Alienbee 800 vs 400 - DPChallenge Forums

04/01/2008 09:58:55 PM · #1

if i plan to shoot action which will i get better results with? i need the speed of the 400 but the 800 is more powerful and i can use it on full power to get 1/1000 for the action stuff...however at a distance how much range does the 400 have at full pawer vs the 800? according to the inverted square law it might not have much range... im talking im going to need a good 12-15 foot range here

04/01/2008 10:00:46 PM · #2

uh... I don't think the xti can sync up to 1/1000. the maximum is 1/160.

Message edited by author 2008-04-01 22:00:58.

04/01/2008 10:02:59 PM · #3

doesnt matter pocket wizards...on TTL mode right?

04/01/2008 10:06:51 PM · #4

doesn't matter whether it's PW or cheapo ebay triggers. don't know about TTL, but max should be 1/160 nonetheless. Plus I think TTL is canon proprietary, and works only with canon flashes.

04/01/2008 10:10:14 PM · #5

ok...all i know is i am going to set it to 1/1000 and take the picture and it is goiing to work im almost positive the PW works like that im manually setting each flash...also my shutterspeed will not be at 1/1000 t will be at 250 however my flash duration will be 1/1000

04/01/2008 10:11:18 PM · #6

and oops, the max is 1/200.

04/01/2008 10:13:37 PM · #7

tell me if it does work, because I've had that issue too, but I know the max x-sync is 1/200 and haven't had much luck syncing it higher (with a friend's alienbees 400 & 800). Although I don't have any PW lol.

Message edited by author 2008-04-01 22:14:18.

04/01/2008 10:14:23 PM · #8

yea my bad aswell...i have been using my friends moms camera too much 1D :) anyway...yea sorry for the confusion anyone else have some input, would be much appreciated

rex

Canon PowerShot SD780

04/01/2008 10:25:25 PM · #9

If you haven't bought one already don't waste it. Buy a flash if you don't have one and a ST-E2. All wireless and very light to carry on the go. I sold my Alien Bees and went to one 580EX, 2 430EX, and an ST-E2 wireless trigger and have not regretted it one bit.

04/01/2008 10:34:00 PM · #10

did you shoot action? i NEED 1/1000th to shoot it also i have 2 vivitar 285s

04/01/2008 11:14:02 PM · #11

You might shoot

MattO a PM. He shoots basketball inside a gym using AB's, but he has 1600's. He could tell you a little about sync speeds and such. Looks like he is online now...don't know how much he is paying attention. I am pretty sure he shoots slower than 1/400 even in the gym. (check out his last few shots in his Sports folder in his portfolio...girls basketball red and white jerseys, bottom of the page). Anyway might be able to answer any specific questions.

What action are you shooting 1/1000 from 12-15 ft away? That close, you might be set with 400's. And I don't think TTL will work with external strobes (no pre-flash to read). You will have to go fully manual and then set the power of the strobe accordingly. (400's go from full to 1/32 power with a slider...no set points in between).

-drew

Edit:
I just read some of your recent threads and figured out how you want to set up for snowboard jump shots. The only reason I can see you needing 1/1000 is to keep from blowing out the snow during daylight hours. You could drop the hell out of your ISO and stop down to where you could still freeze action and shoot slower than 1/1000. That close a 400 (depending on your light modifier...softbox, umbrella, none) will probably do the trick.

I don't know if you have looked on here, but there are some great snowboard photographers that enter all there shooting info (shutter, ISO, etc) as well as pretty in depth photogs comments. Do a photo search on DPC for "snowboard" and check out the profiles of the guys with the good shots.

Message edited by author 2008-04-01 23:29:17.

04/02/2008 12:12:40 AM · #12

i had spoken with a guy who shoots for future snowboard magazine... and he had told me shutterspeed 1/250withh a strobe of 1/1000th or more or less depending on the effect i want.. i tried it and spoke with him some more and he is right im also a member of wheelsandwax.com its basically all profesional snowboard/skate photogs and i got the same info im giving to you from them so i think im gonna go with the 400 doesnt work il save up for an 800 and then ill have a 2 ab setup :) instead of 2 vivitarand one AB however a little harder to lug around in my Mountainsmith Odessey than 2 vivtars

04/02/2008 12:17:43 AM · #13

Oh, ok...you need the strobe to be at 1/1000, I thought you meant you needed your shutter that fast.

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

04/02/2008 12:20:46 AM · #14

Check out this AB page for specs on 400 vs 800.

400's have faster recycle times

Message edited by author 2008-04-02 00:21:24.

rex

Canon PowerShot SD780

04/02/2008 08:55:39 AM · #15

//strobist.blogspot.com/2008/03/freeze-frame-lighting-night.html

I posted this link in your other thread as well. Do you really want to lug around a AB400 with a battery pack?

shanksware

Canon EOS-5D

04/02/2008 10:16:17 AM · #16

Originally posted by drewbixcube:

Check out this AB page for specs on 400 vs 800.

400's have faster recycle times

The 400 has 1/2 sec. recycle time at full power.
The 800 has 1 sec. recycle time at full power.
The 1600 has 2 sec. recyle time at full power.

However, the 800 at 1/2 power has the same light output and recycle time as the 400 at full power.
The 1600 at 1/4 power has the same light output and recycle time as the 400 at full power.

If you want more light output, get the larger units and wait for it.
If you don't, then get the 400.

prizo

Nikon D80

Tamron SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) for Nikon

04/02/2008 11:21:02 AM · #17

A. You dont set shutter speed to 1/1000.. you set it to 1/200 and let the light duration of 1/1000 effectively freeze the motion as if your shutter was 1/1000.

B. As a speedlight AND strobe user I would highly recommend that you not just get speedlights, especially if you are going to use softboxes. Softboxes soak up a TON of power and speedlights just cannot pump out enough juice to fill larger boxes.

C. If you can afford it go for the 800. You can always turn an 800 down, but once you turn a 400 to max you can't get any more juice. More power is better.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

04/02/2008 02:05:04 PM · #18

withe ABs as you lower the power the flash durations get longer.... for insaance
ab400 at full 1/3200 at 1/32nd 1/1000 witht the 800 full is like 1/1600th and 1/32nd is like 1/650 its weird and btw yes i know what im doing i know that
A.you dont set shutter speed to 1/1000.. you set it to 1/200 and let the
light duration of 1/1000 effectively freeze the motion as if your shutter was 1/1000.

B.i dont use softboxes
C. i dont know if i want to risk not having enougfh power at 1/4

Spork99

OM System OM-1

04/02/2008 02:26:46 PM · #19

Keep in mind also, that for freezing action, the important thing is the flash duration, that is how long current is discharged through the flashtube. For a given flash unit, a change in power is not achieved by altering the level of current through the flash tube but rather reducing the tim the current is allowed to flow. In other words changing the flash duration. So, the lower the power setting, the shorter the flash duration and that will give better motion stopping results.

The question is: Does the AB 1600 simply allow for 2x the flash duration of an AB 800 and so one down to the AB400? OR does the AB1600 discharge a higher current through the flash tube to maintain a short duration?

BTW, the strobes have a much longer flash duration than a typical shoe mounted flash.

Spork99

OM System OM-1

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro

04/02/2008 02:30:43 PM · #20

Originally posted by Jib:

Well, that is different.

shanksware

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM

04/02/2008 02:50:39 PM · #21

Spazmo99 is correct about the duration stuff. It appears that the main difference between the 400, 800, and 1600 is, in fact, the flash duration.

This page on the Alien Bees site has a chart showing the specifications about flash duration.

This page explains what the T.5 and T.1 gobbledygook means.