Battery pack studio strobe suggestions

subseasniper

subseasniper

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Hey all.

Simple question with (I hope) a simple answer.

I am looking to buy a decent studio style strobe and battery pack. Seen the inerfit 150 and battery pack but reviews haven't been that favourable.

Any ideas for up to £450?

Something with 200w/s or above would be preferred.

I am willing to consider 12v car type battery and some kind of power inverter.

Thanks.
 
To be honest if you actually want 'decent' then you probably need tomdouble your budget (at minimum) for a single pack and head.
 
Having use 200Ws units in the past, they are quite limited if you need to use them in the bright sunlight, fine in the dusk or dawn, in wooded/shaded areas or in buildings, but not really for overpowering the sun consensus would seem to indicate 600Ws. For £450 ish there isn't much on the market new, though you could source a Jinbei FLII-500 400Ws Flash Kit from the continent at about 350euro + delivery.

Paul
 
The Genesis units from Calumet are very slow to recycle... if that's important to you?
 
subseasniper said:
Hey all.

Simple question with (I hope) a simple answer.

I am looking to buy a decent studio style strobe and battery pack. Seen the inerfit 150 and battery pack but reviews haven't been that favourable.

Any ideas for up to £450?

Something with 200w/s or above would be preferred.

I am willing to consider 12v car type battery and some kind of power inverter.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

It's not that easy. Studio style performance outdoors poses several conflicting challenges, resulting in either considerable compromise or expense.

Best performance/power is Lencarta Safari Li-on but still well above your budget. If you just want a battery power pack, you can plug almost any studio head into an Innovatronix (from The Flash Centre) which is basically just a battery and inverter, but simple as it sounds, it's not if you want something practical that won't blow the heads.
 
V8burble said:
The Genesis units from Calumet are very slow to recycle... if that's important to you?
Click to expand...

Is this through actual user experience?

Because mine is absolutely fine at recycling.

The specs on the website is based on the 120v version, which is twice as slow because of the voltage.

Mine recycles in no more than 3 seconds to full power with a well used battery. Full battery is comparable to mains power recycling speed.

Its a nice complement to my Elinchrom Quadra, and comparable in many ways.
 
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Kris said:
Is this through actual user experience?
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I think that Hoppy did a review of them recently in Advanced Photographer. They get a decent write up although there are drawbacks, namely the recycle time mentioned.
 
Maybe mine's turbo charged!

They are refreshing their genesis lines at the moment, with new models coming.
 
Nah, they come with the better mount. :)

Just tested mine, 3 months since recharge, recycling in about 2 seconds to full having dropped one battery bar.

I have a few 200s and 400s as well, and they are all excellent.

I believe Tempest school photography use them, who must absolutely hammer them in schools. Ive used them for school photos as well, and they've never let me down.
 
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DemiLion said:
I think that Hoppy did a review of them recently in Advanced Photographer. They get a decent write up although there are drawbacks, namely the recycle time mentioned.
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I didn't review anything from Calumet. The battery specs don't look very good, but if they're wrong, and Kris knows his stuff, then they do look interesting.

Godox also do some similar packs. And the Innovatronix Mini, that I've used briefly.

As a comment, I think there may be good news around the corner. Lithium batteries have great potential for outdoor power, as demonstrated by several location systems from the big brands. Would make a great stand-alone pack.
 
Maybe I could do a video.

If I wasn't so busy.
 
HoppyUK said:
I didn't review anything from Calumet. The battery specs don't look very good, but if they're wrong, and Kris knows his stuff, then they do look interesting.
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Whoops, apologies for that then. I could have sworn that I read something about them by you recently, but I might well be mixing up two articles. :)
 
Kris said:
Is this through actual user experience?

Because mine is absolutely fine at recycling.

The specs on the website is based on the 120v version, which is twice as slow because of the voltage.

Mine recycles in no more than 3 seconds to full power with a well used battery. Full battery is comparable to mains power recycling speed.

Its a nice complement to my Elinchrom Quadra, and comparable in many ways.
Click to expand...

Well if that is the case Calumet are doing themselves no favours with the published spec, which is pretty anaemic anyway, as I know several people that have dismissed the 300B on the grounds of the slow recycle speed quoted. :(

Paul
 
They're muppets.

I told them about the recycle when they first came out, they didn't listen, though did say all specs are US based where the website is written. All their 120v genesis's recycle twice as long as the 240v versions.

I told them to tell the world their large umbrellas have (elinchrom compatible) 7mm solid shafts to the join, they didn't listen.

Hmmm.
 
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Kris said:
Is this through actual user experience?

Because mine is absolutely fine at recycling.

The specs on the website is based on the 120v version, which is twice as slow because of the voltage.

Mine recycles in no more than 3 seconds to full power with a well used battery. Full battery is comparable to mains power recycling speed.

Its a nice complement to my Elinchrom Quadra, and comparable in many ways.
Click to expand...

Only from trying them in my far too local Calumet. Yes I would agree at about 3 seconds. Which for my use is about 10 times what I need at that output level... Which is why I hire Profoto 7B2 units which of course isn't comparing apples with apples or even apples with melons ;)
 
I've seen some of those Quantuum strobes being sold on Fleabay, 300w or 600w including battery pack - how good they are I haven't a clue. The 300w is just over the £200 mark and the 600w is just under £300 so within budget but like I said I know nothing about them. I believe theres a thread somewhere on here about them though.
 
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