AJScalzitti wrote:
As for budget I usually suggest something like the starter photogenics or elinchrom d-lite line, this way when/if you upgrade to professional lights you have a clear path and all your modifers can move with you.
John Allan wrote:
Personally, I would go with Elinchrom before photogenics, different class of light (although not familiar with d-lite specifically - maybe that's their budget offering).
I highly respect both John and AJ as photographers, and I’m not trying to pick a fight with either of them.
Photogenic’s current entry level studio strobes are the StudioMax III’s. I consider the Einsteins a better buy.
Photogenic has been around forever. My high school photography teacher (actually he wouldn’t let me take his class – he insisted that I be his lab assistant, so I was back in the darkroom when he was teaching class) taught studio lighting with an antique (at that time, the mid-1960’s) Photogenic 200-watt/second pack-and-head system. I don’t know how many times lights got knocked over, etc. Reflectors got dented, but nothing had to go back to Photogenic while I was in high school.
Photogenic started out making workhouse portable lighting equipment (and long roll cameras) for school photographers – the ones who would set up in a corner of a school somewhere, shoot 200-300 students a day, and then move on to the next school where they did the same thing.
I got my first Photogenic pack-and-head system in the early 1970’s. I’ve never owned any other brand of studio strobe. A model knocked over a stand with one of my Photogenic heads in 1999 (GW Burns swears it was 2004), and it had to go in for repairs. A few months ago, I stopped to help an MUA with something before tightening the thumb screws on a light stand, and one of my Solairs toppled, cracking the handle (which houses the PocketWizard antenna). It still works, but I’ll probably get it repaired sooner or later.
Other than that (and replacing modeling lamp bulbs and flash tubes), I haven’t had any problems – and nothing has had to go back for repairs except in 1999 (or was it 2004?).
I don’t know what Elinchrom will do that Photogenic can’t. Someone above pointed out that Elinchrom works with its own proprietary brand of flash triggers. As far as I know Photogenic doesn’t work with Elinchrom’s flash triggers – but you can buy the Solairs and StudioMaxes, as well as the Powerlights with digital readouts, with built-in 16-channel PocketWizard.
As far as I’m concerned, nobody has a better remote control system than Photogenic – except Paul C. Buff. PCB’s Cyber Commander System beats any other remote system hands down.
John Allan wrote:
But to expand on what he said above: When alienbees came into existence, they chose to use one of the most ubiquitous modifier mounts in the industry (the Balcar mount). Balcar was high-end lighting, so there was extensive modifier availability, as well as a solid upgrade path to more professional lighting when the alienbees started showing their limitations.
Balcar is now out of business (they haven't had a US distributor for about 10 years now). So basically now purchasing Alienbees you have another proprietary mount with no upgrade path outside of Paul Buff equipment.
You can mount just about anything to an AB, WL or Einstein. You just can’t buy the mounts from PCB.
There’s a company called SP Studio Systems that’s been around since at least the late 1960’s that manufacturers a few hundred niche products for photographers. (Their products are distributed by Omega-Brandess, which started as Simmon Omega, the distributor for Omega enlargers, and was later Omega Satter. Their web site sucks. You can find their stuff easier on B&H or Adorama’s web sites.) Their products include “speed ring adapters” for about 20 brands of studio flashes.
If you have a two-piece universal speed ring that looks like this one…
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/2 … Strip.html
…which are made by any number of manufacturers, you can adapt it to PCB’s brands of strobes (and about 20 other brands) using SP Studio Systems adapters. The speed rings are made of cast aluminum and usually come with one adapter. Unscrew the four screws and replace the adapter. Just be sure that the flange of the adapter (the end that attached to the speed ring) is 5 7/16 inches or 5.5 inches in diameter. That’s pretty much an industry standard now.
SP Systems also owns the patent on a EZ softbox mechanism that allows them to make softboxes that open and close in about 1 second using an umbrella-type mechanism. I’ve owned a couple of their softboxes for several years, use both of them several times a week, and they still work as well as they did the day I got them.
Norman and Westcott recently introduced softboxes using SP’s mechanism. These softboxes don’t need speed rings – but there’s a place to attach an SP adapter, pretty much like you would attach one to a speed ring, with four knurled thumb screws.
So you can use many brands of softboxes on PCB’s strobes. I’ve looked at PCB softboxes as recently as Friday, and while I haven’t tried it, it looks like you could also attach PCB boxes (which cost about half as much as many of the name-brand boxes) to just about any studio strobe that will take a softbox using SP’s adapters.
Mola doesn’t sell their dishes with adapters for Photogenic, Norman, and a few other brands. So when I got my Mola Euro I just ordered the SP Systems ring for Photogenic from B&H for $16.95. Works like a charm. I don’t know for sure that it works with other Mola dishes – but I’d bet it does – along with several other brands of dishes.
Photogenic also sells an adapter (most manufacturers sell speed ring adapters for their strobes), but since it’s a part (not equipment) it’s not on their web site. Photogenic’s costs more – and the metal in SP’s is about twice as thick as Photogenic’s (and many other manufacturers’) adapters.
A Promark (distributor for Photogenic, Norman, Smith-Victor and I don’t know how many other companies) rep told me a few weeks ago that all of Norman’s new softboxes have or soon will have SP’s EZ mechanism. Add those to the softboxes you can use on WL, AB and Einsteins.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1 … genic.html
Here’s a list of SP adapters from B&H. Ari said it’s not a complete list. For some reason there are adapters for 3-4 brands that don’t show up in a search for SP adapters.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/buy/Speed … 4097420642
John Allan wrote:
With Elinchrom, you have their pro line, which is actually professional level lighting.
I know more full-time professional photographers (many of whom are better than I am) who use PCB’s brands of strobes than Photogenic, Norman and Elinchrom combined. In fact, I ordered some SP adapters for PCB’s last week for a shoot this weekend. In the past couple of years I’ve used six other photographers’ studios around the Midwest – and they all use PCB equipment (although one of them also has a dozen or more current-model Powerlights).
If I were starting out and didn’t already own a ton of Photogenic equipment, I’d seriously consider Einsteins, which are the only PCB strobes that have consistent power/constant power circuitry).
