White Lightning strobes?

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Peter Williams - 22 Jul 2003 09:06 GMT

I'm considering getting some White Lightnings, and I wondered if people here
had some comments on them (or suggestions on alternatives). What I'm
looking to do is both portraiture and location shooting (architecture). Of
all the current systems, the White Lightning X-series seems to be the best
value. Here's what I like:

1) I have talked to two pros who have used WL extensively, and both have
said that the reliability is stellar (and both mentioned crashed lights
where only the reflector got dinged, and the units never failed). So from
what I've heard so far, the WL system seems to be reasonable in both cost
and quality. My caveat here is that these are both studio portrait guys.

2) The current WL system now offers a battery pack system, so you can take
the strobes on location. Recycle time isn't the greatest, but I can live
with that (particularly since the heads have more power than a Speedotron
set). It seems to give me the power advantage of a monolight, with the
portability of a pack system.

3) I have played with some of the older Ultra's, and I liked the way they
worked. The remote control system is great - I can see the ability to
control 4 lights from either a wired or wireless controller being very handy
(particularly on architectural shoots).

4) Affordability!!! The WL system I put together with 3 heads was in the
range of $2700. Something similar from Speedotron, Profoto, or Elinchrom
was easily 50% more.

Any comments on WL, or suggestions on alternatives? WL seems to be a good
deal, but my preference is to invest in a lighting system that will be
flexible and last (even if that means a case full of Vivtar 283/285's rather
than a WL/Speedotron type setup ;-).

--
-Peter B. Williams
http://www.williamsphotographic.com

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Jean-David Beyer - 22 Jul 2003 11:36 GMT

> I'm considering getting some White Lightnings, and I wondered if
> people here had some comments on them (or suggestions on
> alternatives). What I'm looking to do is both portraiture and
> location shooting (architecture). Of all the current systems, the
> White Lightning X-series seems to be the best value. Here's what I
> like:

[snip]

> Any comments on WL, or suggestions on alternatives? WL seems to be a
> good deal, but my preference is to invest in a lighting system that
> will be flexible and last (even if that means a case full of Vivtar
> 283/285's rather than a WL/Speedotron type setup ;-).

I have three WL-10000 units. They were his first. They have worked
perfectly for about 15 years.

In a former life, I was an electronics engineer, so I could not resist
opening up one of the units. It seems to be very well made using very
good components. My inference was that Paul C. Buff did not want to
spend his profits on customer service, so he made units that would not
require any.

The units you are considering are more modern and fancier than the
WL-10000 units, but I would like to believe that they use comparably
good components and are at least as well designed and built.

Signature

.~. Jean-David Beyer Registered Linux User 85642.
/V\ Registered Machine 73926.
/( )\ Shrewsbury, New Jersey http://counter.li.org
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Lisa Horton - 23 Jul 2003 19:20 GMT

> Any comments on WL, or suggestions on alternatives? WL seems to be a good
> deal, but my preference is to invest in a lighting system that will be
> flexible and last (even if that means a case full of Vivtar 283/285's rather
> than a WL/Speedotron type setup ;-).

I went through this process a few years ago, and chose White Lightning
Ultra Zap units. Since then, I've been completely pleased with them in
every way. Except one. I'm not wildly enthusiastic about the reflector
mounting system. For a bigger stronger person maybe it wouldn't be a
problem, but when mounting a larger softbox, it seems a dicey
proposition to avoid bumping/breaking the flash tube. Otherwise, the
lights seem bulletproof, the output is very consistent, the wired remote
totally rocks.

Lisa

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Ralph Barker - 23 Jul 2003 21:19 GMT

I, too, have been using White Lightning strobes for years, and have been
completely satisfied with the units for medium-duty studio or location
work. The company, Paul C. Buff, Inc., has a great reputation for
service, although I've only had to contact them once on a service
matter. I had an X3200 unit that fried a year or so after the warranty
period had expired. They fixed it at no-charge anyway.

I agree with Lisa's comment about the reflector mounting system - a
degree of care is required when mounting reflectors or softboxes. But,
I've used mine with the extra large (54" x 72") Photoflex MultiDome, and
not had any real problem.

For heavier commercial studio use, you should probably consider
Speedotron, ProFoto and a couple of other brands, as well. But, be
prepared for the associated premium prices. Note that all of these
brands use large, heavy central power supplies, along with cables, as
opposed to the self-contained monolight design of the White Lightnings.

For lighter duty and/or more convenient field use, Buff has come out
with the Alien Bee line (see http://www.alienbees.com/). Smaller units,
less expensive, cute colors. They use the same reflectors and light
modifiers as the White Lightnings, though.

Happy flashing. ;-)

Ralph

>>Any comments on WL, or suggestions on alternatives? WL seems to be a good
>>deal, but my preference is to invest in a lighting system that will be
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Lisa

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Peter De Smidt - 23 Jul 2003 21:25 GMT

Besides White Lightning, you might want to look at photogenic and Calumet's
travelite, which I believe is made by Bowens. I've had Photogenic
monolights now for at least 5 years. They've performed very well. It would
be interesting to know how the light output compares between the different
brands. I seem to remember hearing, back when I was looking for a set of
lights, that the White Lighntnings don't give as much light as the
comparable Photogenics and Travelites. The only way to tell would be to
take light meter readings in the same environment with the same reflector.
Say, a soft box. Has anyone done this?

-Peter

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Jeff Novick - 23 Jul 2003 23:56 GMT

> Besides White Lightning, you might want to look at photogenic and Calumet's
> travelite, which I believe is made by Bowens. I've had Photogenic
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> -Peter

Good advice. I've had Travelites for years and have never had a problem.
But, I wanted to add that the real choice is between monolights and a
battery pack system. In either case, the investment will be considerable and
a lot of thought should be given to which system is more suitable to the
type of work that the poster does. I would also keep brands in mind that
accomodate a wide range of accessories as most people add all kinds of
useful things to the main system.

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Peter Williams - 24 Jul 2003 03:41 GMT

> For lighter duty and/or more convenient field use, Buff has come out
> with the Alien Bee line (see http://www.alienbees.com/). Smaller units,
> less expensive, cute colors. They use the same reflectors and light
> modifiers as the White Lightnings, though.

*WHOA*

Those little guys look killer! The price is certainly amazing. As I will
be more of a light duty user, I'll have to seriously consider them. Thanks
much for pointing these guys out!!!

-PBW

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