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01/15/2007 05:30:29 PM · #1 |
| I went to my local camera shop and he recommended looking at the products from Dynalite, Alien Bees, Elinchrom, and Hensel to figure see the differences between the different brands. I'm trying to set up a good quality studio (not from a kit), but really what I want to know is what brands have the best quality at the least cost? Also I've seen lots of postings on various forums about their Alien Bee's products, what's so great about them instead of another brand? Thanks for the help. |
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01/15/2007 05:33:46 PM · #2 |
//www.alienbees.com/
//www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?action=read&FORUM_THREAD_ID=525820&page=2#3209695
//www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?action=read&FORUM_THREAD_ID=517218
From what  idnic has told me I am getting ready to buy the Alien Bees Digibee kit with 2 AB400's. Maybe she can chime in here sometime but she swears by them and someone that good lookin must know what they are talking about. :) Seriously I really trust her opinion. You may even want to pm her.
Message edited by author 2007-01-15 17:35:53.
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01/15/2007 05:36:53 PM · #3 |
Well, I don't own anything but Alienbees, but I will tell you that I bought because of the great reviews and I don't regret it for a second. One thing, the cost to replace the bulbs (whenever you need to do that, not very often) is about 1/2 the price of other companies.
Next, their customer service is AWESOME!!! I am a student, not even phtography, just a part time college student (one class a semester) and they give ANY student, no matter how many or how little classes you take, a 10% discount if you can prove it. Saved me $35 right there, so I basically got a light stand for free.
Lastly, look on eBay. Their resale value is ALMOST the same as what you will pay for a new one, so you CANNOT go wrong!
I bought JTL continuous lighting too, and am not a happy customer. Though the service is good, the light itself is "light" and easy to break the bulb. Takes forever to get a replacement shipped and at $30 (including shipping) per bulb, OUCH!
AB is the best, IMO! But so is Nikon, and you use a Canon, so take what you will from my post |
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01/15/2007 06:03:01 PM · #4 |
I'm using Impact brand lighting and I love them, but here's some big reasons people use A'Bees.
1) Fan Cooled, so they are more durable with lots of use.
2) Standard Bowen (I believe) mounts for diffusers, etc ... so that you can get the light modifiers you want
3) They are very good strobes with ample output. The 400ws strobes are plenty for most needs. My two 1o0 w/s heads are actually good enough for what I need them for. 800 w/s is way more powerful than most people will ever need.
If you aren't going to be shooting hard with them every day and want to scale back on the money, I'd suggest looking into the Impact brand. But, Alien Bees are HARD to beat for their price.
Message edited by author 2007-01-15 18:08:38.
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01/15/2007 06:07:43 PM · #5 |
I got some Interfit EX150 strobes a kit with 2 lamps stands a softbox and a brolly, model lamps cables the lot for 200 UKP they get enough abuse and seem fine so far.. be nice to have Bees or Bowens but these little things really surprised me.
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01/15/2007 06:10:53 PM · #6 |
| Everyone has given great advice. I will chime in just to say if money was no object I would go this route everyday all day Elinchrom Ranger RX |
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01/15/2007 06:16:12 PM · #7 |
I only paid $80 including shipping for my lights.
Check out my My 30 day SP's
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01/15/2007 06:41:25 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by GueDesigns:
I only paid $80 including shipping for my lights.
Check out my My 30 day SP's |
What lights do you have?
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01/15/2007 06:51:15 PM · #9 |
The Excalibur SP line is a better deal than the Bees and are in the same catagory as the Bees. One thing to keep in mind about fan cooled... if the fan goes out, they don't cool and you can fry a circuit board. Fans get noisy... how many people have quiet muffin fans in their computer?
The Bee's are nice and compact, which can be a big bonus if you carry them around. They do have good customer service. The Bee's them selves are well made but I'd be real leary of their add-ons... ie, softoxes, light stands, etc. They aren't made by the same company, they just sell them and their quality is not up to the quality of the lights.
Mike
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01/15/2007 06:57:48 PM · #10 |
I can't make any suggestions but I just bought this Hensel package today based on a number reviews that I read over the last few weeks and the fact that the salesman at B&H, whom I've dealt with before steered me right to them. He said they're strong...entry level pro. They'll last a long time.
Here are two test shots, right out of the box. I used only one light with the softbox.
 
Message edited by author 2007-01-15 19:09:07. |
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01/15/2007 07:12:36 PM · #11 |
Three or four of these should fix you right up. ;D
Otherwise, get the AlienBees. It's good stuff, including the stands and modifiers.
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01/15/2007 07:19:19 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by Mick:
Three or four of these should fix you right up. ;D
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Those double as a microwave oven :-)
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01/15/2007 07:21:02 PM · #13 |
Yea I'll need a mortgage for those.
Originally posted by Mick:
Three or four of these should fix you right up. ;D
Otherwise, get the AlienBees. It's good stuff, including the stands and modifiers. |
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01/15/2007 07:28:25 PM · #14 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
Originally posted by Mick:
Three or four of these should fix you right up. ;D
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Those double as a microwave oven :-) |
Yup, bake a cake or a model in seconds! On the down side, they do take up a lot of room in your camera bag. :)
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01/15/2007 07:32:39 PM · #15 |
Are their kits a good investment? I'm interested in either the busy bee package or the digibee package. Is either one pretty much all I'd need?
Originally posted by millerdes:
Well, I don't own anything but Alienbees, but I will tell you that I bought because of the great reviews and I don't regret it for a second. One thing, the cost to replace the bulbs (whenever you need to do that, not very often) is about 1/2 the price of other companies.
Next, their customer service is AWESOME!!! I am a student, not even phtography, just a part time college student (one class a semester) and they give ANY student, no matter how many or how little classes you take, a 10% discount if you can prove it. Saved me $35 right there, so I basically got a light stand for free.
Lastly, look on eBay. Their resale value is ALMOST the same as what you will pay for a new one, so you CANNOT go wrong!
I bought JTL continuous lighting too, and am not a happy customer. Though the service is good, the light itself is "light" and easy to break the bulb. Takes forever to get a replacement shipped and at $30 (including shipping) per bulb, OUCH!
AB is the best, IMO! But so is Nikon, and you use a Canon, so take what you will from my post |
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01/15/2007 07:56:15 PM · #16 |
I began with a busy-bee kit 4 years ago. Have since added one more AB800 to the group and am near buying one more for a total of 4 strobes. I also use a 5' reflector.
For a starter, a busy-bee kit and a reflector will do you very nicely!
As for comments on Alien Bees other (non-strobe) equipment, I have 3 AB light stands and 2 AB softboxes and have never had a problem with any of them -- after 4 years of almost daily use. Highly recommended.
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01/15/2007 08:08:26 PM · #17 |
I have the Elinchrom D-Lite2 kit inc. 2 heads and softboxes. It is a little more expensive than the Alien Bees, but very good. The kit is lightweight, fanless, more than sufficient power, digitally controlled and very easy to use. It fits standard Elinchrom accessories which may be expensive but offer a definite upgrade plan. They look good, too!
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01/15/2007 08:57:14 PM · #18 |
I have Speedotron Brownline lighting. I prefer a pack and individual heads to monolights. I'm also very familiar with Speedotron gear since I have a lot of experience using their Blackline lighting equipment. Right now, I have 2 1600Ws Packs and 8 heads, which is more than enough for just about anything I can imagine shooting. Speedotron's been making strobe lighting in Chicago since 1939, longer than just about any lighting company I can think of. They have great service and their gear is just about bombproof anyway.
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01/15/2007 09:03:58 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by idnic:
As for comments on Alien Bees other (non-strobe) equipment, I have 3 AB light stands and 2 AB softboxes and have never had a problem with any of them -- after 4 years of almost daily use. Highly recommended. |
You haven't been reading the threads on other forums... Fred Miranda, POTN, and a half dozen others. A lot of people have complained about the non-Bee add-ons. Maybe it just depends on how you use them.
It makes no difference to me, I have no monitary interest in any brand of lights. Those on a tight budget like that they can get a good system for almost $150 or so cheaper than the Bees. That's enough to almost buy a Sekonic 308 flash meter. Those not on a budget might not care as much. I have been using my Excaliburs for 6 years and have had no problems either. And that's with dragging them across the US a couple of times and taking them out on location a bunch of times. The Bees are good lights, just not the only thing out there.
Mike
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01/15/2007 09:04:54 PM · #20 |
Originally posted by slickchik:
Originally posted by GueDesigns:
I only paid $80 including shipping for my lights.
Check out my My 30 day SP's |
What lights do you have? |
These are the exact ones, they're great
Edit,.. well they are not exact... one umbrella is translucent and they have much nicer hardware and black cords. but the aution I bought them from was this exactly
Message edited by author 2007-01-15 21:07:49.
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01/15/2007 09:28:36 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by idnic:
I began with a busy-bee kit 4 years ago. Have since added one more AB800 to the group and am near buying one more for a total of 4 strobes. I also use a 5' reflector.
For a starter, a busy-bee kit and a reflector will do you very nicely!
As for comments on Alien Bees other (non-strobe) equipment, I have 3 AB light stands and 2 AB softboxes and have never had a problem with any of them -- after 4 years of almost daily use. Highly recommended. |
How much square footage is needed to take studio shots with the digi bee kit?
What if my room is too small?
Message edited by author 2007-01-15 21:29:08. |
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01/15/2007 09:35:18 PM · #22 |
Originally posted by slickchik:
Originally posted by idnic:
I began with a busy-bee kit 4 years ago. Have since added one more AB800 to the group and am near buying one more for a total of 4 strobes. I also use a 5' reflector.
For a starter, a busy-bee kit and a reflector will do you very nicely!
As for comments on Alien Bees other (non-strobe) equipment, I have 3 AB light stands and 2 AB softboxes and have never had a problem with any of them -- after 4 years of almost daily use. Highly recommended. |
How much square footage is needed to take studio shots with the digi bee kit?
What if my room is too small? |
For small spaces, you can easily get by with the 400 watt strobes, 800s are overkill even for my not-so-big studio space (20 X 21'). Obviously the more space you have the better, but I have seen some great work done in very small rooms. Keep in mind, you want some space between the subject and background (about 6 feet if you can manage it), which might force you to do only head/head&shoulders shots in a small space rather than full body.
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01/15/2007 10:28:02 PM · #23 |
Here's a dinner shot taken with the Hensel kit. |
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01/15/2007 11:18:30 PM · #24 |
Bowens for monos....I mean they invented the monolight and are reasonably priced with tons of available modifiers and accessories.
One thing that put me off importing AB's was an article that stated that the AB800's are really just 400's with a doubled flash duration.
bazz.
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