AlienBees B1600 vs. White Lightning X1600
Big thanks to my friend Anh for picking up this AlienBees B1600 for me. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m returning my White Lightning X1600 next week for an Einstein 640. But the Einstein won’t be here for at least 3 months (it’s on back order). I couldn’t imagine going that long without a studio flash, so I searched high and low on Craigslist and found an awesome deal on this B1600. $280 for the B1600 and carrying case – a savings of $105.88! I see B1600s sell for $320 regularly on POTN, so I had to jump on this when I saw it.
I really prefer the “finger” release levers on the AlienBee over the White Lightning. There are two on the AlienBee as opposed to the one on the White Lightning.
AlienBee
White Lightning
The AlienBee is significantly shorter than the White Lightning. To me, the length of the White Lightning is more aesthetically pleasing, but the AlienBee is more practical in that it takes up less space in storage.
The White Lightning body is solid aluminum while the AlienBee shell is Lexan (polycarbonate). That makes the White Lightning physically tougher, but in practice, it actually takes quite a serious whack to break the Lexan. However, I do prefer the feel of White Lightning body as it just feels more substantial.
The stand mount of the White Lightning is cast and machined aluminum while the mount of the AlienBee is polycarbonate.
The White Lightning comes with a 250 watt modeling lamp and the AlienBee a 150 watt. The modeling lamp on the White Lightning can be adjusted separately from the flash or track directly with the flash. The AlienBee modeling lamp can only track directly with the flash.
More importantly, the X1600 has a 1/4 power mode and 7-stops of adjustment. The B1600, on the other hand, is limited to 5-stops and lacks a 1/4 power mode. The significance of the 1/4 mode on the X1600 is that it essentially becomes a B400 – important if you’re shooting indoors and you don’t need all the power a 1600 has to offer.
Technically true but needs a clarification- the AB 1600 modeling light can track with the flash OR simply be full power. It doesn’t have to track. I can see why a modeling light that tracks would be nice… to preview the shot lighting. A modeling light that’s just ‘on’ would also be nice if you have your lighting set and just want to increase the ambiance to help focus.
I guess I’m not sure what use a modeling light that can be adjusted separately from the flash is… perhaps if you have differently powered lights and want to know how it will look since one fires at half power?
Clint, you are correct that the AlienBee’s modeling lamp can track OR be set to full brightness all the time.
As for the importance of being able to set the modeling lamp independently of the flash tube, what if the flash tube is set to some lower power. I don’t necessarily need the modeling lamp set to full power (too much heat) and set on tracking it (the modeling lamp) doesn’t provide enough light (to be used for focus assistance). With the WhiteLightning I have the option to set the modeling lamp to half power, or some other sufficient power.
FWIW, I just received my Einstein yesterday. I am glad to say that its modeling lamp can also be adjusted independently from the flash tube (as well as track and be set to full brightness).