anyone tried Magneflash portable lights?

[mikeyt]

am looking for some location lighting for model shoots & winter wedding receptions and stumbled across these : http://www.magneflash.com/products1/ which look exceptional value (c. 400w/s units, about 200 quid including a powerpack).

Nobody seems to be talking about them and I cant even find an online review.. have I found a bargain or will i be disappointed?

 

[gary996]

First I've seen of them.
But are they any good????

 

[juggler]

They look a lot like speedlights in a different package, but without the zoom control. They're slow to recycle, not that powerful, not a true bare bulb and have no inbuilt wireless trigger or power control.

They may be a bargain... but they make the Yongnuo 560III look an even bigger bargain.

 

[Scooter]

I had quite a lengthy discussion with Peter Louden about these at the Photography Show earlier in the year. They are quite innovative, however as there are only so many ways you can achieve what they claim (constant and reasonable fast (1/3000th ) duration) and as I had one in my hands, I think I know how they have done it. The power knob has 3 positions. If the duration is constant, and you can adjust the power in 3 steps, I'm guessing there are 3 flash tubes behind that translucent white cone - and it's 3 lights in one box. I almost bought one to try but I wanted to know how much power they kicked out (as opposed to guide numbers which rely on a few too many variables). Peter wasn't keen, although we did take some test shots with the light in a big octa at about 2 foot distance, and it had enough oomph to light me at ISO 100. Note to self: bring light meter to Photography Show next year .

The long refresh time is halved if you add a second power pack. I didn't really like the separate power pack idea tbh though, I'd rather it was inside the body: removable, but not on a cable - having to Velcro that up wasn't ideal when you're in a hurry (and aren't all shoots a whirlwind, or is that just me . I think they have something here but it needs a bit of polishing. The fast flash duration is really only useful for pure flash shots, and they tend to be inside with mains power available, so I bought a set of Lencarta Superfasts for this. These little flashes are obviously meant for location work and outside a short duration really doesn't matter too much, except to get all of the light out in the time allowed which makes them more efficient. Of course, speedlights are also fast, efficient, and portable and the only differentiator I could see there was that the MagneFlash takes Bowens modifiers and whilst you cannot see the bulbs, it will send light in a hemispherical pattern like a bare bulb, so it may have some minor advantage over shoving an SB900 into a softbox on an S-fit adaptor. I already had buckets of speedlights though so I bought a Safari II for location work instead.