SPOY Prize #5: An AlienBees ABR800 Ring Flash

I am happy to announce that the final prize in the Strobist Pictures of the Year is an AlienBees ABR800 Ring Flash. And at 320 watt-seconds of power (with continuous power variability over a 5-f/stop range) it'll do just about anything you need a ring flash to do. Priced at $399.95, it is no suprise that it is going through the photo community like a hot knife through butter.

But AlienBees Head Honcho and flash engineering legend Paul Buff did not stop with just a standard ring flash, bucko. He also created a full line of inexpensive light modifiers that can turn the ABR800 into a wide range of light sources.

You can shoot through the flash unit it as is, or mount one of several soft-box-like accessories to it. The octagonal soft boxes (30 and 56 inches, respectively) can be configured as either shoot-through or standard soft light sources, depending on the diffusion fabric you choose. Honestly, it is hard to imagine a more configurable high-power main light for any price.

Paul Buff himself is one of the most wonderfully eccentric orange-haired rocket scientists you'd ever want to meet. All of his life, he has marched to the beat of a different drummer. And his penchant for thinking outside of the box has resulted in a string of high-value lighting gear coups over his entire career.

I had been planning to visit the Nashville headquarters and do a post about it, but someone has already beaten me to the punch. The Sound Advice blog did it here. That blog, written by Don Lindich, has recently jumped to the top of my daily read list, BTW. Great stuff.

I am obviously very happy to be able to offer an ABR800 as one of the prizes in the Strobist Photos of the Year. Please join me in thanking the folks at AlienBees for donating such cool piece of gear.

NOTE: The ABR800 operates only on 110v / 60 hz AC power. If you live in a country that has a different voltage arrangement, you will either have to supply your own appropriately spec'd power converter, purchase a portable battery power pack or select a different prize.

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Read More:

:: ABR800 Product Page ::
:: AlienBees Home Page ::
:: Sound Advice Tour of AlienBees Intergalactic HQ ::
:: SPOY Rules and Regs ::

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