Buying a lighting setup

[MrLarter]

So I am in the market to buy a lighting setup for a studio. I need the lighting setup to be flexible and easily adjusted for various forms of studio photography.

Does anyone have any suggestions? We at the moment are looking at the Busy Bee kit from Alien Bees but I want to check out all my options first.

We have roughly $3000 to spend.

http://www.alienbees.com/busy.html

[Peter Wm. Richardson]

Hi Brian:
Although I know nothing about Alien Bees and I have not purchased lighting in several years, I can highly recommend Dynalites, both from personal experience and from knowing other photographers who have and do use the systems. They are powerful, light weight and very versatile. In my experiences with studio lighting, I have only one rule, you can never have too much light. Whatever you decide to buy, get as much output as you can possibly afford. You can always dump light, but you can never use what you don't have.
Cheers,
Peter
Peter Wm. Richardson
Photojournalist
peterw@journalist.com

[MrLarter]

Dynalights were one of the considerations. I've heard though that the rings that hold on various asseseries can flex and come out of shape if they are used too much causing problems. anyone else have this issues?

[Peter Wm. Richardson]

Brian:
In my experience with a lot of rental Dynalites, I have not encountered this problem. However, I generally find that with a problem such as you describe, the real problem lies with the care taken by the user rather than the quality of the product. Dynalite is one of the biggest manufacturers in the market and that market is extremely competitive. I can not imagine that if they knew of such a potentially destructive error in their product line that they would not have rectified it by now. I've usually found that rental houses, such as Vistek will honestly tell you if such a problem exists with any product, as it could affect their reputation and bottom line in the long run. After all, they would be the ones continually replacing parts and refunding rental monies.
Cheers,
Peter
Peter Wm. Richardson
Photojournalist
peterw@journalist.com

[imageswest]

I would also recommend Dyna-lites; they have proven to be very reliable units over the years.

I've owned a couple of White Lightining strobes, which are the high-end version of the Alien Bees, and the quality and workmanship didn't impress me at all. You should also budget for some hefty brokerage fees if you buy the Alien Bees, unless they've changed their shipping to Canada (UPS Ground).

[ChrisP]

Originally Posted by imageswest

You should also budget for some hefty brokerage fees if you buy the Alien Bees, unless they've changed their shipping to Canada (UPS Ground).

Hi Brian:- They still ship by UPS but even paying the brokerage I still feel I got a good deal. Their customer service is top notch. I had questions before I purchased and after. They has always answered right away. Email and by phone they are very good.
If you decide to buy upgrade to the B1600's, as Peter said you can always dump light but you can't get extra if you don't have it.

I use mine in a portable setup and have had no problems. I've had them in the back of the truck all day at -25 and they were fine. I purchased an extra flash tube and a couple of other spare parts just in case. Nothing has broken in 3 years of using them, touch wood.
Make sure you tell them that you would like them shipped by post office. If enough of us ask maybe they will change their shipping

They even have Canadian repair facilities now.

KHB Photografix
335 Admiral Boulevard, #13 and 14
Mississauga, Ontario L5T 2N2

I am buying one or two more this year to add to my system and maybe two folding softboxes to ease my setup times.

Cheers
Chris

[MrLarter]

Oh thats good to know. We actually don't have UPS in Halifax so I wonder how that will work.

[Peter Wm. Richardson]

Brian:
Why not have it shipped to Portsmouth and make a grand weekend of it driving down to Maine to pick it all up? As long as the ferry stays afloat, it's a lovely trip and offers some nice stock opportunities.
Cheers,
Peter
Peter Wm. Richardson
Photojournalist
peterw@journalist.com

[DW Dorken]

Hey Mr. L:

Another vote for Dyna-lite.

If you have two packs and three heads, and one pack blows, you still can use the three heads.

Dynalite 2040 heads are bulletproof. I've bought my first pack and head a decade ago, used. It rarely needs service. They weigh next to nothing. And if you hang the pack from your stand with a Manfrotto Superclamp and j-hook, you have a built-in ballast.

Monoheads are top heavy. Bump into the stand, especially if the head is in a softbox, and it's going to tip. Put a mono and umbrella outdoors, and bad things are going to happen.

A Dyna-lite Uni-400 monohead is the exception to this rule. It is lighter than a standard Profoto Acute head. Also solid.

That being said, if I shot strobed sports, or anything where I had to freeze action, Elinchrom or White-Lightning would also be at the top of my list. Super-fast flash duration.

Studio? Dyna-lite 4040 head, couple 2040s and a 1000 ws pack. Photeck Illuminata and a couple umbrellas. You'd be a happy guy.

David
DW Dorken Photographer
Toronto, Canada
http://www.dwdorken.com

Bees are plastic. Fantastic some say. But I'd take a used Dynalite kit over a box of new Bees any day.

David
DW Dorken Photographer

[MrLarter]

So I wen to Henrys, Gill, and galaxy camera today..no one sells anything for a studio. It's shocking in all honesty....

Alien bee seems to be the only ones willing to give us a deal as a start up company so I think we are going to stick with them.