Hello Glen, Don't know how much help I can be, but I'll give you my experience. I started out using AF360FGZ's - 3 of them in wireless configuration for mimicking studio lights. On the plus side, they were very portable. On the downside, no modeling lights was clumsy. On top of that, the power difference was quite major. With the portable flashes, I could only achieve about f5.6 at full power with ISO 160 film. I found that to be inadequate most of the time. When shooting that type of stuff with a background, many times you'd like the whole subject in focus. It was also hard to set and see ratios.
I finally broke down and bought two Alien Bee monolights. They are exactly what I needed. On top of that, if you want it, you can get a battery system for them to shoot on location when no AC is available. I use mine all the time. I still own and use 2 AF360FGZ's on the *istD for daylight flash fill - high speed synch and the flashes have the ability to dial in compensation so I can tone them down to an appropriate fill level. I also use 2 AF400T's on the *istD for main lights when the venue I am shooting is just too dark for fill flash. I guess I am saying that there is no single solution that will cover all needs well. I tried it and ended up needing two other systems beyond the AF360FGZ's - the AF400T's were due to power and recycle time. I use a Quantum Battery2 to get about 1 second recycle time on full discharge of the flash. The Alien Bee website is : http://www.alienbees.com/index.html -- Best regards, Bruce Wednesday, September 28, 2005, 9:17:51 AM, you wrote: G> At 11:53 AM 9/28/2005, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: >>Since the units are monolights they have integral power supplies. They are >>fully adjustable from 1/16th power to full power, so I can achieve any >>lighting ratio I wish. T! >> hey recycle almost immediately. It's a far better solution than >> on-camera strobes doubling as wireless units. >>Paul G> Studio strobes are at a huge disadvantage when you want multiple flash on G> location and don't have AC power available. (I sometimes shoot in G> situations like that.) Lugging a 120 Vac generator around isn't very fun or G> inexpensive. (I also don't already own a generator.) It's largely because G> of this, that I'm considering multiple battery-powered flash units such as G> the Sigma and Pentax models. G> However, if the studio monolights had a LOT of extra power compared to the G> Sigma or Pentax flashes, and I could get them cheaply enough, I would still G> consider them. Also, having modeling lights is a huge advantage with the G> monolights. G> It's been awhile since I actually used studio monolights. Could you do me a G> favor, and try to give me some idea about the power difference between your G> monolights and your Sigma flash? What would be the difference in aperture G> when switching from the Sigma on-camera flash to the monolights? (I know G> this is somewhat awkward to compare, but just assume your "typical" G> monolight configuration, whether it be with reflectors, umbrellas, soft G> box, whatever.) I wish more monolight manufacturers would publish GN G> specifications, or that on-camera flash makers would give watt-second G> ratings for their flashes. It's really hard to know how much difference G> there is in the strength of two flashes without actually buying them and G> comparing for yourself. (Which is something I can't afford to do.) G> thanks, G> Glen
