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Calumet Bowens Travelite Monolights
I have few 750w's with softboxes and white umbrellas. Recycle time is 2.1s which is little slow but all the rest is great! Any experience? Tom Dec 05 05 12:38 am Link This is what I use. I'm very happy with them. I had more knowledge of studio lights, I might not have gotten them but they've worked out fine for my purposes. mike Dec 05 05 12:43 am Link I love my Travelites. No problems at all and the assortment of light modifiers gives more flexibility than most other systems. Very clean light every time, consistency and plenty of punch. All of my images were shot using those lights. Dec 05 05 01:31 am Link I have worked with a few photographers who use Travelites, and in my experience, they aren't so great.......Unless you are one of those people who think that Alien Bees are the BE ALL AND ALL of lighting. When buying Calumet gear, I suggest buying a tube of loctite as well. The 2nd generation of accesory mounts don't always clear the locking mechanism. Don't even get me started on their pack systems. Dec 05 05 09:53 pm Link I've used them several times...they make a nice cheap rental as well as a good set for product shots or anything non-model. I find they're too slow for model shots, and the light is too cool in color temperature. I also think they're pretty inconsistent. I can look at a series in file browser and see a vast difference in the amount of light put out by each of three heads in my typical three head setup for each frame. Dec 05 05 09:57 pm Link I don't really like mine. I have two travellite 750 units. The problem is they work really well for a while and then when they get hot they go out. I had to send two of my units back last weekend. I was shooting a model and the unit just blow. I changed the fuse and put in a new bulb and it still did not work. I really don't know. I average around 1300 images a shoot and maybe it's just to much for the units. Dec 05 05 10:09 pm Link I've rented them, and they do the job, but for what you're actually getting, I'd go with the Bees--not that they're the be all end all, but they are the best value. One worry about the Travelites, their sync voltage is higher than the recommended 6 volts for many digital cameras. You may need to use a safe-sync to use them safely. A resource for sync voltages: http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html Dec 05 05 10:31 pm Link Daniel_Bergeron wrote: Travelites are much more efficient and powerful than Alien Bees, which I'm not all that impressed with. Loctite is unnecessary when the operator is competent in affixing the light modifiers. Very secure and they give a nice "click". Child's play. The light is consistently excellent in my experience. They have standard and UV tubes, also. Never a problem in my usage. Anyone shooting thousands of pops per shoot should be shooting with top of the line gear, which these don't claim to be. In their class, though, they are hard to beat. Dec 06 05 02:34 am Link Vegas Alien wrote: Well put. I still use a sync cord but I never had any problem tripping the flash. Dec 06 05 06:37 am Link Vegas Alien wrote: Perhaps I didn't come across clear enough. Do you honestly believe that I would try to use loctite to affix a speedring?!?! The locktite is for the tiny allen screws that Calumet uses on their heads. Not so bad with the most recent generation of Elite heads, though. Dec 09 05 01:04 am Link |
