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04/20/2007 09:19:03 PM · #1 |
Hey all,
What are the best Studio lightings brands? mention them all, and i hope if someone can mention in order as well, just don't post what you happy with because many brands can be great so just name them and i will choose one later. |
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04/20/2007 09:20:41 PM · #2 |
Google is a nice place to start. Seriously, I doubt any of us can name ALL of the lighting brands and then put them in order for you. You should do some research on your own, then ask more specific questions.
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04/20/2007 09:26:18 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by idnic:
Google is a nice place to start. Seriously, I doubt any of us can name ALL of the lighting brands and then put them in order for you. You should do some research on your own, then ask more specific questions. |
ok, let's say that i did a search and end up with say 10 names, then how i can choose the best one, depends on price or quality or popularity?
Message edited by author 2007-04-20 21:26:48. |
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04/20/2007 09:26:27 PM · #4 |
define 'best'?
Is a toyota pickup or rolls royce convertibel better? Both will get you to work, but not really comparable as 'best'.
Alien Bee and Paterson Interfit Stellar are both good - AB is a bit more money but probably has better customer service, are american made. Not sure where Stellar is made, but paterson is british so worldwide availability may be better. I believe AB takes it's own mounts for accessories, but Paterson uses Bowen's S mount - pretty common.
Norman is good, Photogenic is good - both of these are mroe money and 'better' i suppose, but does that mean price, longevity, resale value, better if you drop one or what?
White Lightening is the higher end of the AB products from paul buff - i hear they're good, probably a tad cheaper in price than the norman/photogenic stuff.
Softbox wise 90% are made by one company in korea, although the designs are sometime unique to each company. Norman's softboxes fold like umbrellas - a great feature. Aurora is a good brand, low on price and good on features and quaality. You can fit most any softbox to any light with the right adapter ring ($40 or so).
Message edited by author 2007-04-20 21:27:00.
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04/20/2007 09:27:21 PM · #5 |
//www.dpchallenge.com/forum.php?action=read&FORUM_THREAD_ID=546348?
Autoparse put the ? as part of the url.
Message edited by author 2007-04-20 21:31:55. |
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04/20/2007 09:30:05 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by Prof_Fate:
define 'best'?
Is a toyota pickup or rolls royce convertibel better? Both will get you to work, but not really comparable as 'best'.
Alien Bee and Paterson Interfit Stellar are both good - AB is a bit more money but probably has better customer service, are american made. Not sure where Stellar is made, but paterson is british so worldwide availability may be better. I believe AB takes it's own mounts for accessories, but Paterson uses Bowen's S mount - pretty common.
Norman is good, Photogenic is good - both of these are mroe money and 'better' i suppose, but does that mean price, longevity, resale value, better if you drop one or what?
White Lightening is the higher end of the AB products from paul buff - i hear they're good, probably a tad cheaper in price than the norman/photogenic stuff.
Softbox wise 90% are made by one company in korea, although the designs are sometime unique to each company. Norman's softboxes fold like umbrellas - a great feature. Aurora is a good brand, low on price and good on features and quaality. You can fit most any softbox to any light with the right adapter ring ($40 or so). |
i got those name while i am searching and more than that, but can't decide which brand i should go for, i don't think i will choose the best ever as very very expensive but for sure i will not go for cheap one, many brands can be less expensive and good results, but still there are some brands that are considered to be top of the lightings, so from those top i can narrowing my search than making it wide. |
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04/20/2007 09:30:53 PM · #7 |
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04/20/2007 09:32:17 PM · #8 |
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04/20/2007 09:33:56 PM · #9 |
Originally posted by UAE_Guy:
i got those name while i am searching and more than that, but can't decide which brand i should go for, i don't think i will choose the best ever as very very expensive but for sure i will not go for cheap one, many brands can be less expensive and good results, but still there are some brands that are considered to be top of the lightings, so from those top i can narrowing my search than making it wide. |
Maybe the question that you should be asking is, "What makes a good lighting brand so good?"
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04/20/2007 09:37:43 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by UAE_Guy:
Originally posted by idnic:
Google is a nice place to start. Seriously, I doubt any of us can name ALL of the lighting brands and then put them in order for you. You should do some research on your own, then ask more specific questions. |
ok, let's say that i did a search and end up with say 10 names, then how i can choose the best one, depends on price or quality or popularity? |
Neither I suppose, unless that's all you're concerned with.
What do you want to shoot? Where are you going to be shooting? What's important to you? Portability? Power? Fast recycle time? Serviceability? Or???? |
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04/20/2007 09:43:11 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by UAE_Guy:
Originally posted by idnic:
Google is a nice place to start. Seriously, I doubt any of us can name ALL of the lighting brands and then put them in order for you. You should do some research on your own, then ask more specific questions. |
ok, let's say that i did a search and end up with say 10 names, then how i can choose the best one, depends on price or quality or popularity? |
Neither I suppose, unless that's all you're concerned with.
What do you want to shoot? Where are you going to be shooting? What's important to you? Portability? Power? Fast recycle time? Serviceability? Or???? |
-Bronocolor
-Hensel
-Bowens
-Elinchrom
-Multiblitz
-Photoflex
from the above list which one you will choose?
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04/20/2007 09:45:02 PM · #12 |
| Bronocolor is very very expensive, so it is excluded. |
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04/20/2007 09:46:42 PM · #13 |
Originally posted by UAE_Guy:
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by UAE_Guy:
Originally posted by idnic:
Google is a nice place to start. Seriously, I doubt any of us can name ALL of the lighting brands and then put them in order for you. You should do some research on your own, then ask more specific questions. |
ok, let's say that i did a search and end up with say 10 names, then how i can choose the best one, depends on price or quality or popularity? |
Neither I suppose, unless that's all you're concerned with.
What do you want to shoot? Where are you going to be shooting? What's important to you? Portability? Power? Fast recycle time? Serviceability? Or???? |
-Bronocolor
-Hensel
-Bowens
-Elinchrom
-Multiblitz
-Photoflex
from the above list which one you will choose? |
just buy one of each. |
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04/20/2007 09:57:21 PM · #14 |
Bowens invented the monolight so they know their shite.
They are reasonably priced compared to everything else in your list and have a very large range of accessories due to the wide adoption of their mount by others.
I faced the same decision as you a few years back and chose Bowens but if I lived in the US then it would've been the AB's.
bazz.
Message edited by author 2007-04-20 22:36:55. |
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04/20/2007 10:03:39 PM · #15 |
Originally posted by UAE_Guy:
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
Originally posted by UAE_Guy:
Originally posted by idnic:
Google is a nice place to start. Seriously, I doubt any of us can name ALL of the lighting brands and then put them in order for you. You should do some research on your own, then ask more specific questions. |
ok, let's say that i did a search and end up with say 10 names, then how i can choose the best one, depends on price or quality or popularity? |
Neither I suppose, unless that's all you're concerned with.
What do you want to shoot? Where are you going to be shooting? What's important to you? Portability? Power? Fast recycle time? Serviceability? Or???? |
-Bronocolor
-Hensel
-Bowens
-Elinchrom
-Multiblitz
-Photoflex
from the above list which one you will choose? |
What I would choose is what's best for what I want to shoot.
What do you want to shoot? What I would pick might not be the best for you. |
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04/20/2007 10:06:41 PM · #16 |
| a brand that you can say is "spec'd" the best is Balcar, another good brand is Bowens |
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04/20/2007 10:15:02 PM · #17 |
What i will shoot is mostly portraits and some products [could be still life, or commercial or interiors].
I was going to get bowens no doubt but i heard that there are better brands than Bowens so that i stopped, but after search i found those are the best, i ignored few names for some reasons and i kept that list.
Bowens is available in my area so no problem with this brand, in fact my head calling Hensel or Elinchrom, Hensel is availbe as well but not Elinchrom.
I was using Visatec in a photography club studio but i avoid it as they are not lasting longer.
I will see more answers. |
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04/20/2007 10:22:27 PM · #18 |
Originally posted by noisemaker:
a brand that you can say is "spec'd" the best is Balcar, another good brand is Bowens |
I worked with a photographer in LA who had Balcar lights and hated them. His favorite expression was "Balcar is sh!t!" Usually said when they didn't fire or a tube smoked. |
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04/20/2007 10:23:46 PM · #19 |
For what you're shooting, I'd pick Profoto.
Or Norman or Speedotron |
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04/20/2007 10:26:37 PM · #20 |
| What you really need is a decent lens. |
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04/20/2007 10:27:21 PM · #21 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
For what you're shooting, I'd pick Profoto.
Or Norman or Speedotron |
?? I'm curious about why? He basically said he'd be shooting a little of everything, everywhere. What makes you choose those?
In my opinion, among the brands most used by professional, all are good or the pros wouldn't keep buying them.
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04/20/2007 11:13:41 PM · #22 |
Mole Richardson
Silver Bullet
Source Four
Arri
K56
Desisi
Zeno-tek
Panel Light
Kino Flo
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04/20/2007 11:19:34 PM · #23 |
Originally posted by idnic:
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
For what you're shooting, I'd pick Profoto.
Or Norman or Speedotron |
?? I'm curious about why? He basically said he'd be shooting a little of everything, everywhere. What makes you choose those?
In my opinion, among the brands most used by professional, all are good or the pros wouldn't keep buying them. |
First, I like pack systems, for a variety of reasons, it's just my preference. I have also used systems from a lot of manufacturers and they are the ones I like.
Profoto is, in my opinion, the ne plus ultra of lighting. The stuff has all the bells and whistles you could dream about, they're consistent, the packs are fairly compact, easy to use and hard to overheat.
Normans are about the same, only somewhat less so, they're also less expensive.
Speedotrons are simply built like tanks. They're also headquartered in Chicago and I like buying US goods, especially if they're within driving distance. Of course the downside is that they weigh nearly as much as a tank, but I'd like to see another 2400Ws power pack bounce end over end down a flight of concrete stairs and come out working fine with only a couple of dents to show for it. Oh yeah, and the Black Line packs are sealed, no fans to make noise or let stuff (dust, moisture etc) in.
Any of these will last forever and are flexible enough to do just about anything.
If you look, different types of pros use different brands more than others, depending on their needs. For example, the guys that shoot a lot of commercial, industrial type of stuff in factories, mines and other dirty locations like Speedotron Black Line because they are so tough.
It's a lot like buying a car. If you have 3 kids and 2 big dogs, you might not want that sexy little Porsche Spyder as a family car. On the other hand, if you're young, single and rich, a minivan is probably not what you want either.
Message edited by author 2007-04-20 23:29:07. |
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04/20/2007 11:26:02 PM · #24 |
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04/20/2007 11:35:14 PM · #25 |
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