F.J. Westcott Strobelite Two Light Kit

TexPhotog

Hello fellow DGrinners... I recently came upon this while bored at work and wanted to find out your input on this...

Right now, FJ Westcott has a promo on this kit, valued at $499.90, while the "free" items are valued at $337.80

http://www.fjwestcott.com/promos/strobelite/index.html

[2] Strobelites
[2] 43" White Umbrellas
[2] 7.5' Light Stands
[1] Floor Positioning Mat
[1] Floor Mat Guide Card
[1] Educational DVD
[1] Carry Case
[2] 24" x 32" Soft Boxes (FREE!)
[2] Adapter Rings (FREE!)

I've been wanting (and saving) for a small Alien Bees starter kit, but now that I came upon this... I'm kind of wondering if this would be a good starter/learning kit for me...

Thoughts and comments are welcomed... thank you all...

cmason

Well the Alien Bees package, the DigiBee, is only $100 more than this. Plus the flash units themselves are more powerful. One thing I noticed is the Westcotts take 2sec to recharge, and the Bees only 0.5 sec. This is quite important in studio.

The package at Westcott does have two lightboxes, vs the umbrellas with the Alien Bees, but this should be a minor consideration.

If it were me, I would go with the $100 more on the Alien Bees, simply because they are well regarded, and there are LOTS of options for them, including batteries, remotes, etc etc etc

Good luck

edit: I have lots of Westcott gear, and I like all of it. Most of my stuff is light modifiers and stands. I am not familiar with their flash units and have not run into them on this or other forums, so I can't speak to their quality.