I just got the 640w/s AlienBee monolight & the thing is awesome!
Having worked with my paltry 400w/s Novotron kit for so long, I've forgotten what it's like to have some decent power available for lighting.
Not to mention that it's tiny - the size of a stack of a dozen cd cases.

I got the light to do portraits on an upcoming cross-country trip. Planning on running it off an inverter directly off the battery in my MINI.

I highly recommend these lights to anyone looking for an inexpensive, compact entry-level strobe light.

www.alienbees.com

thebill

 

I'm jealous. I only have the B400. Looks like you got, not just an S, but the GP of the Bees!


Any pics?

 

I just got the B800, a few stands and the Remote Receiver for adding up to 4 AlienBees. I cannot wait to take some test shots. Along with my SB800 and SB600, I will now have 3 possible flash units to work from using them all as remote flashes, can't wait!!

 

Nice! I have two B800s and I really like them. The Alien Bee people are very nice to deal with, too. Highly recommended.

Mark

 

everyone's investing in lighting.

 

One can always rent a Chimera F2 lightbank.

 

I was at a shoot for a NASCAR team a few years ago (they were doing official sponsor shots and such) and they were using a giant overhead softbox like that in a studio built specifically for car shots with a nice sweep between the floor and the walls and lots of very cool lighting gear. I've been very jealous ever since. It would be so interesting to shoot in a completely controlled environment like that.

I'm am buying another SB-800, though, so I'm getting close!

Mark

 

Just curious, why another SB-800? If you have one to be an on camera master, the other(s) are just remotes right? So why not get the SB-600 and save $100?

 

I've grown weary of lighting cigars with hundred dollar bills so I thought I'd try that, instead.

Actually, I thought of doing that and I still might. The SB-600 isn't quite as powerful and the recycle time is longer (especially if you use the fifth battery in the SB-800), the SB-800 comes with the two gels and the diffuser dome (not really a big deal, I suppose), the modelling light (which is sometimes useful)... . Yeah, you do have a good point that those things might not be worth $100 and the money might be better used elsewhere. I'd even have some left over after buying the gels and diffuser.

My other thought was to get the SB-R200, but then I realized that it's much less powerful.

I'm also thinking that the SU-800 controller might be nice at some point if I want to take all the flashes off the camera. You don't have that problem with the D200.

Mark

 

All true. The guidenumber difference is the only thing that I find compelling. I generally don't use diffuser domes on remote flashes. Also, I'm inclined to think that with each additional flash you add to your system the number of times a remote flash fires near full intensity drops off.

Try looking at the guide number difference this way: for the price of two SB-800's you could get THREE SB-600's.

It is surprisingly less powerful even compared to the SB-600.

I looked at the SU-800 prior to the release of the D200 when it wasn't clear yet if the D200 would have a pop-up flash that could then be used with the Nikon CLS. Thankfully it does, and thankfully with the D200 you can control not just one flashgroup (like the D70 pop-up flash), but two.

 

Good points. Yeah, the guidenumber difference is probably the only real sticking point but you're right, you're less likely to be firing at full intensity with multiple flashes, anyway. My only worry is that you lose quite a bit of light using umbrellas and such. I've measured my white umbrellas with a light meter and they reflect half the light and transmit the other half so either way of using them (bouncing or shooting through them), you're already losing a full f-stop.

Quite true!

Okay, you've almost got me convinced.

The SU-800 is only about $40 less than the SB-800, too. The things the SU-800 has in its favor, though, is that it's smaller, lighter, uses much less battery power, simpler interface (you don't have to navigate through menus to use it as a master like you do the SB-800), longer range (maybe--I've read differing reports on that), and that it uses IR rather than visible light. That last thing might be nice since people often react to the pre-flashes, and the lack of visible reflections might be nice for shooting cars.

The built-in flash/controller on the D200 is a really nice feature.

Mark

 

Come on over to the lower guide number side Mark.

 

not yet - i've got some things in the works, but nothing yet.


Soon, though - I'm saving some more $ to get a 5d before this trip.
Right now i've only got a 'blad & a darkroom, but no scanner. Been using my digital as a "scanner" - ghetto i know, but it gets the job done, kind of.