Which way to go??

[Kenski Photo]

I am at a lighting cross roads right and I thought sleeping on it would clear things up a bit, its not. I am stuck between buying a Quantum T3D-R with Turbo 2x2 pack or picking up a Vagabond Mini with an extra Alien Bee head.

I am leaning towards the Quantum for several reasons. I shoot a few weddings each year that are indoors. Most of the weddings I do are outdoors and on the beach. The few that I have shot indoors were always scary for me when I did the formals/groups because I was never sure if I had enough light and always have been lucky. Having the Quantum will make those shoots in remote locations easier with the raw power.

I shoot 3-4 paid portrait sessions a week, each session consists of 3-4 girls all shot individually, sometimes two at a time. We are getting tired of shooting on a green screen, black, and white so we have been thinking of moving away from the studio to more obscure locations. I have built a battery box that works great with my strobes but love the look of a single light PERFECT for the quantum with its ease to move around.

The Quantum is more powerful then my speedlites and smaller then strobes, easier to tote around, and it will fit perfect on my bracket for weddings.

Now this is the equipment I currently have.
2-580EXII
1-550EX
4-YN-560's
3-Photogenic Studio Max III
1-Photogenic 2500DR
1-Photogenic 1500DR
1-Alien Bee ABR

6' Strip Box
48" Octabox
3-40" shoot throughs
1-40" silver lined
1-60" silver lined
1-86" PLM
snoot
grids
barndoors

home made battery box with 600watt inverter good for 3 photogenics with a light weight 12v battery. shot 2 hours on it with no problem (with modeling light off)

I look at it this way, with the Quantum combo, I can use the light where it is needed and I can ALWAYS use the battery pack with my 580/550 for event shoots where the quantum might be overkill. If I go the way of the Vagabond, all it is doing is shedding about 8# from my current battery box, which I dont move around once it is set up and I have it stored in a case on wheels. Where as the Quantum is light weight, I can move it around, and still use some speedlites if needed...

Ughhhh... Im rambling right now... Anyone want to chime in?

[JWCustomPhotography]

I can only offer my take on the vagabond. It's awesome. It's tiny. It does what you want when you want. It's light weight and being lithium you are free to charge it and use it and store it how you want. I love mine, and I love that I could possibly have other uses for it.

I don't know if this helps or not, but the vagabond is some of the best money I have spent in a while.

[Kenski Photo]

Can't walk around with a vagabond and an alien bee attached to your head though.. Well, you could, Im sure you would get alot of questions and funny looks and it would work, just not practical.

Dont get me wrong, I like the new Vagabond lithium on paper and like I said, my battery/inverter combo is about 11.5 pounds, thats a hell of alot lighter then Vagabond II at what, 18-23lbs? Its nice that the Lithium is only 3.3 pounds. Mine is lighter are more powerful than the Vag II but I paid a good deal for the battery for this and it is some serious overkill because I haven't gone down past 1/2 on my charge for my setup using 2 and three lights. Im not worried about the weight of my inverter/battery because like I said, I dont move it, I move the lights. When I have to walk from the parking lot to the beach in the middle of summer wearing slacks and a shirt with all my gear though, it can be a pain in the butt. Most of the time I stick with the speedlites and leave the my battery and strobe in the car. This is where the Quantum would come into play

I wonder how the Quantum would work in the 86" PLM. I haven't found anyone using this set up to see.

[digicIV]

I prefer my Norman 400 over my Quantum Trio. Both are quite portable but the Norman packs more punch. I am never comfortable with less than 400w/s. Robert even I have made my own power pack for my Elinchrom RX 1200 strobes and it works great. Total cost was about 500. This when I packed two 22ah AGM batteries to make it a 24v system to power my pure sine wave inverter. By going 24v my recycle times are faster compared to a 12v. So do consider the Norman.

[Kenski Photo]

Well, I got a great deal on a T5D-R from a friend who I have finally convinced to sell me his flash and turbo 2x2 because he NEVER uses it. Comes with a QNexus, remote sensor, bare bulb enhancer (gold), and a pocket wizard. I like the idea of the Qnexus being fired off my 580ex and Im sure I will get alot of use out of that. Yes, the Norman has more power but I do like using the wireless ratios with the Qnexus for those shots that I can't get back. I can set the flash up and just make the adjustments on the camera quickly. Plus the Norman has only a 4 stop range, unlike the quantum. Ive played with his quantum more than he has I think! :)