Alienbees are known to be solid and reasonably priced studio flashes, offering great value for your money.
Perhaps in attempt to give photographer Rebecca Britt more than she paid for, her one month-old Alienbees B400 decided it will double as a smoke machine.
As Resource Magazine points out, these flashes are awesome but their build quality is somewhat compromised in order to make them so affordable. As a result they might be a bit more prone to failure, but this unit decided to go out with a bang.
Britt shared with RM what had happened:
“This morning my assistant Jackie was getting the light prepped for the day’s shoot. She plugged in the Alienbee 400 and after a few seconds the unit made a loud pop and flames shot up from it. I screamed at Jackie to get away from the light (her back was turned away from the light at the time). It was a little chaotic at the time, but we managed to smother out the fire. What you see in the video is about one or so minutes after the initial pop of the light.”
Paul C. Buff, who passed away earlier this year, founded the company bearing the same name and other than being known for having great products, PCB is also known for having great customer service. This case was no exception and Britt has already been informed that her unit will be replaced.
As shocking as this smoking flash might be, wait until you see the Sony a7S that thought it could take on a lava stream.
[via Resource Magazine]
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