How important is a cooling fan?

[evil4blue]

I'm researching some lights for a home studio environment and as I look around I see that the Alien Bees state that they have an internal cooling fan. I don't see this advertised on most other brands.

I'm actually leaning towards the White Lighting UltraZap 800. It's the older version of the X800, but is compatible with all the Alien Bee and White Lightning accessories. It's $50 more than the AB version, but has a 150w modeling light, all metal casing, slightly faster flash duration, and a 5 year warranty. I figure that's all worth the extra money, but the UltraZaps don't have the cooling fan whereas the new X-series does. I don't know I want to shell out another $50 over the UltraZap's, for the cooling fan, since that's now a softbox more expensive than the AB800.

Any info would be great.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

Cooling fans pretty much a must if you plan on mounting soft boxes, also help prolong the life of the units. Now if you take one pic and then don't shoot for 4-5 minutes you can get by without the fans but if you fire off a dozen shots say over a minute or so then the fans will make a big difference.
Those lights do put out quite a bit of heat and the soft boxes will trap it.

[evil4blue]

Yeah, that's what I'm reading now on a couple other forums. I guess cooling fans are going to be a must. Hmmm...decisions, decisions.

[srwatters]

The newer White lightnings also have a more powerful modeling light as well. That is one of my main complaints about the Bees. Most pro level strobes have 250w modeling lights and it REALLY helps. Don't scrimp here! At least with your key light. The others can be Bees or something cheaper, but your key light is well, key. That's why I'm looking at upgrading to Norman or Hensel for just the key and keeping the Bees for other less critical applications. JMHO.

[viet_nguyen]

I've been using the UZ 800 for 3 years without any problem. I don't find heat to be an issue when using non-fan UZ with softboxes since softboxes usually have large opening in the back.

Even equipped with a cooling fan the X-1600 will smoke if you leave the modeling light on (at full power) for an extended period of time with a grid spot attached.

Keep in mind that the fan only provides cooling to internal components - it does not directly provide ventilation for the modeling light from which I think where most of the heat is generated.

hope this helps.

[steve817]

Originally Posted by srwatters

The newer White lightnings also have a more powerful modeling light as well. That is one of my main complaints about the Bees. Most pro level strobes have 250w modeling lights and it REALLY helps. Don't scrimp here! At least with your key light. The others can be Bees or something cheaper, but your key light is well, key. That's why I'm looking at upgrading to Norman or Hensel for just the key and keeping the Bees for other less critical applications. JMHO.

Scott,
I'm a little confused. Why would having a key light with a 250 watt modeling lamp make the job any easier if your fill only had a 150 watt lamp in it ? Of course I'm pretty under educated in this area but it seems that working with one light putting out 40% less power would be more difficult if one were trying to gauge where shadows were falling.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

First in reguards to the soft boxes, everything that I have read indicates that you should close up the back of the box so that the light is directed out of the front.
Now my Norman unit does have a dial control as to what level of output that I have my modeling lights at. So I can turn the modeling lights on or off and then have full power control with the switch.

Depending on the lighting in the room you won't necessarily need intense modeling lights to see where shadows are falling, of course they may not be as pronounced as the actual ones created by the flash units but you will be able to see them fairly easily.

Since the biggest investment with systems like Norman's is the power supply, and most of these supplies will handle anywhere from 4-8 light systems, it really doesn't save that much $ to mix them with the Alien Bees since once you commit to a brand of units the flash tubes and modeling lights are pretty much interchangeable between different model lamps. Now I do have a few lamps without fans but I also make sure that when I choose to attach a soft box to a lamp that I choose one with a fan.

[srwatters]

Originally Posted by steve817

Scott,
I'm a little confused. Why would having a key light with a 250 watt modeling lamp make the job any easier if your fill only had a 150 watt lamp in it ? Of course I'm pretty under educated in this area but it seems that working with one light putting out 40% less power would be more difficult if one were trying to gauge where shadows were falling.

I rarely even turn on the modeling lamp on the fill and BG lights unless I need more ambient in the room to auto focus or shrink the models pupils. My reasoning is that I know by metering the fill at a specific ratio to the key, it will diminish the shadows a known amount. What I'm most concerned with is the creation and placement of those shadows. At 150 watts, with both a front panel diffuser and an interior baffle in the softbox, the light output is minimal.

With regard to mixing brands, I agree and wouldn't do it unless, like me, you already own the other lights.