Interfit Honey Badger

[learningtofly]

I'm finding myself drawn to these quirky looking things, with their 320Ws output in such a small and light form factor. On top of that they have a 60w LED modeling light (which has its own usefulness, including as a continuous light source) and utilise a Bowens S-mount accessory fitting.

Perhaps not the most robust light for a busy studio but seemingly perfect for relatively light use in small spaces. Any real life experience out there that can be shared?

 

[Garry Edwards]

Interesting . . .
I don't know anything about them but they'e sold by Interfit, so possibly not the best start, I have no idea who actually makes them.
They're reminiscent of the old Alien Bees, possibly the worst budget range of studio lights ever. I was working in NYC when the Alien Bees lights came to market, I think that the American public bought them because of their xenophobia (they were claimed to be made in America at the time) but they were awful.

 

[learningtofly]

Interesting . . .
I don't know anything about them but they'e sold by Interfit, so possibly not the best start, I have no idea who actually makes them.
They're reminiscent of the old Alien Bees, possibly the worst budget range of studio lights ever. I was working in NYC when the Alien Bees lights came to market, I think that the American public bought them because of their xenophobia (they were claimed to be made in America at the time) but they were awful.

Haha - so you like them, Garry?

My last lights were Bowens Esprit 2 500s (proper workhorses) but I found they were just very heavy to lug around. These seem to be a good solution to that and I've not seen a bad review of them anywhere.

 

[Garry Edwards]

Well, looking at the specs, they're impressive, especially as they're IGBT and because the LED light appears to be a genuine 60 watt consumption one, roughly equivalent to 300 watts.
But personally I think I'd let a lot of other people buy them first, and to see a lot of real-word reviews before I took the plunge.

 

[learningtofly]

Well, looking at the specs, they're impressive, especially as they're IGBT and because the LED light appears to be a genuine 60 watt consumption one, roughly equivalent to 300 watts.
But personally I think I'd let a lot of other people buy them first, and to see a lot of real-word reviews before I took the plunge.

I think they are too, but it's also the very small form factor + LED modeling lamps that I like with these. I suppose that the Lencarta option would be the Smartflash 4 (which seems to be a great light but doesn't offer the advantages I mentioned).

 

[Scooter]

Interesting . . .
I don't know anything about them but they'e sold by Interfit, so possibly not the best start, I have no idea who actually makes them.
They're reminiscent of the old Alien Bees, possibly the worst budget range of studio lights ever. I was working in NYC when the Alien Bees lights came to market, I think that the American public bought them because of their xenophobia (they were claimed to be made in America at the time) but they were awful.

I think they're a dig at Alien Bees Garry (Honey Badgers eat bees). The Alien Bees were all over YouTube due to the popularity in the US and they were very difficult to get hold of in the UK (and overpriced). Interfit came up with this. They've been around for a couple of years now so should be plenty of reviews around.

Joe Edelman is usually pretty reliable as a reviewer (despite his near fanatical obsession with Olympus)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM875oPyyz4

 

[Garry Edwards]

I think they're a dig at Alien Bees Garry (Honey Badgers eat bees). The Alien Bees were all over YouTube due to the popularity in the US and they were very difficult to get hold of in the UK (and overpriced). Interfit came up with this. They've been around for a couple of years now so should be plenty of reviews around.

Joe Edelman is usually pretty reliable as a reviewer (despite his near fanatical obsession with Olympus)

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM875oPyyz4

You're probably right, and I don't have any issues with Joe Edelman either.
It's just that I'm not generally impressed with Interfit products, and my view that going head to head with a Company that has terrible products amounts to shooting at an unmissable target doesn't help either

Alien Bees (back in the time of Paul C Buff) had a strange attitude to its customers and flatly refused to deal with evil foreigners - or with evil liberal left-wing states in their own country - and this seems to have continued after his death.

The Company eventually agreed to sell its products to agents in Australia and the UK, but allegedly provided zero support to them and sold to them at full dollar retail prices, which made them ridiculously expensive for what they are. They then stopped supplying them at all, leaving their agents high and dry.

 

[learningtofly]

All of which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Honey Badger, of course, which looks like a decent little light

 

[Garry Edwards]

All of which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Honey Badger, of course, which looks like a decent little light

Fair point, I'm probably swayed by the obvious, i.e. that they're trying to go head to head with what I personally consider to be a terrible make, and so they may be aiming pretty low.. Let's take a quick look at the obvious possible issues . . .

Very small, and obviously lacking a cooling fan (at least I assume that there's no fan because they don't mention one in the specs) and this means that it may not be OK to use it for long sessions, and a 60 watt LED light produces a fair amount of heat in itself, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of space for a heat sink, although of course I may be wrong about that.

Plastic body. It may, of course, be made from excellent plastics, but the plastic body is a frequent breakage point on the AB lights.

Flash tube/diffuser/protector seems to stick out a very long way. How well does it work with any light shapers other than a very basic softbox or umbrella?

It may be a great flash, but its design and appearance does pose concerns.

 

[learningtofly]

Fair point, I'm probably swayed by the obvious, i.e. that they're trying to go head to head with what I personally consider to be a terrible make, and so they may be aiming pretty low.. Let's take a quick look at the obvious possible issues . . .

Very small, and obviously lacking a cooling fan (at least I assume that there's no fan because they don't mention one in the specs) and this means that it may not be OK to use it for long sessions, and a 60 watt LED light produces a fair amount of heat in itself, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of space for a heat sink, although of course I may be wrong about that.

Plastic body. It may, of course, be made from excellent plastics, but the plastic body is a frequent breakage point on the AB lights.

Flash tube/diffuser/protector seems to stick out a very long way. How well does it work with any light shapers other than a very basic softbox or umbrella?

It may be a great flash, but its design and appearance does pose concerns.

No, it definitely has a cooling fan, Garry. As for the diffuser, I can immediately think of more conventional of flash heads where the modeling light is far more prominent

 

[Garry Edwards]

No, it definitely has a cooling fan, Garry. As for the diffuser, I can immediately think of more conventional of flash heads where the modeling light is far more prominent

Fair enough, I just assumed that if it has a cooling fan then the specs would say so . . .
I was referring to the flash tube, the length of the modelling lamp doesn't matter.

 

[learningtofly]

Fair enough, I just assumed that if it has a cooling fan then the specs would say so . . .
I was referring to the flash tube, the length of the modelling lamp doesn't matter.

The fan is listed in the spec on the Interfit site. My point about the tube/diffuser is that it's less prominent than many modeling lights.

 

[Garry Edwards]

The fan is listed in the spec on the Interfit site. My point about the tube/diffuser is that it's less prominent than many modeling lights.

Well, maybe you're right, I'm getting old and my eyesight isn't what it was . . .
But I can't find it on the "product details" page here https://www.interfitphoto.co.uk/lig...3/interfit-honey-badger-320ws-1-light-kit-p26
And when I looked on the "specifications" page here https://www.interfitphoto.co.uk/lig...3/interfit-honey-badger-320ws-1-light-kit-p26 I again found no mention of a fan. What I did find though was a statement that the temperature is regulated by an auto shutoff, which is very different.

And, as I pointed out earlier, the protrusion of the modelling lamp is of no importance, the position of the flash tube is. Again, I'm not saying that the Interfit flash tube position is wrong, just that it looks to me that it is likely to be wrong.

Anyway, I think I'm done with this thread.

 

[learningtofly]

Well, maybe you're right, I'm getting old and my eyesight isn't what it was . . .
But I can't find it on the "product details" page here https://www.interfitphoto.co.uk/lig...3/interfit-honey-badger-320ws-1-light-kit-p26
And when I looked on the "specifications" page here https://www.interfitphoto.co.uk/lig...3/interfit-honey-badger-320ws-1-light-kit-p26 I again found no mention of a fan. What I did find though was a statement that the temperature is regulated by an auto shutoff, which is very different.

And, as I pointed out earlier, the protrusion of the modelling lamp is of no importance, the position of the flash tube is. Again, I'm not saying that the Interfit flash tube position is wrong, just that it looks to me that it is likely to be wrong.

Anyway, I think I'm done with this thread.

The spec on the page you linked says “Cooling fan: yes” Garry. Thanks for adding to the thread.

 

[HoppyUK]

I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with the Honey Badger. It's not an Interfit product as such, they're just the importers. It does have a cooling fan, though it's not IGBT-regulated but voltage-regulated like most entry-level heads. It's basically a PCB Alien Bees DigiBee DB800 with a Bowens S-fit mount attached (which is a great improvement). The super-bright modelling LED is probably its most notable USP apart from the shape and colour, but it doesn't have a built-in radio receiver, and it costs £200.

However, things have changed since the Digi Bee of 2016, when Godox turned the market upside-down. There is now more choice and prices have come down. More recently, Godox introduced the MS300 at around £100 which is broadly similar to the Honey Badger (modelling LED aside) and has their X-system radio receiver built-in for remote control and compatibility with the vast Godox ecosystem.

 

[learningtofly]

I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with the Honey Badger. It's not an Interfit product as such, they're just the importers. It does have a cooling fan, though it's not IGBT-regulated but voltage-regulated like most entry-level heads. It's basically a PCB Alien Bees DigiBee DB800 with a Bowens S-fit mount attached (which is a great improvement). The super-bright modelling LED is probably its most notable USP apart from the shape and colour, but it doesn't have a built-in radio receiver, and it costs £200.

However, things have changed since the Digi Bee of 2016, when Godox turned the market upside-down. There is now more choice and prices have come down. More recently, Godox introduced the MS300 at around £100 which is broadly similar to the Honey Badger (modelling LED aside) and has their X-system radio receiver built-in for remote control and compatibility with the vast Godox ecosystem.

Thanks for that. It does have a built in receiver, though... I quote:

“The Honey Badger features a built-in radio receiver that is compatible with all S1 TTL Remotes, and S1 Manual remote. This allows full control over the lights’ power range, modelling lamp and beep function. When using the new S1 Manual remote, the Honey Badger can be adjusted individually via 8 different control groups (A-H), across 15 different channels (1-15). This allows for intricate multi-light setups and negates interference from neighbouring photographers.”

So far, all the negatives seem to be based on incorrect assumptions. I’d still love to hear some feedback from someone who actually owns them.

 

[HoppyUK]

Thanks for that. It does have a built in receiver, though... I quote:

“The Honey Badger features a built-in radio receiver that is compatible with all S1 TTL Remotes, and S1 Manual remote. This allows full control over the lights’ power range, modelling lamp and beep function. When using the new S1 Manual remote, the Honey Badger can be adjusted individually via 8 different control groups (A-H), across 15 different channels (1-15). This allows for intricate multi-light setups and negates interference from neighbouring photographers.”

So far, all the negatives seem to be based on incorrect assumptions. I’d still love to hear some feedback from someone who actually owns them.

You're quite right of course. I took that from the original Digi Bee's spec and missed that the Badger has been upgraded with a built-in receiver. Apologies.

It's always good to hear from actual owners first hand, but there may not be many of them.

 

[Garry Edwards]

I said that I was done with this thread, but it's now clear that I was wrong about the cooling fan, I don't know how I missed seeing that but I did, my apologies.

I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with the Honey Badger. It's not an Interfit product as such, they're just the importers. It does have a cooling fan, though it's not IGBT-regulated but voltage-regulated like most entry-level heads. It's basically a PCB Alien Bees DigiBee DB800 with a Bowens S-fit mount attached (which is a great improvement). The super-bright modelling LED is probably its most notable USP apart from the shape and colour, but it doesn't have a built-in radio receiver, and it costs £200.

However, things have changed since the Digi Bee of 2016, when Godox turned the market upside-down. There is now more choice and prices have come down. More recently, Godox introduced the MS300 at around £100 which is broadly similar to the Honey Badger (modelling LED aside) and has their X-system radio receiver built-in for remote control and compatibility with the vast Godox ecosystem.

I'm not sure whether it has IGBT technology or not, the webpage doesn't say that it does, but it does say
"Fast Recycle Time:

At full power, the Honey Badger recycles in an impressive 1 second. Recycle times get shorter and shorter as you decrease flash power.

Short Flash Duration:

Short flash durations give us the ability to freeze motion beyond the capabilities of our shutter sync speed. At full power, the Honey Badger has a t.1 flash duration of 1/900." which I read as indicating that it does, because a t.1 flash duration of 1/900th at full power is pretty good and indicates IGBT (although there are plenty of conventional technology flashes that have claimed a similar t.1 figure, they tend to be at the expensive end of the market. Maybe I guessed wrong on that, it certainly doesn't claim to have IGBT, either in the specs list or in the (very brief) instructions.

Maybe I'm just allowing my experience of Alien Bees, my views about its founder and my views about some previous products sold under the Interfit badge to colour my views.

 

[learningtofly]

Thanks Garry, much appreciated (and as mentioned above, the other posting error on the thread relates the the light's in-built radio receiver).

Given that I'm looking for something with a particularly small and light form factor, I've tried to compare the Honey Badger with the Godox MS300; I have to say, though, that to my mind the HB is at least as good a light, if not better. Specs are not dissimilar but the HB is half the weight and has the LED modeling light.

I suppose the other contender might be the Elinchrom D-Lite RX 4. However, it's a lot more expensive and would need an adapter ring for my S-type modifiers. (I don't like adapter rings at the best of times, and I'm not at all sure that they're an ideal solution on flash heads.)

 

[HoppyUK]

I said that I was done with this thread, but it's now clear that I was wrong about the cooling fan, I don't know how I missed seeing that but I did, my apologies.

I'm not sure whether it has IGBT technology or not, the webpage doesn't say that it does, but it does say
"Fast Recycle Time:

At full power, the Honey Badger recycles in an impressive 1 second. Recycle times get shorter and shorter as you decrease flash power.

Short Flash Duration:

Short flash durations give us the ability to freeze motion beyond the capabilities of our shutter sync speed. At full power, the Honey Badger has a t.1 flash duration of 1/900." which I read as indicating that it does, because a t.1 flash duration of 1/900th at full power is pretty good and indicates IGBT (although there are plenty of conventional technology flashes that have claimed a similar t.1 figure, they tend to be at the expensive end of the market. Maybe I guessed wrong on that, it certainly doesn't claim to have IGBT, either in the specs list or in the (very brief) instructions.

Maybe I'm just allowing my experience of Alien Bees, my views about its founder and my views about some previous products sold under the Interfit badge to colour my views.

Honey Badger is not IGBT-regulated Gary, though flash durations are pretty quick for an entry-level voltage-regulated head. I don't know of any IGBT-regulated flash that gets near a t.1 of 1/900sec at full power, including speedlights and the PCB Einstein - it's one of the giveaways.

Flash Duration of Paul C. Buff DigiBee DB800

Konsul Instruments – Flash Duration of Paul C. Buff DigiBee DB800

www.konsul-instruments.com

 

[mike weeks]

just to confuse matters there is an IGBT based model as well that looks verys similar https://www.wexphotovideo.com/inter...iJ59JW-PNSZ_Wt9xIkvgVRSDMdh79j1RoCWzsQAvD_BwE

 

[learningtofly]

Is there any reason to assume that the Honey Badger is effectively the same light as the Digi Bee, given that there's no reason I can see that Buff would suddenly have decided to white label their light for us Europeans? And what about the battery powered Honey Badger Unleashed? If it's not the same light - just a similar spec and form factor but with some key differences - why the ongoing references to Digi Bee specs?

I'm not sure if this thread has inadvertently pushed some buttons, but that certainly wasn't my intention and when I started it I'd actually never even heard of the Digi Bee.

 

[mike weeks]

Is there any reason to assume that the Honey Badger is effectively the same light as the Digi Bee, given that there's no reason I can see that Buff would suddenly have decided to white label their light for us Europeans? And what about the battery powered Honey Badger Unleashed? If it's not the same light - just a similar spec and form factor but with some key differences - why the ongoing references to Digi Bee specs?

I'm not sure if this thread has inadvertently pushed some buttons, but that certainly wasn't my intention and when I started it I'd actually never even heard of the Digi Bee.

The reason to assume it is the same is that there are relatively few lighting manufacturers in the world but lots of rebranding and being that it is dual voltage 110/240 most likely source is USA, not UK and not China

Mike

 

[Garry Edwards]

Is there any reason to assume that the Honey Badger is effectively the same light as the Digi Bee, given that there's no reason I can see that Buff would suddenly have decided to white label their light for us Europeans? And what about the battery powered Honey Badger Unleashed? If it's not the same light - just a similar spec and form factor but with some key differences - why the ongoing references to Digi Bee specs?

I'm not sure if this thread has inadvertently pushed some buttons, but that certainly wasn't my intention and when I started it I'd actually never even heard of the Digi Bee.

I don't know whether it's the same or not. There's one member on here who is extremely knowledgeable about these things and may be able to throw some light - pun intended - on the matter, although I'm not sure that it even matters, except perhaps to someone like me who has reservations about AB.

The reason to assume it is the same is that there are relatively few lighting manufacturers in the world but lots of rebranding and being that it is dual voltage 110/240 most likely source is USA, not UK and not China

Mike

This is true, and it's down to the Godox domination of the lighting world.. Most of their competitors have either gone bust or diversified - many of them are now making the useless LED panel lights, because it's one of the very few manufacturing options left open to them, although that's now changing too - so logic says that it's actually likely to be made by AB, not that it even matters. If they are made in the USA then my guess is that, like the old AB lights, they are just assembled there from Chinese components.
But that doesn't matter either, because although a lot of Chinese manufacturers do produce terrible junk, there are others that are superb, and "Made in China" hasn't been a badge of dishonour for a very long time.

 

[learningtofly]

Perhaps, then, the question I should now be asking is whether I've missed any options in terms of this kind of form factor and weight. Whilst this may not be an issue for some, for me it's important for a variety of reasons, including confined space at home and a relatively small 2-seater car with minimal boot space.

So, there's the Honey Badger and Godox MS300 as entry level lights, and then the Elinchrom D Lite RX 4 as a more advanced option (unfortunately requiring an adapter if I want to use existing S-type modifiers). I'm wondering if there are any others that I haven't identified, though.