Studio lighting questions.

gavin · November 8, 2006

I origionally was looking at getting an alien bee set up.. There not CSA approaved tho and i have heard a horror storry dealing with things like this.. I started looking at CALUMET lights.. Does anyoen have experience with them?

I was also looking at OPUS lights but they only have a s stop control range.... if i am going to spend money i want more than a 2 stop range to control my lights.

ian408 · November 9, 2006

I'm not sure what your question is. But how does the CSA compare to UL and
would that make you more comfortable?

Ian

claudermilk · November 9, 2006

I'm guessing you're in Canada since you mention CSA (yes, I know all about CSA & UL from a previous job). I'm not sure how that could be an issue. ABs are quite popular & I'm sure they've gone through many safety testing procedures.

As for the Calumet lights, I've used a Travelight set for a little while now & they are quite nice. They are essentially rebadged Bowens Esprit Geminis. Because of that, they use all the Bowens-style mount accessories. Really the only thing I don't like about them is the mount--but it's more of an annoyance than anything else.

Owen · November 10, 2006

www.alienbees.com

thirdlife · November 14, 2006

gavin wrote:

I origionally was looking at getting an alien bee set up.. There not CSA approaved tho and i have heard a horror storry dealing with things like this.. I started looking at CALUMET lights.. Does anyoen have experience with them?

I was also looking at OPUS lights but they only have a s stop control range.... if i am going to spend money i want more than a 2 stop range to control my lights.

I have an Alien Bee set up and love them. You will not get the level of customer service that they provide anywhere else. They also have an amazing upgrade option. You can upgrade to the next level for the difference in price between the lights plus $25. Not bad. They also have a 60 day no questions asked return policy.

That said, the build quality is on the cheap side. I am not sure of the internal workings, but the shell is just plastic and feels as if it would crack at even a moderate fall. (Hopefully we don't drop our lights......)

What is your budget, and what are you hoping to shoot, and more importantly, how much room do you have?

gavin · November 20, 2006

My budget is up to 1500$. Room isn't an issue either. I am reallys tarting to like the portrait style photogrpahy and studio style. I have heard Many great things about alien bees. That is what i am leaning towards. I liked the calumet cause you can have the option of the battery pack... Alien bees offer one too however the calumet travel lites do seem quite nice.. but are also a lot more expensive.

How consistant are the alien bees with temperature?

ALso i stubled across thelinchrme D-light.

spider-t · November 20, 2006

Alien Bees have a much better recycle time than Calumet Travelites. I recently shot a gig where they set me up with their Travelites. I kept shooting before the lights were ready. It took me a while to get used to it. I didn't realize how spoiled I had gotten with my Bees.

Just another variable,
Trish

claudermilk · November 21, 2006

spider-t wrote:

Alien Bees have a much better recycle time than Calumet Travelites. I recently shot a gig where they set me up with their Travelites. I kept shooting before the lights were ready. It took me a while to get used to it. I didn't realize how spoiled I had gotten with my Bees.

Just another variable,
Trish

Reeeealy?

I wouldn't have thought that. I've been using a borrowed Travelight setup, so am used to the refresh (more or less, do get a few black frames now & then).

Now I wonder how the Interfit Stellars compare to ABs in that regard.

For my own setup I'm looking very hard at a set of AB400s or Stellar 300s. I do really like the Bowens-style speedring mount, the AB (Balcar?) style seems flimsier from photos I've seen.

gavin · November 21, 2006

I am loking hard now at purchasing 2 Alien bee 800's. I was looking at the calumet's, and the new elinchrom D-lits However i am realy young ( 17 years old) and i think it would be a mistake jumping right into expensive lights withought having any experience or knowledge about them. I think it would be best to start of on the inexpensive side and then as I gain experience and more knowledge can then see what expensie lights would do the job for me.My only questions about the alien bees are... Color temperature consitancy. how consistant are the alien bees?I am asumming there will not be a problem using Pocket wizards with the lights. If i have one attached to a lite the on board slave system should fire the other one with out a direct connection to another pocket wizard.

spider-t · November 21, 2006

gavin wrote:

I am looking hard now at purchasing 2 Alien bee 800's. I was looking at the calumet's, and the new elinchrom D-lits However i am realy young ( 17 years old) and i think it would be a mistake jumping right into expensive lights withought having any experience or knowledge about them. I think it would be best to start of on the inexpensive side and then as I gain experience and more knowledge can then see what expensie lights would do the job for me.My only questions about the alien bees are... Color temperature consitancy. how consistant are the alien bees?I am asumming there will not be a problem using Pocket wizards with the lights. If i have one attached to a lite the on board slave system should fire the other one with out a direct connection to another pocket wizard.

I have 3 AB800's. If you really want to start cheap, I shot for a good long time with one AB800 and a piece of white foam core as a reflector. I have been very happy with the color and temp consistancy of the lights.

I do use pocket wizards with the lights now, but you don't actually need them. Every Alien Bee strobe has a built in slave. I used the sync cord that came with it and the built in slaves for a year before I got the wizards. Ultimately, I needed the wizards for shooting in outdoors or bright locations.

Alien Bees have very good customer service. I have called them with lots of questions. They even have a student discount, so if you're a student, don't forget to ask about that.

cheers,
Trish

gavin · November 21, 2006

Whoa student discount cool! i will have to e-mail them about that. One other question. is it worth getting 2 800s? or do i really nead all that power?
would two 400's work just fine?

spider-t · November 22, 2006

gavin wrote:

Whoa student discount cool! i will have to e-mail them about that. One other question. is it worth getting 2 800s? or do I really nead all that power?
would two 400's work just fine?

If you can swing the 800's I recommend them. Not because you need them right away, but because if you are starting to build a studio, 800's are a minimum. I barely ever turn my 800's up past 1/4 power in the studio, but if I have to shoot a large group, or light up some architecture, the 400's don't have enough power.

But for small studio shoots, the 400's should be fine.

Best of luck with whichever way you go,
Trish

gavin · November 23, 2006

Thanks guys. I ended up getting two 400's. I wish i could have swung the 800's but i couldn't afford the extra 200 bucks at this time. I like the alien bee upgrade option so most likly in the future i wil use it.

Thanks everyone for your time.

Studio lighting questions.

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