Need my first lighting setup for outdoor/ on location

[Derrel]

I agree. I am really leaning towards the flashpoint. The only thing is that I'm having trouble finding a larger flashpoint battery if i wanted to upgrade later down the road.

The Flashpoint battery is SMALL and LIGHT--around 15 ounces. And it is priced pretty low for what it is. Village Idiot mentioned the Flashpoint battery specification as 100 full-power flashes at 600 watt-seconds; but you're looking at using it with the 320 MP lights, Adorama specifies 180 full-power flashes from the FP2PP battery when used with the 320MP monolight. From a 15-ounce battery! Again, this is from a 15-ounce battery that comes with a monolight, for $199, free shipping.

The Vagabond Mini Lithium sine wave inverter + lithium battery weighs 3.5 pounds, and costs $239.95 on its own. Add in the lowest-power Alien Bee monolight, the "Alien Bee 400", which is a 160-watt-second light, pretty much the same power as the FP 320 light unit, priced at $225 per Alien Bee light. No stand, no umbrella. That's $465 per 1 Alien Bee 160 watt-second light w battery pack of 3.5 pounds.

Right now, the FP 320 MP monolight costs $199 with the 15-ounce, 180-shot DC current battery pack, free shipping. $119.95 for the light + light stand but without the battery. UNBEATABLE price points.

The VML or Vagabond Mini Lithium is a sine wave inverter + battery. Paul C. Buff - Vagabond Mini Lithium

Again, if you want to pay $465 per light with a 56-ounce portable battery, get the Alien Bees 400 model 160 watt-second lights. If you want to pay $199 for a 150 watt-second light with a battery pack that weighs 15 ounces, get the Flashpoint 320 MP lights.

Then, if you DO WANT a more-powerful sine wave inverter + battery down the road, you can always buy a VML, which at 3.5 pounds has a lot of Ooomp! for $239 and 56 ounces in weight.Or look at an even-larger sine wave _+ battery unit like the full-sized Vagabond or a Tronix Explorer 1200 or something else that will weigh in the 15- to 18-pound weight class but which will be able to power you through an entire day's worth of shooting.

On the flash units themselves: $119 buys an FP 320 MP 150 watt-second light + light stand, free shipping. $225 buys an AB 400, 160-watt-second unit with no stand; that means AB's are almost double the price for 10 more watt-seconds, which is basically, nothing.

 

[SHaller]

I agree with Derrel. If I had the money to spend on a lighting set up, the alien bees seem to get awesome reviews. The thing is I spend most of time shooting wildlife so I dont want to go ahead and invest a decent amount of money in something that I may not even enjoy that much. The flashpoint should do just fine for me in the mean time. Thanks a lot for all the input, I really appreciate it.