alien bee and wireless trigger question

I know my camera's max sync speed is 1/250 and I can't go faster unless I enable HSS on the 580exII. However I'm looking to get an AlienBee B1600 flash unit and I was wondering which wireless trigger will allow me to shoot photos at a shutter speed of 1/500 or higher... if thats possible?

you cant shoot with the alien bees in the traditional sense above your cameras max sync speed. With the pocket wizard mini system users have been able to fool the timing and get the long tail burn of the ab to achieve faster speeds called hypersync. This isnt the full power of the light however. Users have reported doing something similar with the radio popper px system

Is it safe? Will it reduce the life of the AB in the long run?

jxs1984 wrote in post #10464137
Is it safe? Will it reduce the life of the AB in the long run?

no, the flash doesnt know its being fooled. It fires regularly. But you cant meter it with a flashmeter as it doesnt record the full flash. Why do you need faster sync speeds with the bee?

I would like to shoot photos at f2.8 or wider... perhaps I should go with the ND route?

jxs1984 wrote in post #10464190
I would like to shoot photos at f2.8 or wider... perhaps I should go with the ND route?

Reduce the power of the AB. If you want to shoot wide open, go to 1/8 or 1/16 power. You have 6 stops of lighting power so I see no reason why this won't work unless I missing something.

vinnie6756 wrote in post #10464215
Reduce the power of the AB. If you want to shoot wide open, go to 1/8 or 1/16 power. You have 6 stops of lighting power so I see no reason why this won't work unless I missing something.

What if outside is very sunny?

jxs1984 wrote in post #10464190
I would like to shoot photos at f2.8 or wider... perhaps I should go with the ND route?

Its a lot cheaper to do the ND route, and you get a more reliable output. But if you are using the ab during the hard light of day, you dont necessarily need 2.8 to control the background. You can do it by illuminating what you want to show and let the rest fall into the darker area.

gonzogolf wrote in post #10464232
Its a lot cheaper to do the ND route, and you get a more reliable output. But if you are using the ab during the hard light of day, you dont necessarily need 2.8 to control the background. You can do it by illuminating what you want to show and let the rest fall into the darker area.

two 580ex II at full power, f/22, 1/250 and iso 100

Provided you have enough flash power to compensate for the loss to the ND filter then you can go that route. My point (as evidenced by the nice shot above) is that you dont need to buy into the f/2.8 background blur hype. If you underexpose the background by a couple of stops as you have done above you dont need to have super shallow DOF.

gonzogolf wrote in post #10465403
Provided you have enough flash power to compensate for the loss to the ND filter then you can go that route. My point (as evidenced by the nice shot above) is that you dont need to buy into the f/2.8 background blur hype. If you underexpose the background by a couple of stops as you have done above you dont need to have super shallow DOF.

Agreed. That background is far enough away and underexposed the "right" amount. I don't think you need to do anything differently with that shot.

gonzogolf wrote in post #10465403
Provided you have enough flash power to compensate for the loss to the ND filter then you can go that route. .

Since both flashes were already at full power, ND filters won't work

egordon99 wrote in post #10465829
Since both flashes were already at full power, ND filters won't work

Those were 580's, he is talking about getting into alien bees.

vinnie6756 wrote in post #10464215
Reduce the power of the AB. If you want to shoot wide open, go to 1/8 or 1/16 power. You have 6 stops of lighting power so I see no reason why this won't work unless I missing something.

What you are missing is that you have to keep your aperture closed down, or use Neutral Density filters to keep from overexposing the image with the ambient daylight. if the ambient light requires f/11 at 100 ISO without a flash to get the effect he wants you would have to bump that to f/16 or f/22 just to underexpose the background. You have to increase the flash power to overcome that increased darkening of the ambient. ND filters can counteract the closing down of the aperture, but after say 4 stops, they become a bit tough to work with.

gonzogolf wrote in post #10465956
Those were 580's, he is talking about getting into alien bees.

DOAH, you're right. Get some AB1600s, you'll be set!