Portable strobes

[Thomas Nutter]

I'm wondering what you people use as a portable (Battery powered) strobe set-up. I currently have a lumedyne kit that gets me to about 400WS, but their system is a bit hokey. In LF, 400WS is barely enough for maybe f/11 without getting the stand in the frame, and furthermore, it's barely enough to balance the strobe against broad daylight with 100 speed film and an umbrella. I'm interested in power--maybe 1200 WS --enough to make daylight look more like fill while the strobe becomes the key light--in a soft box or umbrella. What do you folks use? Is it cheaper and maybe more practical to either rent or buy a small generator and drag out studio strobes?

[David R Munson]

Well, how much money do you want to drop? I see three main options. Elinchrom Ranger, Hensel Porty, and Profoto 7b.

[Thomas Nutter]

David--If money were no object, which would you recommend? And if money was a very decisive factor, what would you do to solve this problem?

[Jeremy Moore]

There's also Aliens Bees and the White Lightning series of strobes. They both have a 1600ws strobe and with the Vagabond battery system, they are now portable. I was thinking about getting one myself.

I have an Alien Bees B800 that works great, but haven't used the B1600 or the battery system, just giving suggestions based on some research I have done into the purchase.

[Robert Skeoch]

I rent a small honda generator when I need a lot of power outdoors. I use a few long cords so the noise is away from the shoot. It works fine, but is still a bit of a hassel.

[matthew blais]

I bought the Alien Bees 1600 four light kit and Vagabond 300 (2 converters). Set me back about $2500 but that included their large softbox, three umbrellas, four light stands, set of honeycombs. Essentially their "busy bee" package with an upgrade to the 1600 series plus the $500 for the Vagabond-which is a great little beast. Used it shortly there after for a outside location shoot. Shot off about 30-40 images and worked great. They have a five year warranty and I based my purchase off others who have used white lightning products for years. Not sure if you can get all tthat from others.
My 2 cents.

[Henry Ambrose]

I have White Lightning X1600s and use one of their Vagabond battery packs when I can't get to an electrical outlet. They are both hard to beat for the money. The 1600 with the standard reflector at 8-10 feet will barely balance full daylight or maybe the sky will be down just a little bit. Their X3200 would be better with twice the power. Multiple light units in one softbox are another possibility - two of your Lumedynes in small boxes ganged together into one bigger light?



But really you should rent or buy a gas generator and use your studio packs, assuming you have the power you want in them. Unless you would do this frequently renting a generator for your packs would be the cheapest answer. Next might be to buy the generator. At this point an extra assistant would be handy!

[Thomas Nutter]

I just came across a link for Dynalite's XP1100 inverter.

http://www.dynalite.com/fxp1100_n.html

I have plenty of dynalites laying around and this might be an option, but at about $1200 (BHPHOTO) how does it beat a regular generator that would cost less than $400.00 and also be of use when the man comes down on us. (Just Kidding, lets stick with the topic, please!)

[Jay Lnch]

Why don't you try a UPS for computers. They are very cheap and do the same thing.... An $89 unit should get you about 100 flashes.....

[Thomas Nutter]

You'll have to enlighten me--I don't Know what a UPS for computers is.