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Speedotron - blackline vs brown: how to tell diff?
So, a few months ago my uncle in Washington died. He was a fellow photog, and did a lot of large format landscapes and studio work (mostly headshots stuff). I never saw his studio (living in Texas) but as part of cleaning out the estate my mother and aunt are asking if I would like to purchase any of the equipment. I'm passing on all the film gear, but did say I would be interested in the studio flash equipment most likely. I do strobist shooting, but it would be nice to have the studio here at the house setup with gear that I didn't have to constantly breakdown to go do a location shoot. Anyway, the equipment is reported as (direct quote from text): "Lights r SPeedotran model M 11 3 of them pls a box model D802 ma" Always nice when the parents finally figure out how to text... LOL Anyway, looks to be M11 heads, with a powerpack. There appear to be models of each in both blackline and brownline however. How does one tell the difference such that I can text back? Obviously I know the preference is blackline. I can use either, just trying to figure out prices to offer my aunt for them before they ship everything down this way. Ideas on how to tell black/brown and pricing (keh and eBaty both don't have any now so can't estimate there) Sep 22 08 11:58 am Link In my experience the brown line packs are brown and the black line packs are black. Sep 22 08 12:01 pm Link The D802 and M11 heads are DEFINITELY 'Brownline' Speedo units... great stuff!. I own 3 Speedotron powerpacks and 11 heads... super dependable...  Sep 22 08 12:01 pm Link Sep 22 08 12:01 pm Link glamour pics wrote: I painted my black ones pink and green to look like an alien bee to seem more professional Sep 22 08 12:02 pm Link StephenEastwood wrote: LOL... GREAT idea... I gotta try that... Sep 22 08 12:04 pm Link I love my brown lines. I've had them about 12 years. Sep 22 08 01:27 pm Link Tom Taylor wrote: WORD UP... owner of Speedotron Brownlines for well over 15 years here. Dependable quality lighting to work with at a very reasonable price... Sep 22 08 01:30 pm Link Go to Speedotron.com - I think they have a section of their website devoted to their brownline equipment. I own about 5 brownline packs and probably 10 heads (of which I only really use the 4 M11 heads). Sep 22 08 01:33 pm Link It's pretty easy to go to the Speedotron Blackline and Brownline product pages. They are different systems. Not interchangeable parts. M-11's are very popular for the Brownline system Sep 22 08 01:34 pm Link OK, thanks for the replies. Any estimates on what a used M11 head and 802 pack would go for assuming they work and are in reasonable to good condition? Sep 22 08 04:05 pm Link (jack) Is Brown line 500 volt and Black line 900 volt? (/jack) Sep 22 08 04:14 pm Link StephenEastwood wrote: Aha! So that's your secret! Sep 22 08 04:16 pm Link MidnightFantasy wrote: Just from my own experience: few weeks ago I bought 4 Black line 103 heads on eBay (1 - $100, 2 - $75, 1 - $150, so aver. for 1 head - $100) and power pack 2403B for $295. Sep 22 08 05:08 pm Link StephenEastwood wrote: Nothing like 'inside tips'! Sep 22 08 07:20 pm Link MidnightFantasy wrote: If all three heads have good flash tubes and modeling lights (around $90 and $20 respectively to replace otherwise) then you could expect to pay around $400-$500 given that they are with an 800 w/s pack. Personally, I'd be happy to pay that much since I use them regularly and know they are excellent units. The M11 heads are the best brownlines available and generally bring in more than the same pack with lesser heads. The heads alone usually go for $100 each used (new they are more like $250 I think) and the 800 w/s pack for around $100-$200 depending on what features it has. Some have half and full power while others have only full power if I remember correctly. I'm also not sure if they have always had assymetrical power settings. There are some extremely old Brownline packs out there, they've been around for quite a while. Sep 22 08 11:23 pm Link LeWhite wrote: I believe the Brownlines are also about 900 volts. The main differences are more along the lines of variety of lighting configurations and the ability to fine tune the output of Blacklines. Also, Brownlines have a slower recycle speed, longer flash durations and are generally only available up to 1600w/s per pack/head while the Blacklines go much larger. For most general applications, the Brownlines are enough. Sep 22 08 11:39 pm Link brown line = brown in color packs and heads... black line = black in color for packs and heads... i'm not sure what the going rate is for them out by you, but seeing that i'm in chicago and speedo is in chicago the prices really have a wide range in this area... I've seen brand new packs that retail around 2000$ go for 500$ and some heads that are 300$ new sell for 275$ so.......its all over the place... just check a site like B&H to see what the new retail prices are and if you have an offer well below then its a good deal... just make sure to check that it is all in working order. the main differences between the black and brown heads are that the black line have fans to help keep the lights cool. I also believe that the brown lines have a lower wattage modeling lamp... black lines are 250w lamps... hence the need for the cooling fan. just my .02 Sep 23 08 08:30 pm Link MidnightFantasy wrote: M_M_P wrote: Perfect, just the info I needed, thank-you! The unit has sym/asym and seems to have 1/4, 1/2, and 1/1 power options. Sounds like it'll be a great addition to my studio for shooting with more than just my current strobist flashes. Can't wait for them to get here. Sep 24 08 08:36 am Link |
