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I stumbled upon an AlienBee B400 with a med soft box and light stand for $250. What im wondering is if anyone has had experiences with the B400. I seem to see a lot of people going for a B800 for a little more versatility.

Thanks

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It's a decent flash, but for an extra $30 ($280) you can get the B800 that's twice as powerful. Looking at the Alien Bees lineup, the B800 seems to be at the price sweet spot.

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you can upgrade with alienbee if you pay the difference and shipping.

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You can send in your used B400 and have it turned into a B800? By chance do you know if you can go from a B800 to a B1600?


BTW I've been using AB for over a year now and for the money I love them. They are nicely made and simple to use.

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If you will be using the light primarily for studio, and shooting at wide apertures, the b400 will do fine. I almost always have my 800s at super low power. The b400 will still be handy as a fill or background light if you find you end up needing more power.

b800s are more versatile with modifiers (grids), larger softboxes, greater distance, and outdoor use- although for the latter a b1600 would probably be better suited.

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