color temperature of Alien Bees 1600

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Archive 2009 · color temperature of Alien Bees 1600

JohnJ
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p.1 #1 · color temperature of Alien Bees 1600

Is there any info on the net that shows how much the colour temperature of Alein Bees 1600's change at different power settings? For that matter, does the color temp change much at all?

JJ

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:20 AM

TTLKurtis
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p.1 #2 · color temperature of Alien Bees 1600

I tested the B800s (not the B1600s yet, though I do own them) for exactly this, and found that as you turn them down, the color temperature is a few hundred K different than at full power.

Nov 09, 2009 at 07:41 AM

cgardner
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p.1 #3 · color temperature of Alien Bees 1600

Not much and no more than most.

All studio flash units use similar flash tube designs which are subject to the same physical laws. A trigger circuit applies current the wire or ring around the tube, which ionizes the xenon to the point it is conductive enough to allow the charge in the capacitors to jump across the electrodes and trigger the big bang. The flash tube is the "on" switch. Off happens when the capacitors empty, or in some units (and hot shoe flash) with a physical switch cuts off the power to the tube.

If it concerns you do a test and find out. Shoot a gray card and see how the RGB values change. If you are obsessive about keeping consistent neutral WB then the best practice is to set Custom WB off a gray card as the last step in your workflow after the lights are set, including the gray card in a test shot to allow for verifying the WB in editing.

Chuck

Nov 09, 2009 at 02:34 PM

Paul Buff
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p.1 #4 · color temperature of Alien Bees 1600

Almost all monoflash units change color at the rate of about -70-80°K per f stop of power adjustment. This is not unique to our products.

Nov 09, 2009 at 04:54 PM

bacilonur
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p.1 #5 · color temperature of Alien Bees 1600

According to CC (which has them all programmed in), it's:

5600k at 1/1
5525k at -1f
5450k at -2f
5375k at -3f
5300k at -4f
5225k at -5f
5125k at -6.2f

So, realistically, don't go under 40ws if you worry about that. If you're consistently working at minimum power, you should just get a B400 for the weight and flash duration benefits.

Nov 09, 2009 at 06:01 PM

JohnJ
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p.1 #6 · color temperature of Alien Bees 1600

Thanks guys. I normally use small strobes at a mix of power outputs (to shoot cars) but I'm used to using Metz 60's and I haven't seen any noticeable colour shifts.

Paul, the Einsteins look like a great product for many reasons, can't wait for them to be realised on the market. Especially here in Australia.

Thanks
JJ

Nov 09, 2009 at 09:32 PM

Thats Fresh
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p.1 #7 · color temperature of Alien Bees 1600

bacilonur wrote:
According to CC (which has them all programmed in), it's:

5600k at 1/1
5525k at -1f
5450k at -2f
5375k at -3f
5300k at -4f
5225k at -5f
5125k at -6.2f

So, realistically, don't go under 40ws if you worry about that. If you're consistently working at minimum power, you should just get a B400 for the weight and flash duration benefits.

yup that sounds about right...

Nov 10, 2009 at 07:41 PM

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