Calumet or Alien Bees - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

07/14/2008 11:30:03 PM · #1

Ok..a guy i work with (Andy) got some Calumet strobes (400ws units) and I must say they are pretty good . I have heard so many discussions on this site about Alien Bees. Maybe some of you can lend a hand in explaining what kind of features the AB's have over the Calumets. This was one of the first shots I took using any kind of strobe lighting and would like some opinions on what I can do to make it better. Being a novice that I am, it looks ok to me but would love to hear what other technical things could be done to bring it to the next step. Also if anyone out there has the Calumets, it would be nice to know if you are satisifed with them and their performance. The setup was a 400ws through an umbrella on the left and a 400ws off of a reflector on the right. I was using my 430ex flash to fire the strobes. Thanks everyone ;-)

cujee

Canon EOS-30D

07/14/2008 11:30:59 PM · #2

Well I don't know much about lighting, but i can tell you I have heard amazing things about the Alien Bees.

07/15/2008 08:49:26 AM · #3

bump for the morning crowd....anyone?

Buckeye_Fan

07/15/2008 08:57:16 AM · #4

I love love love my bees!! I've worked with soft boxes and umbrellas with them and I think they work great!

Prof_Fate

07/15/2008 09:19:31 AM · #5

Have a look at Paterson Interfit Stellar strobes. Same features as AB and they cost less. I've got 4 300WS units and they've worked perfectly for years now and they travel so they get knocked about, have been run for 7_ hours at a time at events and they keep on ticking.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

07/15/2008 10:52:42 AM · #6

ok thanks for the info. I'll check out the Paterson strobes. Still would love to hear a critique on my first image with "real" lighting...lol :P

Jib

Canon EOS-400D Rebel XTi

07/15/2008 10:58:59 AM · #7

i have one AB 400 and the vagabond and couldnt be happier.. its durrable and it works well with any attatchment ive used...all i can say is that i love it

Mick

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

07/15/2008 01:11:18 PM · #8

It's a very nice photo. I left you a comment.

I don't have any experience with Calumet strobes so I can't help you compare them to AlienBees. I do have lots of AB equipment though and I'm very satisfied with it all. Before I bought my first lights, I did a bit of research on all the brands I could find. I made up a little chart with the features and prices of each brand so I could compare them. The AlienBees offered the most bang for the buck, so that's what I bought.

One big feature that I wasn't able to put on my list was customer service. As it turned out, AlienBees customer service is a big plus. They are very pleasant and helpful. I had a bad sync cable and they sent me a new one immediately. They didn't even ask me to return the bad one. I also had a complete set of the RadioRemote One wireless remotes and some of them were intermittently failing to fire the lights. They know about the problem and their web site offered a full refund to anyone that had purchased them within a specific time frame (I think it was 60 days). They gave me a full refund even though I had had mine for almost a year.

When it comes to lighting, price and wattseconds isn't everything. Compare all of the features, and consider the companies. Does Calumet make their own lights, or are they made by someone else? How do they support them?