James asked:
Also, has anyone purchased a lighting setup recently? I've read good
things about Alien Bees and White Lightning. I'm looking at getting two
lights to start with....
I would appreciate any opinions, as I'm getting close to ordering a
lighting set up.
-----------------------------
I bought a set of 4 Alien Bees B800's several months ago. I love them.
Previously I had decided not to buy mono lights because I was concerned
about the weight since both light and power supply are in the same case
and sitting high on the light stand. However, a B800 at 2-1/2 pounds
doesn't weigh any more than many ordinary studio light heads of
equivalent power output.
The entire outfit is much lighter since it doesn't have the heavy,
separate power supply unless you want to invest in a battery pack/AC
converter to get independent of AC power sources.
Beside the price and the weight the infinitely variable 5 stop power
output is a wonderful feature since you simply change power rather than
having to move the lights back and forth. The modeling light power also
moves in lockstep with the flash power output although this can be a
mixed blessing. For another USD 100 you can get the wired remote
control which allows controlling the power output of up to 4 lights from
the camera position.
Here is a link to a personal review by Dave Weikel.
<http://davidweikel.com/E20_Page/alienbees/bees.shtml>
It was reading this review that caused me to buy the Alien Bees. I
think I like them more than he does if that's possible. Maybe because I
bought the remote power control which he left on his wish list.
The B800's turned out to be more powerful than I thought. For a small
studio a pair of B400's is probably adequate. Were I to do it over I'd
still go for the B800's as I have plenty of reserve power for the future
and can use lots of diffusion without worrying about power.
Another nice point about the Alien Bees is that any light can be
upgraded to a higher power output by paying the price difference plus a
USD 25 conversion fee. Whether B400, B800 or B1600 the basic circuit
board and cases are identical. The B400 uses 1 capacitor, the B800 uses
2 capacitors and the B1600 uses 4 capacitors.
The 4 B800's, a hair light stand and counterweight, a couple of regular
light stands and a backlight stand, some miscellaneous attachments, and
a couple of brolly soft boxes cost me about USD 1725. I'd do it all
over again in an instant.
Chuck Norcutt
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