# Alien Bee B800



## SnappingShark (Aug 8, 2016)

Finally decided that I wanted some continuous lighting instead of my speedlights, so I've gone and purchased the B800 - with a view to a second, with either a beauty dish or a grid.

Reasoning - I'm looking to set up my own studio (this time, I'll get to it, I've been given the garage by my wife) - it'll just take a few weeks to clean out! I'll be blogging about that project! 

So, question - do you have a B800, and if so, what else in your studio?  I am eager to see who has what and for what piurpose!


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## tirediron (Aug 8, 2016)

Ummm... just a small point of order; a B800 would be a strobed or monolight NOT a continuous light! 

I have no AB gear at all...  I'm a Speedotron guy as far as lighting goes, but in terms of modifiers, I've got a few.  

Umbrellas (36-48") in white & silver reflecting as well as shoot through

Grids & barn doors & socks for all my reflectors (5 -14")

21" BD

10x20 muslins in thunder grey and a variety of mottled dark blue/grey combinations

pop-up background in mottled blue-grey and dark-grey

Lastolite Triflector Mk II in silver/white (BEST.  PORTRAIT.  ACCESSORY.  EVER!)

Enough grip gear to choke a horse

softboxes from 24x24 to 48x54

60" brollybox (beautiful light)

LOTS of reflectors in round, square & triangular...


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## SnappingShark (Aug 8, 2016)

tirediron said:


> Ummm... just a small point of order; a B800 would be a strobed or monolight NOT a continuous light!



Yes, you're right - I meant to say something with a modelling light, as opposed to having to keep my DOF pressed for the speedlites I have.

So, I was looking at barn doors, and I was curious just how versatile they were! What do you think?


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## tirediron (Aug 8, 2016)

BrightByNature said:


> ...So, I was looking at barn doors, and I was curious just how versatile they were! What do you think?


They're as versatile as any other modifier; I like to use them dramatic edge light in place of strip boxes.  This is one light on each side with a set of barn doors narrowed down to about 3/4" on each with a 5" reflector:


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## Trever1t (Aug 9, 2016)

I have 4 ab800's and a ton of soft boxes, umbrellas and such. I'd also recommend the PCB vagabond battery.


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## Big Mike (Aug 9, 2016)

I don't use them as much as I used to, but I've got two B800 and two B400 lights.  





If you are setting up a portrait studio space, I would suggest that you'll want 4 lights.  One to be your main light, one to be your fill light.....the other two could be backdrop lights when you need a bright and even background, or they could be hair/accent/kicker lights.  

At first, I tried mixing mono-lights with hotshoe type flashes, but the hotshoe flashes took much longer to recycle and it was a huge PITA.  Going with all mono-lights made things much easier.  (I still use Speedlites when outdoors or on the go).

I've got a softbox, several umbrellas, and a set of honeycomb grids.


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## jeffW (Aug 11, 2016)

BrightByNature said:


> So, I was looking at barn doors, and I was curious just how versatile they were! What do you think?



I've got a couple barn doors from Paul Buff, while I like their lights and recommend a set of grids  I'm not a fan of their barn doors.  They are sloppy, tricky to put on and or keep on if moving the lights around.  They spill a lot of light so I am constantly wrapping them with foil.  My suggestion buy an extra light stand(s) to put a flag(s) in front of the light to control it


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