Paul Buff wrote:
...
Almost all monolights, including the most expensive, use variable capacitor voltage to reduce power. They all follow the same color temperature curve of approximately 75° per f stop of power reduction for the reason you stated.
Thank you for clarifying (and quantifying) that. I never considered it a problem in the studio, for film or digital, was just curious.
I think I'll add my 2p advice for the OP:
You *can* learn about lighting by reading, but anything you read will be better absorbed if you put it to use right away, playing with studio lights *and* with every other kind of light situation you can find, including mixes of daylight and artificial. I think it can also be helpful to do some work in black and white. Eliminate the whole issue of color and you start to see the way light shapes things.
There is no "range of consistency" whatsoever. Xenon tubes typically produce a color temperature around 9000 to 12,000°k at the initial peak of of it waveform. As the capacitors discharge, the cap voltage declines as they discharge, and the tube current declines and the color temperature falls. The tubes typically stop conducting at about 50 volts, after following an RC exponential discharge curve. Near the shutoff point, the color temperature is probably around 2000°k.
Okay. Yes, the tests I've seen do indicate an acceptable variation (as deemed acceptable by the tester himself), so I didn't really mean to say they were perfectly consistent within that range, just acceptably so....according to the tester.
Your going to be very happy with either one !! I had AB as a hobbyist, the 400's and a 800 .. I got rid of the studio / equipment to make sure I'd never decide to go back into it .. lol
I suggest gettin' at least 800's and a 1600 ........ you prob won't be using them at full power, but if you do invest to shoot outdoors, then you.ll have the big boy ..
AB and each increment is 55 bucks ...
WL .. a bit more from the get go ......
and NOW .. I see you can get ORANGE .. LIMITED TO FIRST 2000 customers !!!!
Another point in favor of Paul Buff lights for absolute beginners is the 60-day satisfaction warranty. You have two full months to try them out and then return them if they don't work out for you. Their customer service is also willing to do an awful lot of hand-holding.
Heh, yeah, they went a little off topic there... Oh well, my question was answered, so they can go crazy here. Probably best for them since they got Paul Buff here already... This thread is becoming one of my more popular threads!
Heres something that may help us all if someone can answer:
If you have a small normal room sized studio (I know normal is subjective but bear with me) and you want to take pics of 1 - 5 people tops but mostly just portaits of one or two people, which alienbee or white lightning would you buy and WHY?
I agree that the photo lighting industry should move towards lumens / lumenseconds as a way of measuring light output. watts is simply a measure of power consumption!
Pelican Products is trying to push the flashlight / safety lighting industry to lumens...
Chrono1081 wrote:
Heres something that may help us all if someone can answer:
If you have a small normal room sized studio (I know normal is subjective but bear with me) and you want to take pics of 1 - 5 people tops but mostly just portaits of one or two people, which alienbee or white lightning would you buy and WHY?
Here we go again! Repeat after me "There is no such thing as a magic bullet"
There is no definivetive answer to your question. Nothing that can be spoon fed.
There are pros making excelent portraits using between one and five lights.
What style of portrait are you interested in doing ? Celibrity style ? Traditional ?
While you're at it, you should check out Dorthea Lang, Alfred Stieglitz, and Edward Weston. Not necessarily for lighting, but just to see what some truly talented people have done in the past. They turned out some really amazing work, and they didn't have all the awesome gadgets we have now... They used 8x10 (and larger) view cameras that were basically a glass film plate, a box, and a lens. Check them out. Seriously. As it was pointed out earlier in this thread, the technical side is (comparatively) easy...it's figuring out a creative way to deploy that knowledge that takes real skill. The internet is overrun with the kind of people who can tell you the thread pitch of the screws used on their lens mount...but how many of those guys EVER produce something creative .
On a note of your original question...did you push the "buy" button yet ?
4honor wrote:
I was about ready to purchase a set of triggers (Cybersyncs), but then I realized that Paul Buff has two brands of the same thing... What's going on? Different country?
4honor wrote:
Whoa, all this is a bit too technical for me... I just wanted to know which one I should buy the Cybersyncs from... AB or WL...
Whichever one is easiest to dial the phone number of.
White Lightning is 1-800-443-5542.
Alien Bees is 1-877-714-3381.
Looks like White Lightning wins.
Of course, if you're ordering online, it's a different story. Have you seen this page?
Which one is easier to click on? Are you left or right handed? Do you use a mouse or a trackball?
Okay, just kidding around. As you must have realized by now, it doesn't matter which site you get the Cyber Sync from; they're both the same product from the same place for the same price. The difference is in the line of strobes sold at each site.
My only caveat is this, ORDER EXTRA CORDS WHEN YOU PLACE YOUR ORDER!!!
The ass on the phone when I ordered my extra cables didn't tell me that 1/3 of the order for 3 cables was shipping cost. Had I known I would have ordered double the cables, and had I realized I wanted more I would have ordered them when I placed the initial order.
That said, I'm considering another csrb because I'm thinking of another light.
Put it to you this way, buy them, and if you hate them you can find someone whow ill buy them for damn near what you paid for them.
@ BrianO - Thanks for the tips, I have actually never heard of WL until I went to paulcbuff.com, I usually just go straight to alienbees.com...
@ RobertLynn - Thanks... Thanks a lot guys... Just go ahead and tell me to buy stuff... I am gonna come beg in front of your doors for money when this is all over... Ha ha!
I understand its a dead horse but no matter how much research you do (i've done tons) there is never a decent answer and I know people who are looking into buying lighting such as the OP or myself are completely frustrated because honestly, I have no clue what 400ws vs 800ws vs 1600 and 3200ws look like. Buying and returning may be fine for some but its not possible where I live : / Buying correct the first time is essential.
Websites and articles seem to do nothing but talk about the science behind the lighting. Yes, gear heads care but most photogs I would think would be more interested in the results lighting can give you.
Chrono, the choices are very simple: You've got light (2.5lbs, same or less than most packs' heads), FAST (1/2000 t.1), and reasonably powerful (f/8-ish @ 6 feet in a diffused modifer): AB400
Every step above that is just a stop more power and twice the recycle time. AB800's are decent, but I'd rather a mixed kit of AB400s and 1600s over straight 800s. If you're shooting Nikon, you'll need even less power indoors due to the ISO200 base. For most amateurs shooting digital, too little power is rarely the problem. I can shoot a 5-man group with 2 AB400s without needing full power, and they'll be a helluva lot crisper than an old 2400ws pack with a t.1 of 1/200-1/300 or that old 1200ws mono you've got kicking around.
Seriously, no one who posts on this forum has an excuse for not at least trying to learn lighting through actual practice when we've got policies like Paul's that allow you to get every cent back 60 days later after you've given them a little test run, courtesy of your CC company. Stop posting on here and go spend at least $1k on a fully refundable investment that'll improve your photography more than almost anything else. I mean it.
bacilonur wrote:
Chrono, the choices are very simple: You've got light (2.5lbs, same or less than most packs' heads), FAST (1/2000 t.1), and reasonably powerful (f/8-ish @ 6 feet in a diffused modifer): AB400
Every step above that is just a stop more power and twice the recycle time. AB800's are decent, but I'd rather a mixed kit of AB400s and 1600s over straight 800s. If you're shooting Nikon, you'll need even less power indoors due to the ISO200 base. For most amateurs shooting digital, too little power is rarely the problem. I can shoot a 5-man group with 2 AB400s without needing full power, and they'll be a helluva lot crisper than an old 2400ws pack with a t.1 of 1/200-1/300 or that old 1200ws mono you've got kicking around.
Seriously, no one who posts on this forum has an excuse for not at least trying to learn lighting through actual practice when we've got policies like Paul's that allow you to get every cent back 60 days later after you've given them a little test run, courtesy of your CC company. Stop posting on here and go spend at least $1k on a fully refundable investment that'll improve your photography more than almost anything else. I mean it....Show more →
THANK YOU!!!! This was EXACTLY the kind of information I was looking for!!! I wanted, in English, the difference between the lights and you told me. Thank you!!!
As for 60 days return that is excellent in the states, but I work in a not so nice area of the world and I may be able to get them, test in a day and return in 60 days but it would be pushing my luck : /
I just wanted to know which one I should buy the Cybersyncs from... AB or WL... 
Oh well, my question was answered, so they can go crazy here. Probably best for them since they got Paul Buff here already... 
This thread is becoming one of my more popular threads!