AlienBees and Rebel XT

I am all new to this lighting.
I was lookin at one of those Alienbees and I see it comes with a sync cord and power but what else do I need to use it with my XT or does it come with everything I need.
I am trying to get into some glamor type shooting. I dont wanna start out expensive and it seems everyone loves these Alienbees.
Any words of advice would be great.
Thanks

You will need a hotshoe-to-PC adapter so that you can plug the sync cord from the AB light into your camera. 20D's have a PC connector, but neither of the Digital Rebels do.

Since the AB sync voltage is very low (below 6 volts DC), you do NOT need a SafeSync type of adapter. The plain-jane $10 types will do just fine, as long as you get one with decent connections. I would suggest looking at a local camera store for the adapter so you can try it out.

great...thanks for the Info

Also, note that you can turn your flash down all the way and it will set the strobes off, (if you are desperate to experiment or know what you are doing). If you are going for the glamour shots make sure to pick up a medium or large soft box with your bees. If you can not afford at least one soft box you can pick up a piece of white nylon and stretch taunt between two pieces of PVC piping or equivalent. This makes a nice “make-shift” soft box until you can get the real deal.

I just picked up 2 x 1600 bees and they are great!

I personally use a generic IR transmitter; I bought off eBay, until I can afford a real one. It works great unless I am using a giant soft box, then I have to reposition the camera to reach the strobe.

Hope this helps a little


Also, Alienbees gives you 10% off if you are a college student!!!

i was thinking of getting the alien bee stand and Umbrella or are the umbrellas no good

if you sue the flash to fire the Alien Bees they will fire with the preflash, and in your shot you will only have the light from the on camera flash. Just use the cord, it's way easier and cheaper. I got a cheap $15 one when I bought my B800, and it works just fine. I made a PVC pipe and white sheet diffuser to help soften the light. the AB umbrellas will do fine if you don't abuse them. I have one and it serves its purpose. I bought the beginner bee package with the light, stand and umbrella. for a newbie, it's the perfect set, I think. also get a reflector if you can. it'll help lighten up shadows.

A good hot-shoe-to-pc adapter is the Nikon AS-15. Even though it says Nikon on it, it will work with any hot-shoe equipped camera.

I am confused now on what to get...Is that Nikon a good piece.
What all does it do. Fire the flash like how it would fire the on camera flash normally

It simply adds a PC (pulse current) plug onto your camera. Imagine that it doesn't even say Nikon on it. The 20D, for example, already has that plug on it, so you wouldn't need an hot-shoe adapter like that one. On the Digital Rebel series, you'd have to get one in order to plug the PC cord into it and to the lights. If you try slaving the units, the pre-flash of the built-in flash or a flash like the 420EX would cause the studio strobes to fire, therefore NOT firing when the the camera actually exposes the image.

I am glad you said this because for some reason, my bees go off completely when using camera flash. I think I will send them back for a check-up

It all depends on your prefrences I found a link here that compares the two:

LINK

If you can afford a good hot-shoe-to-pc adapter get it, but if you can't the cheapo IR transmitter works great. It also has PC connector for your lights in addition to its wireless capabilities.

Because I have my laptop hooked up to my camera while shooting and I have a ton of cords floating around my studio, at work, the IR is a lot easier to deal with.

I am in no way saying it is better it just has worked great for me so far.

I was gonna get that hotshoe nikon adaptor that was posted earlier

What do you mean by the phrase "my bees go off completely"? If I could understand what you mean, I could probably help you understand the nature of the problem.

You need to disable the pre-flash. You probably have red-eye on. Turn it off.

The camera's flash is no good if you plan to trigger the ABs. It will give you inconstant results because of the preflash.. sometimes it will work other times it won't. Just buy the cheapo $10 adapter.. I got one from bh and it works perfectly. Or better yet.. go wireless. You can find these triggers on ebay for like under $30.