Need to stop action with which flash? Canon or Alien Bee?

Which flash would be better in trying to stop action in my studio?

My Canon 430EX ii or my Alien Bee B400?

I am trying to stop a ball as it falls into a liquid for a photo contest.

Thanks in advance!

Guess I would go with 430ex on lowest power setting possible.

I got nuthin', but am interested in hearing from those who know about such things. I would THINK that the more light you have, the faster shutter speed you can use, which would be crucial in stopping the action. If that notion is correct, I would think that your Alien Bee would do a better job of that than your 430 EX would? I'm just blowing hot air because I have zero experience with shooting super fast action like that, I'm just thinking out loud. I'm sure somebody here knows and will set us both straight.

It has to do with your t1 flash duration. That is ultimately what will determine how well you can freeze the action. Unless you use HSS Give me a few mins and I'll look into the flash durations for you though BRB

Wow. Surprisingly enough the B400 is a pretty good little strobe for sports. At full power it's T1 flash duratoin is 1/2000th and at 1/32 power it is 1/1000th. I'd say go with the B400 if that's the case

Aressem wrote in post #11779485
Wow. Surprisingly enough the B400 is a pretty good little strobe for sports. At full power it's T1 flash duratoin is 1/2000th and at 1/32 power it is 1/1000th. I'd say go with the B400 if that's the case

I've read about the t1 flash duration on the Alien Bee website, but through my research I can't find anything on the duration of the Canon 430EX flash. Any idea what that might be?

Best I could come up with is 1.2 millisecond, whatever that is.

suecassidy wrote in post #11779438
I got nuthin', but am interested in hearing from those who know about such things. I would THINK that the more light you have, the faster shutter speed you can use, which would be crucial in stopping the action. If that notion is correct, I would think that your Alien Bee would do a better job of that than your 430 EX would? I'm just blowing hot air because I have zero experience with shooting super fast action like that, I'm just thinking out loud. I'm sure somebody here knows and will set us both straight.

Actually, the shutter speed doesn't have much to do with it. It's limited to 1/250 in order to synch up with the flash. What I'm trying to determine is the flash duration of each strobe.

1.2 milliseconds is 1000 divided by 1.2 which equals 1/833 of a second. That being the case. The AB400 is just a bit faster.

If you really want to stop action the better approach is the Einstein 640. Its IGBT control means that the flash duration shortens as the power is reduced.

That means that at lower setting such as 40Ws the duration approaches 1/10,000 of a second.

There as several thread around that have illustrations.

Hank E wrote in post #11779619
Actually, the shutter speed doesn't have much to do with it. It's limited to 1/250 in order to synch up with the flash. What I'm trying to determine is the flash duration of each strobe.

there, see? what you said. I knew that, but I guess a closed mouth gathers no feet. Glad someone knows what they're talking about. Ghosting on this thread from here on in... s.

I'm just curious what it is you're trying to freeze in your studio. Care to share?

Regardless of the the duration of the flash, i'd tend to think the 430EX should be more than enough. Freezing a ball in freefall isn't really all that different that freezing a water droplet in freefall....which has been done w/ speedlights. The Alien light just gives out a much more powerful light than the 430EX.

Aressem wrote in post #11780109
I'm just curious what it is you're trying to freeze in your studio. Care to share?

a ball dropping into water, according to the 1st post...

i would guess the 430ex would be enough...

josullivan79 wrote in post #11780310
Freezing a ball in freefall isn't really all that different that freezing a water droplet in freefall....

It's actually the same, as per Galileo.

If the room is fairly dark, the ab should be enough.

if it's the same, the 430ex is enough...