Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

I am just kind of curious...

I read some people dissing the Alien Bees on Schmodel Schmayhem as being "amateur lights" because of color consistency problems, but those same people then claimed that the White Lightning series were more color consistent.

Is there really much truth to what they are saying? don't the WL series use (primarily) voltage control similar to the AB's?

I think that the WL might use capacitor switching IN ADDITION TO voltage control for the lowest power settings though. Does that make much of a difference in terms of, say, color consistency and t.5 / t.1 times???

Thanks in advance.

Yes, WhiteLighting and AlienBees use the same technology in Voltage control flash, and therefore will render color the exact same way. As power (Voltage) is reduced, the color temperature shifts to the red end of the spectrum, and flash durations get longer. Its physics. And physics applies equally to AlienBees and WhiteLightning. And Profoto. And Elinchrom, Broncolor, Bowens, etc. Each stop of reduction in power yeilds about an 80K shift. Our lights have 5 stop of power range, while others may have 3-4. Less reduction means less color shift.

The X1600, X2400 (discontinued), and X3200 all have a capacitor switch that reduces the stored power by 2 stops, but at full Voltage. Also, you have less stored energy discharged at a higher Voltage, your flash durations get shorter. So, an X1600 in Full power mode acts just like a B1600. In 1/4 power mode, it acts like a B400. Note, the X800 does not have this switch, as it does not have a number of capacitors that is divisible by 4.

But the X series does have the metal housings, 5 year warranty, brighter model lamp, thermostatic fan, and audible alarm, which are all upgrades over the AlienBee line.

Thanks so much for the explanation. that clears things up quite a bit.

speaking of the thermostatic fan, just to confirm, on the Alien Bees, the fan is SUPPOSED to stay on all the time, right? (once the power switch is turned on.)

Yes, the fan does stay on. Some lights may be easier to hear than others.

Great! Thanks again!