http://alienbees.com
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tomcat
Senior Member
Can always try using vPOSTUSA courtesy of our own Singapore Post to ship it back to Singapore via a local US address for receiving the goods.
http://www.vpost.com.sg/vpostusa/content.html
http://www.vpost.com.sg/vpostusa/content.html
sfhuang said:
They have received rave reviews by the American photo mags like Shutterbug and the like.
Was considering them but technical support might be an issue. Capacitors can go bad especially in our humid weather and replacements aren't cheap.
I went with Elinchroms in the end as they have distributors worldwide.
Have a look at the cheaper Prolinca range from Elinchrom. They should cost the same as getting the Alien Bees and it will be easier to find and rent accessories. Also getting fixed will not be a problem. Cathay photo is the distributor in Singapore.
sfhuang said:
You're welcome.
If you can stretch your budget. Cathay is selling an excellent kit consisting of 2 x Style 600 stobes + stands, softbox, umbrellas and hardcase for $2500.
I bought the kit - separately the items would cost $3K or more.
Don't go for the older 500 series lamps, they go bad if you don't use them regularly, a friend of mine owns two of them and has to have them serviced if he doesn't use them for an extended period of time.
The lamps have to be turned on monthly to keep the electrolytic caps in good shape (they leak like carbon batteries and can explode if you don't). Otherwise, they will be more spending time on the technician's work bench.
tomcat said:
I queried alien bees about this, they say its ok, anyway to cut the story short this is their reply
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Thanks for checking out the Bees!
To order any of the Bees in 220v the extra charge is $10.00 per unit so the B400/220v is $234.95, B800/220v is $289.95 and the B1600/220v is $369.95 .Our shopping cart does not have a way for you to order the Bees in 220v so what we normally have our customer do is put a note under special instructions that they need the units in 220v and we will correct the order total on this end.
In order for you to purchase with your Credit Card we would have to actually ship the equipment to the billing address in Singapore for the issued credit card You can however send payment via wire transfer from your bank to ours and then we could ship to the forwarder. This is the only way we can ship to an alternate address
If you are interested in placing your order with a wire transfer just let me know and I can send you our banking information ..
Or if you send me a list of what you are interested in along with your address in Singapore I can check with Ups/Federal Express and DHL worldwide shipping to see who offers the best rate delivering directly to you .
If you have any questions or need any additional information just let me know.
Thanks again,
Lori
AlienBees
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Some thread about alien bees......
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=61250
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=35049
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=61250
http://forums.clubsnap.org/showthread.php?t=35049
tomcat said:
Do be careful when using vpost. They have lots of hidden charges. Now I have an antique camera stuck. The total weight of my package is 1.4 kg. But they insist on charging me 5.6 kg for it.
They sure can rip people off. They
Quote from email----------------
We wish to inform you that the shipping charge for your item is $9.99 +
$6.99 per kg for the first 10kg and $5.99 per kg thereafter based on volumetric weight or actual weight whichever is higher. Although the actual weight is 1.4kg, however, the size of your package is 40X28X30cm, which worked out to be 5.6kg. Hence, the shipping charge is based on the volumetric weight.
pcwe68 said:
Looking at those prices quoted, it will be a good idea to check with Cathay on their Prolinca models with the same Watt Second (Ws or Joule) rating. I think you'll find similar units in the Prolinca range in the same price range.
Also remember many manufacturers like to manipulate their specs to make their products more attractive to buyers. So one manufacturer's rating in Ws rating cannot not be compared 1 to 1 with another's because of several factors like, e.g. the reflector used with the strobe when testing.
I'm not implying that Alien Bee's ratings are bumped up. But do more comparison on their ratings and other manufacturer's ratings before committing. I know for a fact that Elinchrom's specs are on the conservative side. 500Ws is not really 500Ws but 800Ws.(although with their newer Style strobes, they have started to inflate their specs a bit).
Talk to Chris of Cathay photo in the studio equipment department. He is very experienced and although he works for Cathay, he's comments are neutral.
Another thing to take note about strobes is that they must have the ability to be consistent in their colour temperature.i.e. every shot you take has the same colour temp. Otherwise, your color shots will be different shot to shot especially when shooting rapidly and not allowing the strobe to recycle sufficiently between shots. A good strobe should be able to handle the work load.
Confused now?! I was too before I purchase my lights. Do your research on Photo.net and the other manufacturer's website like Profoto, Broncolor, Balcar, Hensel before committing to the Alien Bees. There is information to be gleaned from all these sites. Once you know what it is all about, then commit. Otherwise, you risk paying for strobes that are hard to service and/or don't deliver the goods. Also, selling them off in the furture might not be easy because of the lack of support of them here in Sg.
P.S. I don't have any vested interest in Cathay photo or Elinchrom, I just did my homework and bought what I thought was good value for money in the long run. I have friends who are very happy with their Bowens lights that they purchased from Ruby Photo. Those are even cheaper than the Elinchroms.
bernards said:
As BluesJr said, you must follow both the actual weight and the volume of your package. The reply you received states it very clearly. If your volume of the box is too big, regardless of actual weight, it's going to be bump up into the higher weight category. So ask your shipper to reduce the size of the box.
pcwe68 said:
Don't use DHL as they will always submit any shipment to Customs & you'll be hit with 4% GST if it's valued at over S$400.
Another good compact portable studio flash system is DynaLite http://www.dynalite.com/ which is what I'm using. Used to be brought in by Focam Marketing but not sure if they still do.
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