Do you mean Octabox?
Because the PCB Octabox is great.

no, he means fold, this is stronger than a PCB beauty dish

IMAGE LINK: http://imgur.com/D6qvk

Kechar wrote in post #14723328
Fold as in it's build quality is really bad and it will fold in half if you drop it on edge.
I even had to reshape mine because it got warped during shipping.

FJ LOVE wrote in post #14724297
no, he means fold, this is stronger than a PCB beauty dish

This is true, my recent order came in and the BD was slightly warped. My cats jumped on it at one point when it was laying face down and slightly bent it in. My cat doesn't weigh more than 12 lbs.

Wilt wrote in post #14722202
Now you understand why it is more expensive.

Yeah, take the baby boom arm for instance, which in a direct USD->GBP conversion works out at £9.55 (not including sales tax), and is being sold for £59.99 on the EU site, without including delivery.

Either it's made out of pure osmium and packed in an iridium case for transport, the EU has some very strange tax on bits of metal with nobs on the end, or the EU partner is a rip off.

Which one it is I shall leave for an exercise for the reader..