I’ve no idea what an Alien Bee is or a Vagabond for that matter. Are they lights?

Damien.

i read this on another forum:

“I love my Elinchroms, but can’t get them to run off an inverter. They are digitally controlled, so the power dip sends the protection circuits mad and they shut down. Hence the Bees on order”

the bees and vagabond 2 looks like a great package.. exactly what im looking for! it just sucks that they dont sell to the uk
is their a european equivalent of the alein bees?
cheers
Paddy

Bron and Pro Photo are the best mobile kit and are the most expensive as a result. Bowens is well made but chunkier and heavier. All these systems will give you up to f/16 at ISO 100.

The Arris I use are not flash and will give f/4 at ISO 800. These are suited for interiors only.

Quantum make intermediate kit with sophisticated electronics but are not cheap either.

It’s ‘horses for courses’ all light systems have their advantages and I have a selection of them all to meet my needs. I use Bowens in my studio for instance.

I hope this helps, even just a bit. Get to Focus on Imaging at the NEC in February and check out the various kits at first hand. Read about the pros and cons and ask the hire shops about the customer feedback is on various kits.

Cheers,

Damien.

I’m interested in the discussion regarding external lighting and wondered if you would elaborate further i.e. Bowens v Broncolor. Although Broncolor is widely regarded as better, the cost is significantly higher than Bowens (kits plus accessories, remotes etc) who are an industry standard and reliable, according to my research.

I also see from your winter wedding comments that you also use Arri lighting and would be interested to hear the view on this too and how it fits in vis a vis the other two.

I suspect most people – certainly me! – will have a defined budget and will need to choose a system carefully at the outset and build upon it as their business grows.

Is it a case of cost vs convenience? A brief synopsis of the pros and cons of each would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks for a superb blog!

Rory.

My Broncolor Mobil kit is 2.5 times the power of your Bowens head. That translates to just over 1 stop of light in the field. The Bron head is about the size of my fist and is light. Your Bowens head will need a power supply or a car battery and an inverter. It will still do the job once it is powered up though.

I hope this helps,

Damien.

Cheers,
Luis