Bowens vs Paul C Buff Einstein vs Style RX600

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Kurt.Paris

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Heya folks,

i've decided to invest in a new set of studio/outdoor lights and have narrowed the choice down to two sets of lights - either Bowens Gemini (pro or normal depending on the price i find) or Paul C buff's einstein

I do mainly portraiture, however my biggest complaint with my current interfit lights is their complete inability to stop action so i'm hoping that both systems should have enough oomph and a short enough burn time to manage that.

In terms of living with Einsteins or Bowens on a day to day basis (handling, reliability etc) can anyone here post any advice? I'm looking at starting off with 2 lights and a portable source and then increasing from there.

ETA: Also considering the Elinchrom Style 600RX

thanks!

Kurt
 
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If you want to stop action with studio lights then Interfit isn't the obvious choice but then neither is either Bowens or the AB Einstein...

The Einstein uses IGBT controllers to quench the flash early, when the power is turned down, just as hotshoe flashes do - and it works, but there are serious trade-offs.

Firstly, the native flash duration isn't very short, which means that you need to turn the power down A LOT to get short flash durations, by which time you haven't got a lot of power. And when you turn the power down, the colour turns very blue. Add to that the fact that Alien Bees is an American Company that is a bit... xenophobic - and you may find that as you're living in a foreign country you may end up less than delighted with the level of customer care, as well as with the prices you have to pay for what is, in reality, a pretty average bit of equipment that doesn't have much going for it except for the short flash durations.

In a recent magazine review, Bowens didn't exactly win any praise, with the comment made that it did everything pretty adequately but that it's nothing special. There's nothing wrong with it, but a lot of people feel that it's seriously overpriced for what it is.

In the same magazine, Elinchrom was praised and mention was made of the shorter than average flash durations. If short flash durations are important to you, then your obvious budget choice is Elinchrom (but if budget isn't an issue then you should consider Profoto).

But are short flash durations really that important anyway?
For commercial fashion photographers who need to freeze really fast action regardless of cost, then that's a definite maybe, which is why so many use Profoto. (although there are workarounds, involving the mix of both hotshoe flashguns and studio flash) but for portrait photography subject blur is unlikely to be a real problem - yes, you may end up with a bit of blur on fast-moving hair or hands, but generally that just makes the shot look real and so is a benefit, not a problem.

Other than that, just use whichever flash heads you have available at high power, because it's when you turn the power down low that the flash duration becomes much longer.

As with everything else in life, studio flash design involves compromise. It costs a bit more to produce really short flash durations and the system is under a lot more strain, so a lot of people are happy to manage without that feature.
 
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Kurt.Paris said:
Anyone here use elinchrom on a day-to-day basis? reliable?
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Loads of pros use Elinchrom, no idea why you think they're unreliable, they have a great reputation for build quality. Yes I have used them in a full time capacity, so have a tonne of people I've assisted. The last fashion photographer I worked for blew 2x Profoto packs in a studio, the studio got rid and bought Eli packs and heads instead. You can't go wrong with RX monos either.
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
Loads of pros use Elinchrom, no idea why you think they're unreliable, they have a great reputation for build quality. Yes I have used them in a full time capacity, so have a tonne of people I've assisted. The last fashion photographer I worked for blew 2x Profoto packs in a studio, the studio got rid and bought Eli packs and heads instead. You can't go wrong with RX monos either.
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so far the only people i know who have elinchrom (not a large sample size to be fair) have complained that they had reliability issues :( - thats why i was questioning

I've seen some but have never worked with them before - i've only tried profoto (<3), bowens (which i also liked) and old interfits (which i *really* dont like :))

Thanks for all the replies so far :)
 
Kurt.Paris said:
so far the only people i know who have elinchrom (not a large sample size to be fair) have complained that they had reliability issues :( - thats why i was questioning

I've seen some but have never worked with them before - i've only tried profoto (<3), bowens (which i also liked) and old interfits (which i *really* dont like :))

Thanks for all the replies so far :)
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That's unfortunate, and really very rare. I must know about 10 full time pros that use Eli, and nobody has ever had anything but praise for them. Not sure whether your contacts are using the cheaper d lites or something? Their reputation really is that of high build quality and it's deserved in my experience. The RX monos are fantastic, I used the previous generation top of the line Style S heads, which were analogue and lacked features but they were totally bullet proof!

I've been fortunate to own or have use of most systems whilst assisting, and Elinchrom always perform. If you're happy to pay more, Profoto, Broncolor (I have a bron mobil) and Breisse are fantastic, but not a necessity for reliability and features.

Ps your signature only shows when you post more than a sentence or so :)
 
In the review Garry mentions, in current edition Advanced Photographer magazine, the shortest flash durations were from Profoto D1 500 (D1 250 is even shorter) and they are very high quality units, but pricey.

More affordable, was the Elinchrom BX250Ri that was almost as fast, ranging between 1/1300sec at full power to 1/900sec at min. Elinchrom has a very good reputation.

As a very rough rule of thumb, lower power heads with smaller capacitors have shorter durations, shortest times are at full power, and if you take the t.5 time and roughly double it, you generally get somewhere near what the motion blur looks like at equivalent shutter speeds.
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
Ps your signature only shows when you post more than a sentence or so :)
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I think it only shows on your first post on the page and for it to show up on the first post here, it appears you also need to have had a signature when you made the post....
 
arad85 said:
I think it only shows on your first post on the page and for it to show up on the first post here, it appears you also need to have had a signature when you made the post....
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Ah ok, I use the TP app on iPhone anyway, so don't see signatures :)
 
Not sure of the actual figures but Bowens pro'd use a different system and are about 3 times faster than the the standard Gemini. I think the pro's were 1/2800 but you have to reduce that figure by 1/2 at least for the actual flash duration. Also you have to factor in that those figure are at max power.
I am doing some experiments with fast movements and will let you know how I get on!

Dunc
 
I've had my Style RX 600's & 300's (2 of each) for over 2 years and they have been great...No reliabillity issues at all...Infact I'd go as far to say they are fantastic !
 
Thanksfor the responses :)

the people i know with Eli's have Rangers and Style (i think RX but i'm not sure)

ETA: Wa-heyy my signature seems to have joined us :)

Re Profoto - they are my system of choice. Price unfortunately is an issue, combined with the fact that noone sells them locally - so if i'm spending that kind of $$$ i'd want support
 
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Sounds like Bowen Gemini pros might be your bet then if you're put off of Eli. Compatibility with the travelpak is a benefit of course as you've stated studio/outdoors.

Support is always important, don't expect alot of it from Paul c buff if outside the US, from what I've heard. Plus pcb stuff is overly priced when purchased internationally. In the US alien bees are cheap as chips, and therefore good value for money, in the uk at least they're priced similarly to much superior products, and really not worth it IMO
 
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