Monolight Setup Prep

[o hey tyler]

Okay, so through the grapevine I've found out that I am getting an Alien Bee's AB800. Having lots of experience with speedlights, I know how those work. I've had zero experience with studio flashes, so this is what I am unsure about...

If I am firing my 430ex's from my 5D using cactus triggers, I can set the AB unit to fire as a slave, correct? Therefore I don't HAVE to have it plugged in via the sync cord. Are there more limitations to firing via slave? For example, if it's plugged in via the sync cord, could I go above 1/200s for my sync speed?

If I wanted to, is there a way to fire the AB unit with my cactus triggers? Is there a hotshoe dongle that attaches to it?

I mainly just want to find out if I need to buy more receivers for my Cactus system, or if I will be fine with the two that I have for the 430ex's.

Thanks for anyone who can "shed some light!"

 

[Rephargotohp]

You can fire the AB's using the Slave Optical Sensor, The downside is the optical sensor has to SEE the light of the 430 and also the 430EX has to be in manual off the camera. If it were on Camera and in TTL mode the preflash would fire the bee prematuturely. Other problem can be using the Bee in bright sunlight because again, the optical sensor can get overloaded with sunlight and not see the trigger flash

Best is to fire both the bee and the 430 with Radio triggers, I beliive the cactus's also have a miniphone out you can connect with a short cord to the Bee' sync input. Most cactus come with the cords but you can also buy them at Radio Shack.

No you can't exceed sync even with a Bee

 

[o hey tyler]

You can fire the AB's using the Slave Optical Sensor, The downside is the optical sensor has to SEE the light of the 430 and also the 430EX has to be in manual off the camera. If it were on Camera and in TTL mode the preflash would fire the bee prematuturely. Other problem can be using the Bee in bright sunlight because again, the optical sensor can get overloaded with sunlight and not see the trigger flash

Best is to fire both the bee and the 430 with Radio triggers, I beliive the cactus's also have a miniphone out you can connect with a short cord to the Bee' sync input. Most cactus come with the cords but you can also buy them at Radio Shack.

No you can't exceed sync even with a Bee

Thanks for the help! Much appreciated.

And yes, I figured that the optical slave wouldn't work well at all in bright sunlight, that totally makes sense. I also do have some miniphone cables from my Cacti. Sounds like I'll drop some extra bucks on another one though.

 

[Big Mike]

Yes, all of that sounds about right.

The Bee, like most studio strobes, has as build-in slave sensor, so it will fire from the pop of the 430, provided the 430 is in manual mode (no pre-flash).

You can trigger the studio light with a radio trigger, you just need to connect the trigger to the light via a miniphone cable/plug. Note, when you plug something into the sync socket on the light, it disables the optical trigger.

 

[kundalini]

Congratz.

I use separate triggers on all my lights. It makes it easier (for me) when using a hand held meter to isolate each lights output with multiple lights.

 

[tirediron]

On that note, for cables, try Flash Zebra. I recently ordered from them and it was quick and easy. Excellent service and the quality of the products seems excellent for the price.

 

[Derrel]

Sunlight does not "overload" optical slaves; slaves FIRE! when they sense a rapidly-ascending spike of light. Lots of newbies are making assumptions about optical slaves being totally unworkable in bright ambient light environments. A decent optical slave will fire just as well on a California beach as in a Virginia coal mine--as long as the light **reaches** the slave. My experience is that if a slave will not trip, it is not because the ambient light is too bright; it's because the light is not being AIMED at the slave, or the light burst is too weak, like say 1/32 power on a speedlight located at some fair to far distance from the slave's location. A quality optical slave will Fire!, no matter the ambient light level--at least with the Wein and Vivitar brand slaves I own. Maybe some of the cheap Chinese made crap-grade slaves do not work as well as the Wein or Vivitar slaves made by companies with a name and reputation to protect...

Before radio and IR triggers, I used Wein-branded slaves to trip studio flashes and mutliple-speedlight setups in all conditions...never had a single problem even in sunlight...as long as the flash was aimed so the slave could "see" that rapidly-peaking light, the slaves would fire. EVERY time. One thing to keep in mind too, is that multiple speedlights can be PC-cord-connected, and ONE, single slave can be used to get the whole line to fire. One slave can trigger multiple speedlights; same with one trigger unit; all you need is the right cabling.

 

[Village Idiot]

You can fire the AB's using the Slave Optical Sensor, The downside is the optical sensor has to SEE the light of the 430 and also the 430EX has to be in manual off the camera. If it were on Camera and in TTL mode the preflash would fire the bee prematuturely. Other problem can be using the Bee in bright sunlight because again, the optical sensor can get overloaded with sunlight and not see the trigger flash

Best is to fire both the bee and the 430 with Radio triggers, I beliive the cactus's also have a miniphone out you can connect with a short cord to the Bee' sync input. Most cactus come with the cords but you can also buy them at Radio Shack.

No you can't exceed sync even with a Bee

Thanks for the help! Much appreciated.

And yes, I figured that the optical slave wouldn't work well at all in bright sunlight, that totally makes sense. I also do have some miniphone cables from my Cacti. Sounds like I'll drop some extra bucks on another one though.

AB has a 1/4" plug on it so you need 3.5mm to 1/4". Make sure its mono as well.