VP Photography wrote:
Just throwing this out there... I have 3 Speedoton packs I'd like to get rid of. All are in prefect condition (even buying new power cords for them). I have (2) D1604's and a D1204. I assume they are Brownline since they are brown (lol). Any interest? Make an offer. I'm shipping from Northern California so keep that in mind.
VPsteve

DAMN... wishin you were in SoCal... I'd drive over and check'm out... always lookin to pickup new Speedo toys for the studio...

Select Models wrote:

DAMN... wishin you were in SoCal... I'd drive over and check'm out... always lookin to pickup new Speedo toys for the studio...

Wonder if this ancient pack works:

http://cgi.ebay.com/SPEEDOTRON-D800-POW … 1|294%3A50

Right now it's so cheap you could probably buy it, get it repaired if needed, and still be ahead.

Warren Leimbach wrote:

The proud papa. 

They have arrived ups brought them in to the studio.I can't wait to try them. Yayyyyyy.

Steve A Photography wrote:

They have arrived ups brought them in to the studio.I can't wait to try them. Yayyyyyy.

Just out of curiosity, what did that box weigh?

4C 41 42 wrote:

Just out of curiosity, what did that box weigh?

There was 4 packs in total packed 2 separately each box was 60 lbs. Total of 120 lbs.

Select Models wrote:

Yo Robert... I think we all got the gist of your message on the 'stop action' stuff... but I don't think there's alot of us who have bullet trains speeding through the studios...

This is the kind of stuff I do all the time for jobs. It is completely raw, so don't take me to task for how dull or lifeless it is.



This was shot with about 8 profoto packs around the periphery of the scene, and a 3200 Grafite into a Parabrella for the main. The average flash duration according to my meter/osciloscope thing was 1/1850th of a second. Its not really measured in terms of time like that, its measured in something called micro pulse something or others, but its a close translation. And yes, when we need to stop action we can get pretty anal about it. By the way, the Grafite pack head combo pulses faster than the profoto, it was up at 1/2000th. Notice the lower foot of the actor and how its blurring a bit. Even with the best equipment around, its still difficult to get perfect stop motion.

Robert Randall wrote:
if you're getting your numbers from an official Speedotron publication, instead, try using a Quantum Instruments Calcu-Flash II in concert with an oscilloscope for unbiased feedback on your units. You'll find the the Speedo numbers are just a dream.

That's exactly where I got the numbers from and haven't done any testing. No experience in trying to stop motion yet either.

One of these days I'm going to learn to keep my mouth shut until I have experience to back it up.

Robert Randall wrote:
I would be willing to bet the farm that of the 10 Speedo packs I own, not one of them, at any setting, will come close to 1/1000 of a second in flash duration. I simply can't use them to stop motion.

That's really disappointing. I just bought a 105 head for the specific purpose of stopping motion.

Robert Randall wrote:

This is the kind of stuff I do all the time for jobs. It is completely raw, so don't take me to task for how dull or lifeless it is.



This was shot with about 8 profoto packs around the periphery of the scene, and a 3200 Grafite into a Parabrella for the main. The average flash duration according to my meter/osciloscope thing was 1/1850th of a second. Its not really measured in terms of time like that, its measured in something called micro pulse something or others, but its a close translation. And yes, when we need to stop action we can get pretty anal about it. By the way, the Grafite pack head combo pulses faster than the profoto, it was up at 1/2000th. Notice the lower foot of the actor and how its blurring a bit. Even with the best equipment around, its still difficult to get perfect stop motion.

Is that an example from the shoot that just didn't work but others did? Or was there motion blur in every shot?

Jarrad Kevin wrote:

Robert Randall wrote:
if you're getting your numbers from an official Speedotron publication, instead, try using a Quantum Instruments Calcu-Flash II in concert with an oscilloscope for unbiased feedback on your units. You'll find the the Speedo numbers are just a dream.

That's exactly where I got the numbers from and haven't done any testing. No experience in trying to stop motion yet either.

One of these days I'm going to learn to keep my mouth shut until I have experience to back it up.


That's really disappointing. I just bought a 105 head for the specific purpose of stopping motion.

Is that the quad tube head? I have one of those... if you set it up on very low power, spread across 4 packs, that will give you the best possible opportunity to achieve stop motion.

Jarrad Kevin wrote:

Is that an example from the shoot that just didn't work but others did? Or was there motion blur in every shot?

That is one of the hero picks from the shoot. That little bit of motion isn't a problem, its when the motion trail is longer than the guys shoe that it becomes a problem.
Is that an example from the shoot that just didn't work but others did? Or was there motion blur in every shot?

Robert Randall wrote:

Is that the quad tube head? I have one of those... if you set it up on very low power, spread across 4 packs, that will give you the best possible opportunity to achieve stop motion.

Yes. I have the two cable head... which is supposedly able to give shorter druations than the 4 cable head. When it arrives I'll connect it to two explorers at the lowest power and see what I get.

Robert Randall wrote:

I'm too stupid to understand how that isn't a problem.

Natalie Photography wrote:
I didnt turn off the pac and proceeded to pull a head out of the pack. It sent me flying across the room. I felt like the world was moving in slow motion for about 2 days. Before removing heads, turn off the power.

Or buy a pack with arc-over protection.

FWIW, I was an electronics tech and an electrician in a previous life, so I'm a member of the 120v, 240v, 440v, and HVDC clubs. The high voltage DC was by far the most painful.

Jarrad Kevin wrote:

Yes. I have the two cable head... which is supposedly able to give shorter druations than the 4 cable head. When it arrives I'll connect it to two explorers at the lowest power and see what I get.

What kind of motion are you attempting to stop?

Robert Randall wrote:

What kind of motion are you attempting to stop?

Liquid in being thrown through the air.

Lumigraphics wrote:

Or buy a pack with arc-over protection.

FWIW, I was an electronics tech and an electrician in a previous life, so I'm a member of the 120v, 240v, 440v, and HVDC clubs. The high voltage DC was by far the most painful.

My son works maintenance on the power grid in our area. I worry about that crap all the time. I was arcd across a sound stage by an old Ascor pack, I can't imagine what a power grid would do to you.

What Fun Productions wrote:

I recently purchased an older Speedotran (black line) light kit on e-bay. It included (2) #102 lights, a 800 watt power supply (for up to 4 lights), some reflectors and a soft carring case for everything. I paid $550 including shipping.

Everything works great - buy Speedotron black line equipment not the brown line. Check out e-bay.

Other good names are Profoto and Dynalite. They are more expensive though.

I have a brown speedtron pack I bought USED in 1986 that still does just peachy.

Jarrad Kevin wrote:

Liquid in being thrown through the air.

Oh Ohhh.


Can you use a leaf shutter camera. The combination of high shutter speed with low power setting may get you there. Remember too, motion like that has a pinnacle of movement at some point, caused by gravity. The trick is to capture at those moments to help insure stability of motion in the capture.

Robert Randall wrote:
Oh Ohhh.


Can you use a leaf shutter camera. The combination of high shutter speed with low power setting may get you there. Remember too, motion like that has a pinnacle of movement at some point, caused by gravity. The trick is to capture at those moments to help insure stability of motion in the capture.

I'll see if I can borrow my friend's RZ.

I hadn't even considered the pinacle of movement point. Thanks for the tip.

Robert Randall wrote:

My son works maintenance on the power grid in our area. I worry about that crap all the time. I was arcd across a sound stage by an old Ascor pack, I can't imagine what a power grid would do to you.

I worked with a guy who got zapped by high voltage on the grid (4160v I think but I'm not sure.) Honestly, you don't want to know.

As an electrician you get used to working with high voltages that can kill you, as long as you always pay attention and respect it you are fine.

Jarrad Kevin wrote:

Liquid in being thrown through the air.

Why use flash for this? Rent a big pile of hot lights and crank the shutter speed up. No worries about flash sync speeds.

Mike Bernard Photo wrote:
Speedotron is a nice power source. It always has been.
But it has a slow recycle time.

If you shoot fashion you need the power and performance of no less than full power 1/10 of a second that only
Calumet Balcar or Prophoto can give you. A one second recycle is not fast enough.

Trust me in my career spanning over thirty years I have used every strobe generator under the sun.
Speedotron are nice machines but they take a back seat to Balcar / Calumet.

Hey Mike... have you ever used the trick in which you set 4 heads and 4 packs in each light modifier you have on set. Program the Pocket wizard to rotate between 4 numbers so that each shot you take is coming from a refreshed pack. Did I mention I like to shoot very rapidly.

Lumigraphics wrote:

Why use flash for this? Rent a big pile of hot lights and crank the shutter speed up. No worries about flash sync speeds.

I was planning to have a person and other things in the shot, so it's a matter of modifying the light too.

I suppose I could shoot the liquid separately and composite it in. In such case the hot lights or even day light would be something to consider. Thanks

4C 41 42 wrote:
Actually, the only manual I see on the site is for the Explorer 1500.  No manuals for any of the other power packs or light heads.

I didn't check all the accessory categories.

Aargh. They changed it.

The Download Manual link labeled 1500 Instruction Manual actually brings up the combined manual for all the current Blackline packs and heads.

Natalie Photography wrote:
I didnt turn off the pac and proceeded to pull a head out of the pack. It sent me flying across the room. I felt like the world was moving in slow motion for about 2 days. Before removing heads, turn off the power.

Modern packs are designed for same connect/disconnect while the pack is on.

Really old packs are not.

Even with modern packs, many of us from habit will power them down before connecting/disconnecting the heads. We also do an attempted test pop before touching the cords, even though modern packs are supposed to instantly dissapate any stored charge, once turned off.

Natalie Photography wrote:
I didnt turn off the pac and proceeded to pull a head out of the pack. It sent me flying across the room. I felt like the world was moving in slow motion for about 2 days. Before removing heads, turn off the power.

\


Ya think, LMAO but not really funny

Robert Randall wrote:
I would be willing to bet the farm that of the 10 Speedo packs I own, not one of them, at any setting, will come close to 1/1000 of a second in flash duration. I simply can't use them to stop motion.

It's not just the pack...you need biwire or quadwired heads (same w/ Dynalite).  What heads did you try stopping motion with??

btw, a 105 head doesn't freeze water drops from a faucet (yes I tried)...you really need speedlights powered down to do that...an einstein powered down should work as well...

SKITA Studios wrote:

It's not just the pack...you need biwire or quadwired heads (same w/ Dynalite).  What heads did you try stopping motion with??

btw, a 105 head doesn't freeze water drops from a faucet (yes I tried)...you really need speedlights powered down to do that...an einstein powered down should work as well...

Just an FYI. You are responding to a thread that ended approx 1 year ago and to a poster who has removed his membership.



DNO

Hennadiy Kvasov wrote:
This thread is amazing. So much info.....

Hey DNO... THIS is the reason MM members are instructed to search previously posted threads for significant contributions on a specific subject or topic... REGARDLESS of the disposition of the original poster...

Mike Bernard Photo wrote:
Speedotron is a nice power source. It always has been.
But it has a slow recycle time.

If you shoot fashion you need the power and performance of no less than full power 1/10 of a second that only
Calumet Balcar or Prophoto can give you. A one second recycle is not fast enough.

Trust me in my career spanning over thirty years I have used every strobe generator under the sun.
Speedotron are nice machines but they take a back seat to Balcar / Calumet.

I love the Balcars, but Calumet? Are they that fast? Brons are nice too, I also like the Dynas.

Matt, nice story about Macy's dude. That's a lot of joules...

Select Models wrote:

Hey DNO... THIS is the reason MM members are instructed to search previously posted threads for significant contributions on a specific subject or topic... REGARDLESS of the disposition of the original poster...

Of course. However, the above poster was asking a question to someone here who was no longer a member. I was just pointing that fact out. Is there an issue with that?



DNO

Select Models wrote:
I've got 3 Speedotron 'brown line' power supplies and 11 heads that are used in the SM studio... very dependable and right now pretty affordable.  One of my power supplies is over 20 years old... still works like 'day one'.  .........

Glad to hear someone else say this! I have two of the D402 packs and 8 heads. To echo what everyone else has said, they are built like tanks! Very affordable on eBay. I have never had a misfire or failure from either pack.

In my own experience, getting lighting ratios will take some trial and error... or skill with a light meter. I have learned a lot using them. As far as location stuff goes, I'll be buying something else. Maybe AB's or ?? That being said, I don't think you can go wrong buying the Speedos for the studio.

former_mm_user wrote:
there's been a few lighting threads recently in which speedotron equipment got rave reviews.  i am seriously considering investing in a more expansive lighting system, and would like to know what the drawbacks are to the speedotrons.  anyone have anything bad to say about them, compared to something like the more expensive profoto?

Speedo has a reputation for being built like a tank. That's also been my experience, using Speedo heads. (I used a different brand of packs with the heads; the head connectors had been adapted for that other brand.)

The higher end of Profoto is FAR more expensive than Speedo. The basic Profoto, not that much difference.

I haven't used recently made Speedo gear. Except once I used their latest heads . . . the lightweight ones, forget the model# . . . and those are superb.

I have talked to their reps at trade shows and watched Speedo with a morbid interest for years. My strong impression is that it is a quality company with a quality product, gradually sabotaging itself with idiotic advertising and horribly poor business decisions.