Bowens Gemini 500R Pulsar or Elinchrom BRX 500

P!xel

P!xel

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Hi Guys,
I'm looking to buy my first set of studio lights. I have been doing some research for a good few weeks now, but I have to finally decide and purchase them in next few days. I thought maybe I will ask you about your preferences.

I'm shooting portraits mainly, but some group photos as well (full postures). My next session will include shooting some kids and people in very large space on the white background and then one group photo of 48 people inside (most of that will be kids) but maybe with either of lights I would be able to fill in some light for that shot. I have been using Bowens lights through my uni, so I'm quite used to them. I'm looking to purchase three heads so the price difference is silly, only £30. I own Canon 5D Mark III, so there is not issue if I have to settle for higher ISO.

So, what lights are you using? What would you prefer? Thank you for any suggestions and advice.
 
Biggest difference in practise is probably the Bowens' lack of a cooling fan, and heavier, but both good units.
 
Go with the Elinchrom, inbuilt remote control with power adjustment and a fair bit cheaper. There's a decent amount of equipment at this level though, the BXRI/BRX heads are pretty old now so even the D-lite RX range has basically caught up but if build quality is your concern you'd be better off with an Elinchrom Style RX or a Bowens GM500.

If you do decide to go with the 500r it might be worth waiting until they announce their new products as besides the 200/400Rx they're all pretty long in the tooth now.
 
I have read the review that this is not such an issue, due to the fact that Bowens are heavier, a metal case so they can handle more. When in Elinchrom case they are smaller, so they have a cooling fan and are in a plastic case. Not sure if that is true or not?
 
Dear Simon, Bowens comes with Pulsar Tx Kit (Tx Transmitter and Rx Receiver Card) and the price difference is only £80. Bowens £1499, Elinchrom £1579 (in both cases 3 heads)
 
Also, I can't wait unfortunately, I have a commission coming for which I need this lights.
 
P!xel said:
Dear Simon, Bowens comes with Pulsar Tx Kit (Tx Transmitter and Rx Receiver Card) and the price difference is only £80. Bowens £1499, Elinchrom £1579 (in both cases 3 heads)
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It's easier to find BXRi/BRX heads cheaply, I appreciate second hand isn't useful to you as you can't wait but that's where the comment came from.

In my mind the downside of the Bowens radio system is you need to rely on Pulsar cards for each head you want a radio a receiver in, so if the optical sensor isn't an option suddenly you have to spend an extra £70 for each head and they don't give you power adjustment just triggering. I've been expecting them to do something about their radio system for a while but I continue to be disappointed (it was a clever idea as it's modular, has a PocketWizard option etc but it never seemed to fulfill its potential).

If you leave the modelling light on the Bowens turns off automatically once it's hot enough which is annoying while the Elinchrom has the fan to keep going (I can't remember if BRX heads are temperature sensing or not, it's been a couple of years since I last had one).

It's small beans between the two kits but you get a more useful sized softbox with the Bowens kit but maybe the dinky Portalites will work better for you in the long run? I don't see you using either for those group shots you mentioned though. I used to favour the Bowens kit but the Elinchrom includes a decent storage case option now (the Protec case only came out last year I think?) so I honestly think either kit is perfectly capable.

It may be worth considering which system you prefer in terms of modifiers, it's very close but Bowens is a little more common although I think Elinchrom were slightly cheaper when we're talking about first party pieces. In your shoes my only reservation would be that the BRX and Gemini R range are quite old, we know Bowens is coming out with a major new set of products this year so I suspect they'll introduce a replacement. That is of course irrelevant to your current needs but in your shoes with your budget I'd probably be tempted to future proof and get an Elinchrom Pro ELC HD kit instead and either rent or source a second hand third head.
 
Thanks for that Simon. I'm now thinking maybe I should try to borrow the lights from someone to cover the assignment, and wait until Bowens will release new products and then decide between two brands. On top of that, I now found out that Bowens are all now serviced out of the UK, which is not helpful either.
 
That's why I mentioned you should consider the GM500 if build quality is your concern, every engineer I've spoken with has not been a fan of the newer Bowens heads. I doubt any newer models are going to be UK built though, everything comes out of Asia these days. Enough assumption for one day though!
 
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