Self-contained vs. Standard flash heads

I am curious if there is a distinct advantage of having studio strobes that have to be plugged into and controlled by a separate power pack?  These systems are typically considered more 'professional' and are certainly much more expensive than their self-contained strobe counterparts, but I don't understand why.  Can anyone shed some light on this for me?  I am considering making some very big and expensive decisions, and I need this information to help me do it right the first time.

Thanks,
Travis

You lost me.  The self-contained studio strobes I am currently using still run off of 120V power.  I plug them in to a wall jack, or I could get a power pack that is basically a large battery like you are talking about, for location work.  These work fine at ISO 100.  If you're talking about electronic flash or Q-flash type heads, that's not what I'm looking for.  Although the Q-flash style would be much better for my location work, I could get the battery pack for my current studio strobes for less than a single Q-flash head.  I'm not ready to put that much investment into my location work yet.

Studio lighting is what I'm really concerned about.  There are basically two main types of studio strobes.  The ones that seem to be used the most by people I know, are the self-contained style.  The head contains the power adjustments and slave tripper and controls for the modeling light and plugs directly into the wall.  These are the style I currently have and seem to be generally cheaper to get set up with.  The other style is a head only.  It plugs into a power pack and the power pack plugs into the wall.  Each pack can run several heads.  The power pack has the individual controls for each light, and the slave tripper and modeling light controls.  It becomes a central location for control, and it looks like a big car battery, but it is actually plugged into an outlet and it generates the power for each light and sends it through the cable to the head.  This style is typically much more expensive and generally seems to produce a lot more power.

So... I guess my question is:
If my studio were doing portraiture (possibly large groups), and some product photography; is there a need to invest 3-4K for the studio heads and power packs, or would the self-contained style 'monolights' give me what I need to do my work, without compromise?

This is one of those purchases that could be a one-time thing, and I would really like to get setup with a brand/company that is going to continue to provide accessories for a long time, because I want to invest in equipment that I can continue to use for years to come.  I'm almost at a point where I may not have to pinch pennies for some equipment, but I also don't want to be wishing I had spent more in the next couple years.  I am currently using AlienBees and they are fine, but I am seriously considering upgrading my light system to Photogenics or Profotos.  The question is, should I be getting their studio strobes with the power packs, or the monolights?

Maybe I'm just confused about how all this really works...?  Oh, and I fully intend on shooting all my studio work at ISO 100-200, so I will need that power.

Travis

Bob, I think Travis is asking about the difference between monolights/monoblocks; and pack and head systems.

Monolights: Less cables running everywhere, and more flexibility for distance if for some reason yuou need that. But with few exceptions you have to go and adjust each individual light where it's at for every adjustment. Also you need a wall plug for every light. The lights themselves are a little bigger and heavier than the other style because all the controls and capacitor are built into each light. They can be triggered by a sync cord, optical relay (they look at each other and you trigger one of them), built in wireless, or pocket wizard type wireless. Usually you have some combination of the above options, and some of the newer, high end units let you adjust output remotely. You can add as many, or use as few of these as you want as long as you have enough power outlets and triggering capacity.

Pack and heads: Comes in AC and DC flavors. Both use a pack, a big capacitor with controls for each output channel, to power a limited number of lights. Control and power cords are run from the pack to each individual light, and each light can be individually controlled from the pack. AC powered units plug into a wall plug and distribute power to individual lights. DC units can act as a battery allowing you to go where the electricity doesn't until it runs out of charge, and most allow you to plug into a wall to run continously. The strobe heads are small and light, but are always teathered to the power pack. And the packs have a limited number of lights that can be hooked up, and a limited amount of watt/seconds to share between them.


I've used both. They make light. Period. Some are more convinent than others and their price reflects it. Some are better suited to some situations than others. DC packs can go anywhere, but monolights set up faster. If you don't mind the sound of a generator any of them will go anywhere you can haul all this gear too. If you're limited on outlet locations and your not using a half dozen big power strobes than an AC pack will work well. If you want a clear floor space and don't need to constanly adjust output then Monolight work well. It's just balancing what you want, with what you need, with what you can afford.

I'm just a poor country boy so I use hotshoe flashes on ebay triggers.

I've used Hensel monolights, Norman AC packs, and tried a compact flourescent light bank.
They all made light.

Well, I really like the Elinchrom's also, and there's a local dealer for them, so they're not completely out of the picture yet either.  Photogenic and Profoto customers are just so in love with their lights, and they are both companies with some very longstanding reputations of great service and quality.  It's hard to look past some of these things as well.  I need to look into Norman's a little more as well.  The dealer for Elinchrom also sells Norman, and having local support on a product like this is vital to business, I think.

I think Mike's got it, what I'm asking about.  Ed?  Any comments from the lighting pro?

Thanks for all the input guys,

Travis

Late is fine with me, thanks for the responses Ed.  Nice to see you around again.

Travis