Paul C. Buff, Inc. Technical Forum

HI All! So I am finally getting ready to set up a home studio in my basement. I do a LOT of newborn photography and I have the budget to finally get some lighting equipment.

With that said, I am interested in getting the Alien Bee 800 and the 64-inch Parabolic Umbrella. Now my question becomes.. How does it all work with my Nikon D610 and SB700 OCF? Right now, I have the Yungnuo flash transmitter and receivers set up for OCF with my SB700.

Am I able to incorporate the AlienBee 800 by using the Yungnuo flash transmitter? Or will I need to purchase additional equipment to get the AlienBee 800 and SB700 to work together? I want to keep ALL flash off camera :)

Thank you in advance for your help!!!

Ohhh one more thing... for the AlienBee 800 and PLM umbrella.. what light stand do you recommend?

Thanks again!

Much of this will be determined if your YN remotes are TTL compatible.

If they are, and you trigger your SB700 in TTL and let the AB800 slave optically, then AB800 will trigger too early, and you will probably get an under exposed image.

If you put a receiver on both lights, both lights will fire in sync, but you may over expose the image if the SB700 is firing in TTL.

If the receiver is put on the AB800 and the SB700 is triggered optically (SU-4 mode), then both will trigger in sync.

If there is a receiver on both, both will trigger in sync, and if you manually set power on the SB700, then exposure should be fine.

If the remote is on the SB700, but it is set to manual, then the AB800 will also trigger in sync, and no exposure issues.

The 64" PLM is right on the edge of the 10'/13' stand debate. I would say go with the 10' stand, as it can get the light lower than a 13' stand can. I would weigh the stand down with a sand bag or similar for safety. Anything larger, I would recommend a 13' stand.

Yes my Yungnuo is TTL compatible... So I am guessing the only things I need to order are the AlienBee 800, PLM, and Light Stands (for now! LOL)

Thank you!

Yes, you can make it work with what you have, provided you have a cable to connect the receiver to the AB800, or you are able to manually control the speedlight.

The cable should have a 1/8" connection on one end, and the connection to the receiver on the other (probably a PC connection (PC is not the same as USB)).

I've used a similar setup before but the issue I had was the difference in color temperature the ABR and the camera flash throws out. You might have to color correct one of them with a gel.