StephenEastwood wrote:
price to power quality ratio says hensel porty premium.  Best bang for the buck, profoto is very over priced and if you need ultimate in flash duration look at the elinchrom ranger but the fast duration heads cost more than standard heads.  Best pack out now a broncolor verso the mobilite is outdated and likely discontinued or will be. 

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

steven, my calculator comes up with different #s and says Elinchrom.... mind explaining how you cmae up with that?

capturecharacter wrote:
I've been renting the Porty. You can't plug it into AC. Battery packs only.

the porty batteries on the premium can charge in or out of the pack and if full they will run a pack plugged in at full blast at slow as if it was AC unit, with no battery drain, which is why they do not make a $1000.00 AC adapter like they use to for the standard porty,  the battery will drain if fast shooting on fast at full power even while plugged in.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

StephenEastwood wrote:
Best pack out now a broncolor verso the mobilite is outdated and likely discontinued or will be. 

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

Indeed, but broncolor's flash tubes are largely backwards-compatible.

AndrewThomasDesigns wrote:

LOL at the willing to spend thousands...

this isn't a problem to throw money at, and you're stupid if you're starting to think this way.

way to make friends.....

if you read his profile you will see all the signs that he can readily afford it.....

i think it is the smart thing to do....i did the same when i started out....i bought pro foto right from the get go....i said i'm going to be a photographer no use buying the stuff twice...

so get a clue

i agree the porty is a great way to go, it's what i would buy...wish i would of started with hensel instead of pro foto

good luck

fStopstudios wrote:

steven, my calculator comes up with different #s and says Elinchrom.... mind explaining how you cmae up with that?

the standard ranger kit has the slow head and he batteries run to about 140 full power at 1100ws  the hensel is 1200ws at 250 each and charger acts as a AC unit if full or slow charge while powering the heads with ac, the faster head elinchrom has onely one battery at $100.00 less than the hennsel, either way for the same bang you pay more.


Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

StephenEastwood wrote:

the standard ranger kit has the slow head and he batteries run to about 140 full power at 1100ws  the hensel is 1200ws at 250 each and charger acts as a AC unit if full or slow charge while powering the heads with ac, the faster head elinchrom has onely one battery at $100.00 less than the hennsel, either way for the same bang you pay more.


Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

#s are off depending on the unit/kit. You get the elinchrom speed AS kit with head, two batteries, etc for apprx 2500. The equiv Porty is apprx $500 more and add 100w/s. The specs on the speed AS win out for less cash.

mary duprie wrote:
way to make friends.....

if you read his profile you will see all the signs that he can readily afford it.....

i think it is the smart thing to do....i did the same when i started out....i bought pro foto right from the get go....i said i'm going to be a photographer no use buying the stuff twice...

so get a clue

i agree the porty is a great way to go, it's what i would buy...wish i would of started with hensel instead of pro foto

good luck

well if the OP didn't act like a spoiled brat I'd be more adapt to help him. however he has shown a poor attitude on here and little regard to money or what's out there.

I'm also not here to make friends. In fact I need to be more mean since then maybe I would be doing a shoot a day after work for the next two weeks.

what's this clue about anyway? I buy what I can afford to fit the need. Example, someone is selling a nice 80-200 for $500 today on craigslist. I easily have that much money sitting around but I don't need the lens and really wouldn't use it.

What's this buying it twice bs as well? I haven't heard of anyone having to do this, and if they did it's because they got a lot of use out of the old equipment.

OMG I better save up for a 1dsM2 becuse anything else I'd have to buy twice... grow up.

Marcel Vocino wrote:
well the broncolor verso will cost arounnd 10,000 with 3 heads.... thats a little outrageous, maybe? haha

They are worth it, I am using them in studio and on location and they are amazing lights but big for small productions if you want to travel a bit lighter and do not need the extras they offer.  They will not likely be readily available in many rental houses because of the price so that may be a concern to some.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

fStopstudios wrote:

#s are off depending on the unit/kit. You get the elinchrom speed AS kit with head, two batteries, etc for apprx 2500. The equiv Porty is apprx $500 more and add 100w/s. The specs on the speed AS win out for less cash.

again that is a slow head not a fast head the fast head kit is 2895 for a one battery kit, the two hensels offer about 500 full power flashes the elinchrom offer 140 per or 280 for two they need three to offer the same output on location, its important only if you need more and have no generator or ac, I usually bring 3 to 4 packs and at least 3 batteries per pack anywhere just to not have to think about it.  But either unit is good for the money, and way less then either profoto or broncolor.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

AndrewThomasDesigns wrote:

well if the OP didn't act like a spoiled brat I'd be more adapt to help him. however he has shown a poor attitude on here and little regard to money or what's out there.

I'm also not here to make friends. In fact I need to be more mean since then maybe I would be doing a shoot a day after work for the next two weeks.

what's this clue about anyway? I buy what I can afford to fit the need. Example, someone is selling a nice 80-200 for $500 today on craigslist. I easily have that much money sitting around but I don't need the lens and really wouldn't use it.

What's this buying it twice bs as well? I haven't heard of anyone having to do this, and if they did it's because they got a lot of use out of the old equipment.

OMG I better save up for a 1dsM2 becuse anything else I'd have to buy twice... grow up.

I am using a 39mp back more than the 1DS2 so I would have to buy 2 and a 1/4 of them to ad up in numbers

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

5nap5hot wrote:
How so? Can you elaborate on that? I am currently looking for a portable lighting solution as well. I am mulling getting something Ranger/Porty-ish  OR something like a Dyna-lite XP1100  plus a monolight.

That depends on your definition of portable. I'm mobile enough that I can run around with my pack and head and be set up, shoot, and be out in under 5 minutes. I can also navigate through a crowd with my gear, don't have to worry about having a top heavy monolight setup, don't have as many logistic issues to take into consideration on location, and don't get tired carrying gear around. Plus I like having accessible controls via the pack instead of having them on the monolight.

If you don't need to move around much once you're on location then obviously mobility isn't a major concern. Ultimately you're going to have to figure out what works best for you. In my case, dedicated battery packs fit better.

StephenEastwood wrote:
again that is a slow head not a fast head the fast head kit is 2895 for a one battery kit, the two hensels offer about 500 full power flashes the elinchrom offer 140 per or 280 for two they need three to offer the same output on location, its important only if you need more and have no generator or ac, I usually bring 3 to 4 packs and at least 3 batteries per pack anywhere just to not have to think about it.  But either unit is good for the money, and way less then either profoto or broncolor.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

Steve, send me 3k and I'll send you the speed AS kit with the fast head and 2 batteries (500 flashes), which do outspec the porty head.

Your absolutely right tho-- they are both fantastic kits. It comes down to who has the best deal at the time and what's in stock. I would be thrilled with either.

AndrewThomasDesigns wrote:

well if the OP didn't act like a spoiled brat I'd be more adapt to help him. however he has shown a poor attitude on here and little regard to money or what's out there.

I'm also not here to make friends. In fact I need to be more mean since then maybe I would be doing a shoot a day after work for the next two weeks.

what's this clue about anyway? I buy what I can afford to fit the need. Example, someone is selling a nice 80-200 for $500 today on craigslist. I easily have that much money sitting around but I don't need the lens and really wouldn't use it.

What's this buying it twice bs as well? I haven't heard of anyone having to do this, and if they did it's because they got a lot of use out of the old equipment.

OMG I better save up for a 1dsM2 becuse anything else I'd have to buy twice... grow up.

with your attitude you'll always have a day job...mean doesn't cut it

try some charm.....works like butta

StephenEastwood wrote:
I am using a 39mp back more than the 1DS2 so I would have to buy 2 and a 1/4 of them to ad up in numbers

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

hrmm canon makes backs ?

btw steve, your work is fantastic.

rp_photo wrote:

My understanding is that a WS is related to the amount of light a standard tungsten bulb would emit in one second. For example, 500 WS is the amount of light a 500W bulb would emit over 1 second or a 50W bulb would emit over 10 seconds.

fStopstudios wrote:

hrmm canon makes backs ?

btw steve, your work is fantastic.

Thanks,   I myself, am always sick of it

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

BlindMike wrote:
That depends on your definition of portable. I'm mobile enough that I can run around with my pack and head and be set up, shoot, and be out in under 5 minutes. I can also navigate through a crowd with my gear, don't have to worry about having a top heavy monolight setup, don't have as many logistic issues to take into consideration on location, and don't get tired carrying gear around. Plus I like having accessible controls via the pack instead of having them on the monolight.
If you don't need to move around much once you're on location then obviously mobility isn't a major concern. Ultimately you're going to have to figure out what works best for you. In my case, dedicated battery packs fit better.

Ok... this is the kind of answer I was looking for. My dilemma is that occasionally I want to shoot studio and my budget doesn't allow for 2 setups. I guess I could do the rental route but it would be nice to have my own gear (.. that I know and love) :-)  I also invested in a set of Pocket Wizards ... Hensel doesn't support that because they have their own transmitters.

ahhh... I am going crazy trying to figure it out!

5nap5hot wrote:

Ok... this is the kind of answer I was looking for. My dilemma is that occasionally I want to shoot studio and my budget doesn't allow for 2 setups. I guess I could do the rental route but it would be nice to have my own gear (.. that I know and love) :-)  I also invested in a set of Pocket Wizards ... Hensel doesn't support that because they have their own transmitters.

ahhh... I am going crazy trying to figure it out!

well you really haven't posed a question-- what's itching ya that I can scratch?

5nap5hot wrote:

Ok... this is the kind of answer I was looking for. My dilemma is that occasionally I want to shoot studio and my budget doesn't allow for 2 setups. I guess I could do the rental route but it would be nice to have my own gear (.. that I know and love) :-)  I also invested in a set of Pocket Wizards ... Hensel doesn't support that because they have their own transmitters.

ahhh... I am going crazy trying to figure it out!

You can use pocket wizards with hensel or use their unit, I personally only use their unit to adjust lights up and down in power but use other radios I have so I can have the packs on different frequencies and set them all by remote independantly.  You can always get a hensel mini 1200 WS pack and heads that have 300ws modeling lights and work with the porty system but is an ac pack head setup.  Than you can use the same heads and ring on all packs ac or battery.

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

fStopstudios wrote:
okie, I'll go crawl back into my elinchrom hole... for now.

Been fun.

I happen to like elinchrom personally, just found the hensels offer a bit more overall, but I am so multisystem its not even funny, I use broncolor and blackline mainly, profoto on many jobs, now broncolor or hensel on locations, lumedynes as accent lights, love the vivitar 285's and still have canon 550/580 setups Kinos, arris, hmi's, neons, fiber optics, you name it I use it, I love light and all different types of it, its fun to play with and figure out new ways of doing things, same goes for gels, color correcting and colored, or color breaking on occassion .

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

StephenEastwood wrote:

I happen to like elinchrom personally, just found the hensels offer a bit more overall, but I am so multisystem its not even funny, I use broncolor and blackline mainly, profoto on many jobs, now broncolor or hensel on locations, lumedynes as accent lights, love the vivitar 285's and still have canon 550/580 setups Kinos, arris, hmi's, neons, fiber optics, you name it I use it, I love light and all different types of it, its fun to play with and figure out new ways of doing things, same goes for gels, color correcting and colored, or color breaking on occassion .

Stephen Eastwood
http://www.StephenEastwood.com

absolutely!

AndrewThomasDesigns wrote:

well if the OP didn't act like a spoiled brat I'd be more adapt to help him. however he has shown a poor attitude on here and little regard to money or what's out there.

I'm also not here to make friends. In fact I need to be more mean since then maybe I would be doing a shoot a day after work for the next two weeks.

what's this clue about anyway? I buy what I can afford to fit the need. Example, someone is selling a nice 80-200 for $500 today on craigslist. I easily have that much money sitting around but I don't need the lens and really wouldn't use it.

What's this buying it twice bs as well? I haven't heard of anyone having to do this, and if they did it's because they got a lot of use out of the old equipment.

OMG I better save up for a 1dsM2 becuse anything else I'd have to buy twice... grow up.

Dont act like you know me dude.....



but to get back on topic, Im going with PROFOTO b2s

I called smashbox studios and studio 59 here is LA and spoke with people and they all recommended profoto, thus confirming my original speculations


thanks very much for all the responses, side topics and haters

tata

fStopstudios wrote:

well you really haven't posed a question-- what's itching ya that I can scratch?

Well... I am trying to decide whether or not to get a dedicated portable system OR a dedicated studio system and use a AC power supply (Jackrabbit/Vagabond). I am still pretty new to the game, but I don't want to buy equipment that I will outgrow. I am  big believer in the "buy cheap ...buy twice" phrase. Yet on the other hand, I don't have  a budget of more than $2-3K

5nap5hot wrote:
Well... I am trying to decide whether or not to get a dedicated portable system OR a dedicated studio system and use a AC power supply (Jackrabbit/Vagabond). I am still pretty new to the game, but I don't want to buy equipment that I will outgrow. I am  big believer in the "buy cheap ...buy twice" phrase. Yet on the other hand, I don't have  a budget of more than $2-3K

well for 2k you don't have much choice in the matter..  For a good pack system with one head your looking at at least 2k, more likely around 2.5-3k. Then you need modifiers and all the other toys... that can easily run around 1-3k.

at that budget, pick up a couple decent monos and a vagabond2. When you can afford it and need better, get it.

fStopstudios wrote:

well for 2k you don't have much choice in the matter..  For a good pack system with one head your looking at at least 2k, more likely around 2.5-3k. Then you need modifiers and all the other toys... that can easily run around 1-3k.

at that budget, pick up a couple decent monos and a vagabond2. When you can afford it and need better, get it.

Thanks for your advice. What would you recommend for a 2 light setup? What brands and what models?

I really appreciate your help

5nap5hot wrote:

Thanks for your advice. What would you recommend for a 2 light setup? What brands and what models?

I really appreciate your help

plenty of good ones. However, I tend to think more strategic and buy into a "system" rather than what's a decent light. What modifiers do you use, plan to use, lust after? Elinchrom has a kick ass 2 light kit deal going on now:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control … 704&is=REG

for 1200 that's an awesome kit. Hensel also has a kit that is roughly on par although not running a special right now.

If you wanted to go cheap-- alien bees are ok for the cash and cheaper. But you do get what you pay for in the lighting world for the most part. I have had two B800s for a few years and they are fine for the money.

Really depends on you, what kind of work, your values, how much you plan to use stuff, etc. For my money, the elinchrom kit is a no brainer tho.