upgrade studio lighting, HELP ME!

[sbfuller]

I'm looking to upgrade studios lights from the current alien bees B800's that i curently have 2 of. all i have are those 2 flashes and 2 shoot through umbrellas.

I was thinking of upgrading to these lights Photogenic Professional Lighting Equipment - PLR1250DR because they have the pocket wizard built in and i currently don't have pocket wizards. I was thinking of buying some but thought i might as well spend the extra money to get better flashes as well. I would like to use pocket wizards so i can go wireless without having to worry if the AB800's see a flash in order to trigger. I have seen a kit that comes with 2 of these flashes, 2 stands, 2 45" black umbrellas and a carry bag for $1500. what are you opinions?

my second question. I know with most things, you get what you pay for. but my mian experience with that is with cheap chinese knock off brand motorcycles vs.s the name brand. in regards to softboxes, does this same theory hold true? I have seen "Creative Light" softboxes go for $250 for a 3'x4' or kits on ebay that include that softbox, another smaller one, 2 stands, a background stand and a few other goodies that i can't remember right now for about $350. what are the pros of paying more for a background stand or softboxes?

lastly, if you have about $2K to spend on lighting and backgrounds for a studio, what would be your recommendations?

[SusanH1970]

AlienBees are fine strobes. Why don't you just get the CyberSyncs to fire them? Their softboxes are great, too.

[dakwegmo]

Why do you want to upgrade? The only reason I can see given is that you don't want to be limited by optical triggers. If that's the case, the cheapest solution is likely going to be to just buy some radio triggers. Get a set of pocket wizards or cybersyncs to use with your Alien Bees, and problem solved. You could even add a couple more lights and modifiers and still come in well under budget. If your having some other issue with the Alien Bees it would be helpful to know what that is.

[zona5101]

i agree with Susan and Dakwegmo, the good play would be to keep the ABs and get real triggers, cybers, radiopoppers or PWs. Also, its not like you're upgrading going to the Photogenic, ABs, Photogenic are about the same build quality as are photoflex, calumets and a few others all targeted at the semi-pro market. If you want to upgrade you'll need to dig a bit deeper and go with profoto or broncolor...


there is a difference in softboxes and how well they are built and perform. I think some of the chimera boxes are a bit pricy but they are built well. Photoflex makes some nice boxes as does calumet and of course ABs. Some of the cheap no-name ones I have seen, are pretty flimsy.

[sbfuller]

so i'm going to keep the AB's and have ordered pocket wizards and 2 of the Nissin di866 flashes. I like the idea of having Ettl and the Nissin's have almost identical features as the 580exii but without the RF interference. that gives me more ability for a portable set-up as well

[zona5101]

so how are you going to trigger all of them? the nissins: one on camera and the other wireless ittl? and the PW transmitter goes where?
I don't have PW triggers but I assume they work like my RPs and the transmitter sits on the camera hot shoe...
Or are the Nissins going to be optically triggered? And if yes, can they still ittl or do they revert to manual flashes?

[sbfuller]

Originally Posted by zona5101

so how are you going to trigger all of them? the nissins: one on camera and the other wireless ittl? and the PW transmitter goes where?
I don't have PW triggers but I assume they work like my RPs and the transmitter sits on the camera hot shoe...
Or are the Nissins going to be optically triggered? And if yes, can they still ittl or do they revert to manual flashes?

there is a transmitter that goes on the hotshoe of the camera. I have 3 recievers (1 for each flash including my current 580exII). i will have full ettl, HSS, and 2nd shutter options. i also ordered an AC3 zone controller so each flash can be individually adjusted from the camera. i went with PW instead of RP because they are smaller and mount just to the hotshoe with no other tape or velcro needed. range will be less but I've hard that with the nissin flashes that dont have any RF interference, i can get up to about 600 feet with ettl, and about 1200 feet if the flashes are used manually

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by sbfuller

there is a transmitter that goes on the hotshoe of the camera. I have 3 recievers (1 for each flash including my current 580exII). i will have full ettl, HSS, and 2nd shutter options. i also ordered an AC3 zone controller so each flash can be individually adjusted from the camera. i went with PW instead of RP because they are smaller and mount just to the hotshoe with no other tape or velcro needed. range will be less but I've hard that with the nissin flashes that dont have any RF interference, i can get up to about 600 feet with ettl, and about 1200 feet if the flashes are used manually

Fantastic.
Post some shots when you get it all dialed in!

[sbfuller]

Originally Posted by zona5101

Fantastic.
Post some shots when you get it all dialed in!

will do, just waiting to get all of the stuff in. I've got the 2 nissin flashes and the mini-tt1 transmitter, just waiting on the recievers and zone controller now. i still don't have any softboxes so i still have to figure that out