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Anyone here into older Photogenic mono lights?
Last Sumer I found one in a thrift store, 600ws Power light with dish and hard case- 50 bucks. I plugged it in and it powered on and fired just fine so I gleefully bought it. I wound up using it for my beauty dish which is my most heavily used light. It has been a total workhorse and completely problem free. I started collecting several of them over the past year all in the 70ish dollar a piece rice range. Sadly I bought a couple that were not exactly problem free but I have 4 total now that are just excellent lights and learning the bulbs are as much as the light has me not regretting the two problematic ones as parts backup. I hope to replace all of my mono lights with these in time as I find deals like these. I mean were talking cheap speedlighight money for reasonable fast recycling consistent reasonably powerful mono lights. I have learned modifier rings are tricky and you need to know your getting the proper generations to match up. The rings do not come all that cheap and I haven't yet figured out things like snoots. All my old stuff is foreign market Bowens mount mono lights. I'll probably just keep some of them on hand for Bowens mount needs. These Photogenic power lights are as heavy as cinder blocks. so I guess I can get why they are being pushed aside for modern lights half their size with battery power, HSS TTL and all that jazz. But mano I feel like I have just been getting spoiled like crazy to get these things. Any of you love your Photogenic lights or are you the ones selling me my cinder blocks? May 11 20 06:43 pm Link Just make sure you are cautious if you ever need a part that is inside one of the not-so-good ones. Capcitors the size of beer cans will blow you across the room. If anybody else is there, they will briefly see your skeleton, flickering. You might even die. Even draining them might be terrifying although usually safe as long as you do not represent ground. Solid old gear, maybe not so fun to move around but very good kit. Not in the same league but I recently bought (and sold) a vintage Novatron kit with a big power pack, 3 lights, 2 stands, umbrellas and a case. $50 at the thrift store and I tested it in the store - all working fine. I have 2 White Lightnings and don't shoot much studio ever or anything lately so I flipped them for $150. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. I probably would keep a Photogenic mono light or two though. The Novatron kit was nearly 50 pounds, ugh. May 11 20 07:17 pm Link I occasionally work with a gal who still uses Novatron Her work is top shelf so clearly she is not being hindered in any way with using those. They are good dependable systems. That's a good tip on the innards of that thing. It about has to be a solid copper coil block in there. Bunny trail: I have a friend who works on guitar amps who once woke up on his floor with the smell of burnt hair and bacon. May 11 20 08:03 pm Link Randy Poe wrote: Yeah, the Novatron was good quality but not top notch. No way to see a difference in the photos, light is light. May 11 20 08:23 pm Link Just recently picked up a Norman P500-M with two heads pretty cheap. Works just fine. Problem is finding modifiers and speed rings for them. Any tips would help. May 11 20 09:03 pm Link For both y'all... There is always all sorts of random photo gear popping up on eBay. Look for auctions rather than Buy It Now and best of all look for auctions that end at stupid times. Put in one bid, the minimum possible. That locks the title. They can still take the auction down 12 hours or more before it ends but most sellers let them run and take their chances. Something that ends at 3am Pacific time on a Tuesday is buzzard bait. Some things go cheap regardless. Save your searches and keep looking, you will find stuff eventually. May 11 20 09:11 pm Link Randy Poe wrote: Personally did not have good luck with them. May 11 20 09:18 pm Link Randy Poe wrote: Nope, but I have several older Bowens units, a Prolite 82 being the main 'workhorse'. I think I paid $50 for it total without leaving the House, works great. May 12 20 01:59 am Link I use a set of Novatrons in my studio, they are old and and maybe a bit ugly... but they are tanks and get the job done. and unlike some newer lights they don't care if it's 20 degrees or 120 degrees they just work. May 12 20 07:05 am Link I started with Photogenics and still use them to this day. I've had a few problems but for the price I got them at, it has been well worth it. The one question I have though, is that are they safe on a boom since these things are so heavy? May 12 20 07:13 am Link Had a pair of Photogenics some years ago. Laid off with a house payment due and off they went. No studio work since. Miss them a lot. These guys are not kidding about dangerous caps. Back in the day I worked on that stuff for Mack. The other techs use to love clapping their hands behind me just to see me jump. :-) Seriously, Even a small camera mounted unit can stop a heart. May 12 20 08:36 am Link TDSImages wrote: Fair question and some of my cost savings argument is invalid in that I am also now saving to finally upgrade to real C stands with boom arms. Those old plastic crank arms I presently use are difficult to adjust with these. I sand bag them up pretty good so they haven't fallen but they are a challenge to adjust. May 12 20 05:05 pm Link Randy Poe wrote: C or Century Stands are a great bit of kit to own and use, both in the studio with heavy-weight flash heads or on location with light-weight speedlights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u00Hxe4gK9s May 12 20 11:03 pm Link |
