After my disaster with my Inovatronix ExplorerXT I decided to go with the AlienBees Vagabond II. All I can say is that it performed FLAWLESSLY! I have nothing bad to say about it. The recycle times were impressive (less than 1 second with 3 AlienBees B800 units at about 1/8 power). It’s nice to be back in action in the mobile power department.
Rena did great and she is a long-time friend. We sneaked into and shot in the old sub-level of Old Sacramento. It was a fun shoot and I really enjoyed working with her!
After some serious consideration, I finally decided to invest in an AlienBees lighting setup. I had read a lot of great reviews about their stuff, but I also had read some s0-so or even negative reviews about them as well. After spending a day with the system, I really feel like I got my money’s worth. I plan to write a full review soon. Here is a super quick one though…
AlienBees B800 and B1600 flash units – Great! Satisfactory to very satisfactory build quality. Lexan body seems sturdy and not “plasticy”. The accessory mount, while different, seems like it will hold up well against the smorgasbord of light modifiers I picked up. Even a 5 foot octabox. Great features like modeling light tracking, senstitive optical slave, ability to use the modeling light as a ready light, telling you when your flash is recycled. I like that the swivel tightening lever can be adjusted by simply pulling it out and reorienting it to where you want. This will help guard against strain and fatigue on the moving parts.
The Paul C Buff Octabox and Extra Large foldable softbox assemble in seconds. (not counting putting the front on). Literally the easiest softboxes to put together. The AlienBees proprietary accessory / speedring mount is equally easy to manage. More on these soon I hope.
Now, to the point of my post. There was one troubling scenario I had ran across a couple times on the photo sites about the inconsistent light output of AlienBees units, especially at low power settings. This was a big area of concern for me so I decided to see for myself if there was any truth behind these stories. I used a Sekonic L358 meter and put them to the test. See the results for yourself. There is some slight variance in output, mainly right after lowering the output of the flash. I assume this happens as the capacitors fully discharge.
The B800 performed well in my opinion, and the B1600 performed even better. No, these are not Profoto or Dynalite quality flashes BUT for under $400 a piece, you really can’t go wrong with these lights. I hope this helps anyone who’s on the fence.
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