Something with more oompf

Limey

I've been using off-camera flash on location for a while, but am starting to look for something a bit more beefy than a flash light to shoot in bright conditions. Can anyone recommend a single strobe start up kit?

Trev

Depends on what sort of budget you have.

There are numerous brands/types out there but if you are in the market you would be looking from around the $800 to $5000 mark with various brands on offer.

Zenon

Like Trev said there is quite a range. They say (in forums) Alien Bees is the best bang for the buck if you are on a budget.

http://www.paulcbuff.com/alienbees.php

qrickman

The AlienBee 1600 has about 10 times the output of a good flash.

Trev

A normal flash is rated around 75Ws Canon; 80Ws Nikon; Alien Bee 1600 is 640Ws so it does dump a lot of juice as 'qrickman' says.

You need to factor in though it's not just the AB1600 you would be buying, you need a power source and trigger/receiver combo.

Flash: http://www.paulcbuff.com/b1600.php $360
Battery: http://www.paulcbuff.com/vm120.php $240
Transmitter: http://www.paulcbuff.com/cc.php $180
Receiver: http://www.paulcbuff.com/csrplus.php $90

TOTAL: $870 Good deal.

You could also swap out the 1600 for the Einstein 640, same power, but greater specs. The 1600 only has 6-fstop steps from Full Power to 1/32; Einstein has 9-fstops from Full Power down to 1/256th, recycling times shorter and you can actually fire it even before full power has recycled.

With that in the mix TOTAL: $1010

qrickman

If you go with the Alienbee I would check out the Radio Popper Jrx trigger and receiver $150. You can manually adjust the Alienbee power (not the Einstein) from the camera.

Limey

Cheers for the pointers. $1000 spend is limit so will look at the Alienbee set up. Any more recommendations appreciated!

Zenon

They also say you can't kill that Vagabond Mini. Supposed to be an awesome battery.