Vivitar 283

[SeattleJo]

Hello!

I'm new to the studio lighting scene and have been trying to read up as much as I can before my son arrives (my wife is actually due tomorrow!)

I've bought an Alien Bee 800 which I will fire from with the Camera PC socket.

I was wanting to also purchase some other inexpensive lights (maybe fill, hair, or background) and was thinking about the cheap vivitar 283's. What do you think?

If I buy the remote thingy (?) for the 283's, can the flash from the alien bee set it off? Or does it not work that way? How does the remote actually work? Is it connected somehow to the vivitar flash?

I searched the archives and could not find anything related to this, so I apologize if this topic has already been covered. Thanks in advance for the help.


Seattle Jo
www.srjordan.com

[EmbeddedMatt]

You could use a Wein Peanut Slave to fire the 283. The copy at B&H for the Wein PN mentions the Vivitar 283 by name. You would plug the slave into the 283's PC socket and the slave would optically sync to your strobe by "looking" at the flash from the strobe. Note you don't need a direct line of sight from the strobe to the slave.

As to how well this would work for the purposes you mention I'll leave that to others with more experience to answer. I feel fairly confident that this would at least work pretty well as a background light.

Congratulations on your pending new arrival. Is he your first? As the father of a two year old and a four month old (both boys) I advise you to get your sleep now because it will be a lot tougher shortly.

[another view]

They'll do the job, but a couple of concerns. I'm not a studio lighting expert so I'll be interested to see what others say too.

First, they have much less power than a monolight - maybe enough for what you need them for, but at some point you might need something else - especially if you need a light with an umbrella or soft box, etc. Second, you'll have to get creative with how to control the light - standard reflectors, grids won't fit - but if you're creative you can probably accomplish what you need. And third, but probably not a big deal unless it's high-end work, color temperature can be different between these flashes and a monolight, so they won't all match. Should be pretty close though.

[SeattleJo]

You could use a Wein Peanut Slave to fire the 283.

Congratulations on your pending new arrival. Is he your first? As the father of a two year old and a four month old (both boys) I advise you to get your sleep now because it will be a lot tougher shortly.

Thanks,
That was exactly the kind of info I was looking for.
Yes he will be our first. Your advice about getting sleep seems to be solid. We are hearing it over and over again from our friends.

[SeattleJo]

[QUOTE=another view]First, they have much less power than a monolight Second, you'll have to get creative with how to control the light And third, color temperature can be different between these flashes and a monolight.


Thanks. Great things to think about.