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Photography students looking to buy strobes
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Feb 18, 2019 15:08:48   #
dliningham
 
I'm a student and I want to buy some around budget friendly strobe.
which ones should I consider? I am looking at the honey badgers on B&H's website

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Feb 18, 2019 15:38:37   #
willken
 
Yea, budget strobes. Two theories here.

1. Buy the ones made for your camera by the camera maker. Not budget, but they always work.

2. Buy non-OEMs that get good reviews, save some bucks and take your chances. They should specifically state that they will work with your body's remoted flash function.

When I dropped my #2 flash, a Nikon 800, I had to pick something up quick to use with my 900. I drifted into a local shop and bought a ProMaster built for Nikon commander mode, and it worked great at about 30 percent of what I paid for the 900. Guide number was just not quite as high as the 900, but fared well into an umbrella in a multi-strobe set up. Unfortunately, I think ProMaster is out of business, but there are lots of knock-offs out there, and I'm sure someone else on this thread will have some good experience.

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Feb 18, 2019 15:45:54   #
sloscheider Loc: Minnesota
 
dliningham wrote:
I'm a student and I want to buy some around budget friendly strobe.
which ones should I consider? I am looking at the honey badgers on B&H's website

The Honey Badgers are nice. I see B&H still has them on sale - I bought one a while back to play with and it's been a solid performer. It's tiny compared to my older strobes and the modeling light works okay as a continuous light for video. You can certainly get brighter continuous lights but it works okay. I wouldn't hessitate to get 2 or 3 for school and they'll work fine for future use as well. I didn't get the Interfit transmitter but it's nice that they have the receiver half for wireless triggering built in - one less thing you have to carry around and plug in and it gives you remote control over the power levels.

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Feb 18, 2019 15:46:52   #
GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City
 
willken wrote:
Yea, budget strobes. Two theories here.

1. Buy the ones made for your camera by the camera maker. Not budget, but they always work.

2. Buy non-OEMs that get good reviews, save some bucks and take your chances. They should specifically state that they will work with your body's remoted flash function.

When I dropped my #2 flash, a Nikon 800, I had to pick something up quick to use with my 900. I drifted into a local shop and bought a ProMaster built for Nikon commander mode, and it worked great at about 30 percent of what I paid for the 900. Guide number was just not quite as high as the 900, but fared well into an umbrella in a multi-strobe set up. Unfortunately, I think ProMaster is out of business, but there are lots of knock-offs out there, and I'm sure someone else on this thread will have some good experience.
Yea, budget strobes. Two theories here. br br 1... (show quote)


Good advice for speedlights, but the OP said strobes, which are not the same.
Read more HERE about the differences.

The Honey Badgers dliningham mentioned are monolights, and pretty good ones according to the spec’s.
I really like my A/C powered Bowens lights, had them since 1995, but they are no longer made. One of them finally gave up the ghost a few months ago. The first time I ever had trouble with mine. They are available used- Example HERE for $140. This is a newer model than mine.

Since I have Bowens mount accessories, the Honey Badger looks really good for a budget light, since it also has the same mount.

I do a lot of location work and am in love with the battery-powered Godox system. Very impressed with them! And, yes, they too use a Bowens mount. The system includes monolights, speedlights and the AD-200 which is kind of a bit of both. Almost all with built-in radio radio connection. B&H has them. Adorama sells Flashpoint-branded Godox units. I also use some of their Glow EZ lock softboxes. Really happy with them so far, again with the Bowens "S"- mount you could use on a HoneyBadger.

Paul Buff makes some very popular budget-priced monlights right here in the US. And I've read service is great as well. The Honey Badgers look a lot like the Honey Bee units from Paul Buff. I've used the White Lightning units from Paul Buff briefly and it may be a fluke, but it fell apart as we were using it. Luckily, service was close and fast.

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Feb 18, 2019 15:59:43   #
sloscheider Loc: Minnesota
 
GoofyNewfie wrote:
Good advice for speedlights, but the OP said strobes, which evidently has more than one definition.
The Honey Badgers he mentioned are monolights, and pretty good ones according to the spec’s.
I like my A/C powered Bowens lights, but they are no longer made.
Since I have Bowens mount accessories, the Honey Badger looks really good for a budget light, since it also has the same mount. I do a lot of location work and am in love with the battery-powered Godox system. Very impressed with them! And, yes, they too use a Bowens mount.
Good advice for speedlights, but the OP said strob... (show quote)

In addition to the Bowens mount the HB also has a flange to attach the snap on style of diffusers that are becoming fairly common, the 24" pop open softbox they include is this type.

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Feb 18, 2019 16:05:21   #
GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City
 
sloscheider wrote:
In addition to the Bowens mount the HB also has a flange to attach the snap on style of diffusers that are becoming fairly common, the 24" pop open softbox they include is this type.

Yes, I remember seeing that!
I have a couple of those softboxes myself.
How's the build quality on the HoneyBadger?
(Yellow?? Wish they came in black, grey or white )


WOW! One can buy a HoneyBadger 320 for less than $200 and includes a 24 x 24" pop-up softbox!!

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Feb 18, 2019 16:24:41   #
tradio Loc: Oxford, Ohio
 
I've been tempted several times by the Paul Buff Alien Bees.

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Feb 18, 2019 17:18:52   #
GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City
 
GoofyNewfie wrote:

WOW! One can buy a HoneyBadger 320 for less than $200 and includes a 24 x 24" pop-up softbox!!

...and a kit with 2 lights, softboxes, stands, remote and case for $470.
Looks like it does HSS (High Speed Sync) as well. Nice!

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Feb 18, 2019 17:40:02   #
E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
 
According to the published specifications, those lights seem decent enough for the price and have some nice features. B&H is a reputable dealer so I assume the are not selling inferior products. Before I can give you my opinion, I would like a little more information from the OP.

So...you are a photography student- what areas of photography are you studying and what are us aspiring to professionally?

The reason I am asking is that it is wise to build a system that will serve your future needs. It migh be better to start off with one or two strobes of a higher quality or greater output and augment the system as you progress. Another alternative is to create a system with theses moderately priced lights and purchase more of them to form a complete system. Various fields of photography require different systems. If you start planning now, at the onset of you career, you can get more bang for your buck over a longer period of time. Also consider the various accessories, interchangeable reflectors, compatibility with various modifiers, umbrellas, softboxes, snoots and barn-doors etc. you also need to budget for safe and adequately tall enough and sturdy light stands and other support gear. You may require a boom stand.

Think about your interests such as fashion, portraiture, commercial work, products and still life, weddings and events, sports, photojournalism etc.

Consider availability of parts and future service and features like user replaceable flash tubes, recycle times and duty cycles. Find out what the warranty terms and periods are like.

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Feb 18, 2019 17:49:38   #
dliningham
 
Thanks, hopefully, I'll order them in about a week

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Feb 18, 2019 17:53:57   #
dliningham
 
Yes, I'm getting my degree in wedding photography. I'm planning to do events. I am still feeling out which direction I want to go.

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Feb 18, 2019 17:58:41   #
dliningham
 
thanks, I'll check them out

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Feb 18, 2019 18:22:33   #
sloscheider Loc: Minnesota
 
dliningham wrote:
Thanks, hopefully, I'll order them in about a week

It's helpful to click the "Quote Reply" button when you're replying to someone so we know who you're talking to (if it's not obvious).

Fwiw, that sale price has been in place for at least a month so if you're definitely going to purchase, do it now before the price goes up. Everyplace else is selling them for around $275 - not sure why B&H had them so cheap.

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Feb 18, 2019 18:34:13   #
Vietnam Vet
 
spend the money for a good quality flash. If you have Canon, buy Canon, if you have Nikon, buy Nikon. For the rest of your strobes that a you want to fire remotely, buy some old units from film days, such as the Vivitar 283, and buy an attachment that will cause them to fie when another flash is fired.

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Feb 18, 2019 20:20:21   #
GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City
 
Vietnam Vet wrote:
spend the money for a good quality flash. If you have Canon, buy Canon, if you have Nikon, buy Nikon. For the rest of your strobes that a you want to fire remotely, buy some old units from film days, such as the Vivitar 283, and buy an attachment that will cause them to fie when another flash is fired.


Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Pentax, etc make speedlights, not studio strobes as the OP is asking about. There is a difference. Read my first post in this thread.

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