Flick wrote:
Thanks for that. I just had a look and they don't have a UK distributer.

Oh man, sorry about that!

I should have checked that first!

Good luck in your quest!

Digitoxin wrote:

Oh man, sorry about that!

I should have checked that first!

Good luck in your quest!

I'm more than grateful for your advice. Don't you dare go running to your bedroom, putting some Mariah Carey on and crying into your pillow.

They have other distributors throughout Europe, so maybe they are looking for one here.

Digitoxin wrote:
Oh man, sorry about that!

I should have checked that first!

Good luck in your quest!

Flick wrote:
I'm more than grateful for your advice. Don't you dare go running to your bedroom, putting some Mariah Carey on and crying into your pillow.

They have other distributors throughout Europe, so maybe they are looking for one here.

pfffft

Mariah Carey.

I went for the Merlot instead!

Hensel does make a good kit.  Porty line (they have some new ones out that are better protected from weather -- "lithium" line).  A couple friends of mine have the original Porty and love it.

Stephen's advice above is wonderful if you have about $20m to spend on gear!  Those Versas look SWEET but are very expensive.

RedChecker wrote:
I used it briefly when taking the photos I have in my portfolio of Joceline (the ballet one and the blue nude one in my port)

It is a very nice piece of kit (I especially like the little fresnel attachment you can get, about the size of a Heinz Sponge Pudding tin) and providing you're not after speed then it will be fine.  The compactness of the whole package (case, unit and heads) is very impressive for a 1200w class of pack.

I have recently bought a Profoto battery system over this one for the simple reason that it is too slow for flash duration for some of the things I wished to do - way too slow for stopping motion (1/700th if I remember correctly wheras my Profoto can go up to 1/7700th).  Other reasons were Profoto has PW built in, Broncolor are tricky to find (Profoto are available at every Calumet branch and a couple of places in London) and the recycle times are also a little slow I recall - to be fair though, this unit wasn't originally a 'Broncolor' product, it was a Visatec but later rebranded (hence the reason for the slightly inferior performance IMO)

Another 'fast' alternative is the Elinchrom Ranger (1150w) which I have tested alongside my Profoto with dancers moving very fast and came VERY close (yet at almost 1/2 the price), it was only the ever so slightly slower recycle time that let it down.  I didn't like their ringflash though (and lack of attachments) and again it uses a proprietary radio system rather than PW (I don't really want PWs dangling off the packs on-site).

Do bear in mind though that the 1200w packs are heavy and although are portable you wouldn't want to be lugging them around town for very long.

The only place I know of (off the top of my head) in the UK that does them is Lovegrove Consulting (google them), there is another in London but their name escapes me.

Thank you for that brilliant advice. I hadn't thought to look at the duration of the Broncolor. I do a bit of editorial for gold magazines, so being able to stop a club in swing is going to be a factor in this too.

If Elinchrom were a half decent compant (the products are good, but the company isn't that great) I would jump on a Ranger, but I don't like the fixed astmmetrical ratio on the Ranger packs. I think I'd prefer to use something that gives me a little more creative scope.

Looks like the Profoto might be getting a little research

Flick wrote:

Thank you for that brilliant advice. I hadn't thought to look at the duration of the Broncolor. I do a bit of editorial for gold magazines, so being able to stop a club in swing is going to be a factor in this too.

If Elinchrom were a half decent compant (the products are good, but the company isn't that great) I would jump on a Ranger, but I don't like the fixed astmmetrical ratio on the Ranger packs. I think I'd prefer to use something that gives me a little more creative scope.

Looks like the Profoto might be getting a little research

I haven't used Broncolor, but aren't they considered the Ferrari of light systems? If you're getting a discount I don't think you can go wrong.

I bought a used Porty 1200 and it rocks my world. (Other than the fact the kit is 10lbs over the checked baggage limit and I always have to put the battery in my other bag)

I use Profoto in the studio and if I had the money I would trade the Porty in for a full Profoto kit, in and out. They are the bomb (do the cool kids still use that expression?)