What does 'Alien Bees' gear mean to the photography world?

[SpeedTrap]

Funny thing about the entire buzz around the Einstein’s and AB Max, they are the single biggest reason why I no longer use Alien Bees.

When I was at the point of needing more out of my lights than the standard Alien Bees could offer the AB Max was announced.

I thought that they would do fantastic, on the day they were available for pre-order I called in and ordered 5 of them. Then the waiting started, I had a big shoot I wanted to use them on and I had given myself plenty of lead time for them to be delayed once and I would still have time to get to know them before the shoot.

They were delayed, but with the promise of more features, then they were delayed again. It was at this time that I could no longer take any chances and I found a new supplier that proved to be fantastic. I kept watching the announcement where the lights were delayed again and then no longer being built.

Next came the announcement of the Einstein’s and it started all over again. They are already months behind the release date and now the info has stopped. I would not at all be surprised to see another delay or more changes.

For those that are going to keep hanging on for the next big thing from AB, keep your hope up, I am sure you will have them soon, but in the mean time I will continue to shoot and make money with the lights I have now.

 

[NateWagner]

reminds me of RadioPoppers personally.

 

[epatsellis]

You two need to stop this tit-for-tat BS. It gets old reading it. Both of you know a good bit about photography, more than I do... I'd rather learn something from the two of you instead of watching a back and forth bitchfest.

It ended a few days ago, but I guess it doesn't hurt to bring it up again. Thanks for chiming in, but I'm on Derrels ignore list now (thank God). So you can pluck your panties from your rear-end and take a deep breath. If tensions do flair again, know that you don't have to read it. You can simply 1) put us both on your ignore list or 2) scroll past.

Then I'm likely in good company...

fortunately I decided against replying to his "looking down at AB" comment with a retort that those of us using Broncolor think the same thing about Speedotron, much less using "little" cameras for serious work, but I'm guessing the chances of his seeing it would be about zero.

 

[Mike_E]

:lmao::lmao::lmao:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofzCZiQ9vjA"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofzCZiQ9vjA[/ame]

 

[Don Kondra]

I think it is unreasonable to expect them to also pay the shipping on a repair...

Cheers, Don

 

[snowbear]

.

 

[flightless_beaker]

Ah. Come back after a year hiatus (maybe more :/ ) and see this thread. I think I was reading this before I bought my AlienBees. BTW, I purchased them since this thread was made and I have no regrets. Going back to the original discussion, I can see why some pros may not like them. They do look a little cheesy and feel a bit cheap in a way. That's why I bought mine in Yellow . I've used them a bit since I've gotten them and I really like them a lot. I'm a professional portrait photographer and they do the job I need them to do with the way that I shoot. At my job we use White Lightnings so the transition between the two is easy.

They were affordable too which is good since I'm trying to start my own business and every dollar counts. Will these be the lights I use for the rest of my career? Most likely no but they will be perfect just starting out. And if I do upgrade, they'll be great backups. I'm actually looking to get the AB400 for a hair light or maybe even 2 AB400s to use as background lights and hair lights and have a 4 light setup

 

[Ihatemymoney]

I own and use two B1600 units.

Does Paul Buff use creative advertising ? Yup...

Is he the only company that does this ? Hardly...

I also own and use two 200 w/s Cowboy Studio lights.

Does that make me less than a professional ?

I've also been using a 9" contractors saw to produce award winning furniture for over 30 years.

It's a poor craftsman that blames his tools.

Cheers, Don

Paul C Buff

I don't know if it is possible to beat their customer service, I have 1 ab / 1600 and one white lighting 1600.
Just to photograph exotic woods

 

[Derrel]

Speedotron beats Buff's customer service. How? By making products that do not constantly break down or fall apart under light usage, or normal, everyday transport...Speedotron's customer service comes from people right here in the USA, in Chicago, Illinois, where the products are manufactured. Speedotron is one of the world's oldest continuous producers of professional lighting equipment..you buy the stuff, and it...just works. For years on end. The web is filled with stories about Buff sending out entire new units, to replace ones that failed on shoot one, or shoot two, or shoot three, or whatever. Some people love to talk about Buff's "customer service," I prefer to talk about the equipment's service record and service life, not how fast the company that sold me cheap stuff sent out new, replacement cheap stuff...

I have a Speedotron Brown Line pack, three heads, and three flashtubes from my very FIRST Speedotron Brown Line purchase, bought in 1987...two of the three flashtubes still work (one got into a bar fight with a concrete floor and was killed...), but the flash generator and all three lights STILL work as well as the day I bought them. The pack or heads have never been serviced. To me "that" is the kind of customer service I expect from my light-maker...not a need for fast air-freight shipping to replace cheap, offshore-made stuff that is sold "AS IF" it was actually made in the USA...

I feel it is deceptive to take offshore-made parts, have them mostly assembled offshore, import them mostly finished, and then do JUST ENOUGH assembly work in the USA to earn the "assembled in USA" qualifier.

Why not pay less than HALF as much, and just buy Adorama's Flashpoint 320M and 620M monolights, which are made in China, by the Mettle Company? You know, buy Chinese-made lights at Chinese-made prices, and not try to fool anybody with wildly exaggerated model numbers that are more than DOUBLE the Watt-seconds the units actually deliver? Maybe that's part of the Buff Alien Bee customer service-- they give you a model number that's over TWICE what the light output is! lol