Multiblitz joins Bowens!

paul williams

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Caught the news today that Multiblitz had gone into liquidation, with this message being sent to distributors apparently;


"...We deeply regret to inform you that the intention to continue with the Multiblitz company under new ownership could not be implemented last week.


After almost 70 years we must say farewell to the photo industry. We thank you for your trust and the great collaboration during the past years and wish you all the best from your business..."​

Whilst I doubt it will be of major news like Bowens as in the grand scheme of things Multiblitz probably has a much lower profile, for me this is sad news as for nearly 40 of those 70 years of production I've been a Multiblitz user. However, after the Bowens liquidation I did feel that this might be inevitable, given their pricing, marketing & recent lack of truly innovative products.
 
paul williams said:
Caught the news today that Multiblitz had gone into liquidation, with this message being sent to distributors apparently;


"...We deeply regret to inform you that the intention to continue with the Multiblitz company under new ownership could not be implemented last week.


After almost 70 years we must say farewell to the photo industry. We thank you for your trust and the great collaboration during the past years and wish you all the best from your business..."​

Whilst I doubt it will be of major news like Bowens as in the grand scheme of things Multiblitz probably has a much lower profile, for me this is sad news as for nearly 40 of those 70 years of production I've been a Multiblitz user. However, after the Bowens liquidation I did feel that this might be inevitable, given their pricing, marketing & recent lack of truly innovative products.
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Sad news to see another well established company going but if they don’t keep up with technology and the need of its customers I guess it’s inevitable :(
 
Phiggys said:
Sad news to see another well established company going but if they don’t keep up with technology and the need of its customers I guess it’s inevitable :(
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To be fair they had some interesting products but zero presence in the markets I normally look at.

It's unfortunate but whenever I saw them being sold somewhere I'd think to myself "Oh they're still going? I thought they'd gone out of business years ago".

Only a few more companies till it's just Godox, re-branded Godox and Profoto. Then eventually just Godox.
 
Multiblitz only announced a new 600Ws battery strobe last month, the M6 TTL
http://www.lightingrumours.com/multiblitz-m6-ttl-release-9299

I remember thinking the spec read like another Godox AD600 type unit, but a lot more money and lacking the extensive Godox range support and remote control ecosystem. Just like the Bowens XMT...
 
HoppyUK said:
Multiblitz only announced a new 600Ws battery strobe last month, the M6 TTL
http://www.lightingrumours.com/multiblitz-m6-ttl-release-9299

I remember thinking the spec read like another Godox AD600 type unit, but a lot more money and lacking the extensive Godox range support and remote control ecosystem. Just like the Bowens XMT...
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Hmmm, I've been aware of the M6 on sale for well over a year, indeed I bought the converter mention in that article myself over a year ago.

One of the issues that caused me concern with the introduction of the M6 was that the triggers couldn't be used with older units, or the older triggers with the M6. A real issue IMO & yes they've been treading water for a few years now, with just designation changes rather than innovation.
 
Sad, but inevitable and expected.
Go back a few years, and pretty much any old technology was good enough - Bowens/Elinchrom/Courtenay lights with minimal power adjustment and long flash durations, very little choice of modifiers, infra red or zero triggers.
But technology has become a race rather than a progression, everyone now wants the latest technology at the lowest prices, and manufacturers who can't or won't embrace these changes cannot survive much longer
 
paul williams said:
Hmmm, I've been aware of the M6 on sale for well over a year, indeed I bought the converter mention in that article myself over a year ago.

One of the issues that caused me concern with the introduction of the M6 was that the triggers couldn't be used with older units, or the older triggers with the M6. A real issue IMO & yes they've been treading water for a few years now, with just designation changes rather than innovation.
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Who actually manufactures the M6? If it's not Multiblitz and they've just over-branded another product (under the circumstances, more than likely) then that would explain incompatibility issues. Just like Bowens XMT, that was not only manufacturered by Godox but was also 90% an AD600 inside too, complete with cosmetically modified Godox X1 trigger.

Once you go down that route, you've effectively jumped into the lions den, smothered in cat food, and it's only a matter of time. If you can't take on and beat the likes of Godox, then either play a different game or pack up and go home. It's not as if they didn't know what was coming, that's been pretty obvious to most people for many years now.
 
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Garry Edwards said:
Sad, but inevitable and expected.
Go back a few years, and pretty much any old technology was good enough - Bowens/Elinchrom/Courtenay lights with minimal power adjustment and long flash durations, very little choice of modifiers, infra red or zero triggers.
But technology has become a race rather than a progression, everyone now wants the latest technology at the lowest prices, and manufacturers who can't or won't embrace these changes cannot survive much longer
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Back in 2011, when I last 'upgraded' my heads, the then offering from Multiblitz I settled on, had the shortest flash duration, shortest recycle time and had the most adjustable power output range, plus an innovative triggering system compared to most other products on the market. Now fast forward to today and essentially the same heads, with a name change and an extra stop of adjustablility to the output! Personally I've always valued a products longevity and have never seen the need to change for change sake and the only reason I've now bought an Elinchrom unit, is that I want something that Multiblitz couldn't provide and certainly not at a price point I could afford! Multiblitz have also always been a bit 'left field' - their battery solution that could only be used with certain of their heads, which when I tried to get to the bottom of would appear to output 140v DC!
 
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HoppyUK said:
Who actually manufactures the M6? If it's not Multiblitz and they've just over-branded another product (under the circumstances, odd-on) then that would explain incompatibility issues. Just like Bowens XMT, that was not only manufacturered by Godox but was also 90% an AD600 inside too, complete with cosmetically modified Godox X1 trigger.

Once you go down that route, you've effectively jumped into the lions den, smothered in cat food, and it's only a matter of time. If you can't take on and beat the likes of Godox, then either play a different game or pack up and go home. It's not as if they didn't know what was coming, that's been pretty obvious to most people for many years now.
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No idea, from the day I first saw the M6 it held no interest for me so never really delved into the detail behind it, though Multiblitz always prided themselves in their all German production & facilities.
 
paul williams said:
Back in 2011, when I last 'upgraded' my heads, the then offering from Multiblitz I settled on, had the shortest flash duration, shortest recycle time and had the most adjustable power output range, plus an innovative triggering system compared to most other products on the market. Now fast forward to today and essentially the same heads, with a name change and an extra stop of adjustablility to the output! Personally I've always valued a products longevity and have never seen the need to change for change sake and the only reason I've now bought an Elinchrom unit, is that I want something that Multiblitz couldn't provide and certainly not at a price point I could afford! Multiblitz have also always been a bit 'left field' - their battery solution that could only be used with certain of their heads, which when I tried to get to the bottom of would appear to output 140v DC!
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Paul, I'm not questioning your choices or your reasons for those choices, and whether or not I would have made the same choices is irrelevant.
My point is that, rightly or wrongly, the buying public now view a combination of the latest technology and the lowest price above everything else, which means that the manufacturers who don't cater for their demands are doomed. And I plead guilty to having a part in this, because I spent many years "encouraging" manufacturers to use IGBT technology, and then to keep improving on it.

Richard says that it's crazy to sub contract work out to competing manufacturers, and of course that's right too.. There are only 2 ways of successfully overcoming technical problems:
1. Hire the right engineers, difficult but not impossible if you've had the sense to locate your business in a high tech area where the right people are available.
2. Aquisition - buy out competitors who have the technology that you need - very expensive, and well beyond the reach of most companies
 
Garry Edwards said:
Paul, I'm not questioning your choices or your reasons for those choices, and whether or not I would have made the same choices is irrelevant.
My point is that, rightly or wrongly, the buying public now view a combination of the latest technology and the lowest price above everything else,...
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Garry, I've know for many years that I'm also a bit left field as well, personally feel the constant need for change aligned with inherent obsolescence at ever lower prices is going to lead to global economic meltdown, where only countries with vast populations able to be put to work at very little cost will survive!
 
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Garry Edwards said:
Sad, but inevitable and expected.
Go back a few years, and pretty much any old technology was good enough - Bowens/Elinchrom/Courtenay lights with minimal power adjustment and long flash durations, very little choice of modifiers, infra red or zero triggers.
But technology has become a race rather than a progression, everyone now wants the latest technology at the lowest prices, and manufacturers who can't or won't embrace these changes cannot survive much longer
Click to expand...
I dont think it's so much about wanting the latest technology as much as wanting efficient gear with the least amount of fuss. Not long ago yould have to carry multiple different triggers for Speedlights and strobes with heavy battery packs, cables etc. Today you can do with one system based on one trigger for both speedlights and strobes with the battery built in or however you like it. It a lot less parts, different batteries and connections to care about taking up room, getting lost or develop faults. To me it looks more like a natural evolution from the seventies first strobists with their single pc synced speedlight and the big heavy mains powered studio lights to now where those have merged into one complete system offering portability, efficiency and versatility aimed at the new applications of modern digital photography.
I think next step is a generel 2,4 GH transmitter built into the camera bodies with the flash protokols for the different systems as downloadable firmware reading separate triggers obsolete.
 
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soeren said:
I dont think it's so much about wanting the latest technology as much as wanting efficient gear with the least amount of fuss. Not long ago yould have to carry multiple different triggers for Speedlights and strobes with heavy battery packs, cables etc. Today you can do with one system based on one trigger for both speedlights and strobes with the battery built in or however you like it. It a lot less parts, different batteries and connections to care about taking up room, getting lost or develop faults. To me it looks more like a natural evolution from the seventies first strobists with their single pc synced speedlight and the big heavy mains powered studio lights to now where those have merged into one complete system offering portability, efficiency and versatility aimed at the new applications of modern digital photography.
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I agree, but really it's the same thing - go back to 70's - or much later - and there was no question of having to have multiple triggers etc., because triggers didn't exist - we managed perfectly well without them, substituting recourcefulness and knowledge for gadgets:)

I'm certainly not knocking improvements to technology (I can't because I've been part of that evolution), I'm just pointing out that the whole of the photographic lighting world has changed over the last few years, and it will change far more dramatically over the next few years too, leaving absolutely no market for firms that don't embrace new technology and which try to rest on their laurels.
 
soeren said:
I think next step is a generel 2,4 GH transmitter built into the camera bodies with the flash protokols for the different systems as downloadable firmware reading separate triggers obsolete.
Click to expand...

You'd think that but it seems like Canon/Nikon suffer from the same kind of selective vision, having no involvement with them best guess is they want to maintain the purity of their speedlight ranges with their camera systems despite upstarts like Godox making a convincing argument to supplant the first party options completely.
 
simonbarker said:
You'd think that but it seems like Canon/Nikon suffer from the same kind of selective vision, having no involvement with them best guess is they want to maintain the purity of their speedlight ranges with their camera systems despite upstarts like Godox making a convincing argument to supplant the first party options completely.
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I think you may be right, neither Company seems to even acknowledge that anyone other than themselves can make flashguns for their cameras...
I remember, when tail end sync trigger systems were being developed, an engineer explained to me that it was impossible to get any info out of the camera manufacturers and basically he had to hack into their cameras to find the solution.
In the case of Canon, there were about 25 A4 pages (when printed out) of unencypted info, with Nikon there were 270 pages of encyrpted info:) - but, however unhelpful and myoptic the camera manufacturers want to be, nothing will stop clever engineers.
 
soeren said:
...I think next step is a general 2,4 GH transmitter built into the camera bodies with the flash protocols for the different systems as downloadable firmware reading separate triggers obsolete.
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As already mentioned, the camera manufacturers are unlikely to do this as it would just further reduce their sales of flashguns (which must have fallen quite a bit over the last few years, as 3rd party flash have got better and better).

You might see built in radio triggers, but they would be tied to that manufactures own standards - of course, if the likes of Godox could then build support for the manufacturers own signalling protocols (as I believe they have for optical signalling protocols), then we would get some of the convenience we'd all like!
 
soeren said:
I dont think it's so much about wanting the latest technology as much as wanting efficient gear with the least amount of fuss.
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Yes, that's it.

Not long ago yould have to carry multiple different triggers for Speedlights and strobes with heavy battery packs, cables etc. Today you can do with one system based on one trigger for both speedlights and strobes with the battery built in or however you like it. It a lot less parts, different batteries and connections to care about taking up room, getting lost or develop faults.
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Yes again - and much more. Location shooting outdoors is nothing like studio working - it's way more complex and difficult, you have to think on your feet, be able to assess the location and weather at a glance, know how to compromise and be able to adapt and change things fast and reliably. You have people waiting and any delays make you look like you don't know what you're doing, cause frustration and risk losing the moment. The weather certainly won't wait.

Manufacturers simply need to put themselves in the photographer's position and work it from there. The difficulties are obvious, and it's equally clear how the best modern flash systems make everything hugely easier - they actually make possible what was previously either impossible or extremely difficult/costly. Furthermore, some brands of battery flash are just as capable in the studio - one system, from speedlights to studio heads and on to location working, all operating off a common trigger. The potential prize is huge, with every keen enthusiast and professional wanting to change their entire flash outfits (if the price is right).

Edit: A bit O/T, but we also need 'location' light stands that won't blow over, with big footprint (adjustable?), variable leg angles, easy ballast weights etc.
 
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HoppyUK said:
Yes, that's it.



Yes again - and much more. Location shooting outdoors is nothing like studio working - it's way more complex and difficult, you have to think on your feet, be able to assess the location at a glance, know how to compromise and be able to adapt and change things fast and reliably. You have people waiting and any delays cause frustration and risk losing the moment. The weather certainly won't wait.

Manufacturers simply need to put themselves in the photographer's position and work it from there. The difficulties are obvious, and it's equally clear how the best modern flash systems make everything hugely easier - they actually make possible what was previously either impossible or extremely difficult/costly. Furthermore, some brands of battery flash are just as capable in the studio - one system, from speedlights to studio heads and on to location working, all operating off a common trigger. The potential prize is huge, with every keen enthusiast and professional wanting to change their entire flash outfits (if the price is right).
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I accept your argument, but only up to a point.
New technology has made it easier - or has de-skilled things - and has made it very easy to use fuzzy logic such as TTL to achieve photos that are good enough fo most people, and Photoshop has made it possible to create false lighting effects too.
Today, nearly all outdoor people photos benefit from the use of flash, whether to control the lighting environment completely or to add a little bit of a lift, and using flash routinely, just to add a bit of fill on the fly, is what new technology is all about
It's what it is, and the genie isn't going to go back into the bottle. Not that I even want it to.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I agree, but really it's the same thing - go back to 70's - or much later - and there was no question of having to have multiple triggers etc., because triggers didn't exist - we managed perfectly well without them, substituting recourcefulness and knowledge for gadgets:)
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Tripping over cables, dealing with restricted movability, range and unreliable PC cords and optical slaves. running back and forth hoisting high placed strobes up and down to change output levels,. Yeah I really miss those days :D
Garry Edwards said:
I'm certainly not knocking improvements to technology (I can't because I've been part of that evolution), I'm just pointing out that the whole of the photographic lighting world has changed over the last few years, and it will change far more dramatically over the next few years too, leaving absolutely no market for firms that don't embrace new technology and which try to rest on their laurels.
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Well hmm yes :)
 
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HoppyUK said:
>SNIP

Manufacturers simply need to put themselves in the photographer's position and work it from there. The difficulties are obvious, and it's equally clear how the best modern flash systems make everything hugely easier - they actually make possible what was previously either impossible or extremely difficult/costly. Furthermore, some brands of battery flash are just as capable in the studio - one system, from speedlights to studio heads and on to location working, all operating off a common trigger. The potential prize is huge, with every keen enthusiast and professional wanting to change their entire flash outfits (if the price is right).
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Yes and thats why the camera manufactiurers will suffer bigtime if they dont up their game. What would happen when the first of them open their eyes to the need of the photographers, stuff away the pride and partner up with the big three making a camera with build in 2.4GHz transmitter thats compatible with any of those system out of the box, with a menu thats intuitive,easy accessible and controls every flash in their catalogue.
HoppyUK said:
Edit: A bit O/T, but we also need 'location' light stands that won't blow over, with big footprint (adjustable?), variable leg angles, easy ballast weights etc.
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Thats the VALS, self propelled too :D
 
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Faldrax said:
As already mentioned, the camera manufacturers are unlikely to do this as it would just further reduce their sales of flashguns (which must have fallen quite a bit over the last few years, as 3rd party flash have got better and better).

You might see built in radio triggers, but they would be tied to that manufactures own standards - of course, if the likes of Godox could then build support for the manufacturers own signalling protocols (as I believe they have for optical signalling protocols), then we would get some of the convenience we'd all like!
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Well they are allready loosing sales fast and will probably stop offering speedlights soon if they dont do something about it. I for one would never buy a nikon, canon, sony, fuji.......speedlight and I dont recommend them to friends, familly etc since they are stupidly overpriced and a deadend in the map of flashgear
 
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simonbarker said:
You'd think that but it seems like Canon/Nikon suffer from the same kind of selective vision, having no involvement with them best guess is they want to maintain the purity of their speedlight ranges with their camera systems despite upstarts like Godox making a convincing argument to supplant the first party options completely.
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Maybe/hopefully their sales and marketting folks will come to their senses soon
 
Garry Edwards said:
I accept your argument, but only up to a point.
New technology has made it easier - or has de-skilled things - and has made it very easy to use fuzzy logic such as TTL to achieve photos that are good enough fo most people, and Photoshop has made it possible to create false lighting effects too.
Today, nearly all outdoor people photos benefit from the use of flash, whether to control the lighting environment completely or to add a little bit of a lift, and using flash routinely, just to add a bit of fill on the fly, is what new technology is all about
It's what it is, and the genie isn't going to go back into the bottle. Not that I even want it to.
Click to expand...

Agree and disagree ;)

TTL is always a marketing headline feature, and it can be extremely useful, but I hardly ever use it outdoors (never indoors) and I don't think I'm alone. HSS is vital though, which kind of comes for free when you have TTL. Where the latest flash systems really score is making things easier/possible on location shoots in purely practical terms - the difference between knowing what you want and the mainly physical difficulties of actually making it happen. But you still need a lot of skill and vision to set up say a location portrait with multiple lights positioned somewhere between where you want them and where you can fit them in, then adjust the power to suit. Then adjust it when the light changes easily from the camera, then change the set and re-balance everything again, and have it fire 100% reliably.

Agree that flash benefits pretty much everything we shoot, from subtle to dramatic to complete transformation. IMHO this is where we can score against every iPhonographer, with much higher quality images that can't be replicated because it's still difficult, requires knowledege and a lot of equipment, effort and cost.
 
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HoppyUK said:
Edit: A bit O/T, but we also need 'location' light stands that won't blow over, with big footprint (adjustable?), variable leg angles, easy ballast weights etc.
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They call those steel stands don't they?
 
simonbarker said:
They call those steel stands don't they?
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Haha I know what you mean, C-stands with the adjustable height dogleg. But you can't adjust the footprint and they weigh several a tons.

The kind of stand I'd like for location would be a very simple design and easy to produce with just a few mods to existing models, even DIYable. How about it Lencarta/Garry? :D
 
mike weeks said:
The person that cracks that has a large market waiting for them

Mike
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Quite :) But I don't think it's difficult if you just look at the problems faced by location photographers and how we have to work around them. Take a regular light stand, and a sliding slot in the cross-braces would provide individually adjustable leg angles; sliding/telescoping leg extensions would increase the footprint substantially. Then a standard spigot on the legs to attach a lump of ballast weight or a platform for a sandbag, or mount a light etc. And big feet please, so they don't sink into soft ground or dig into carpets :)
 
HoppyUK said:
Quite :) But I don't think it's difficult if you just look at the problems faced by location photographers and how we have to work around them. Take a regular light stand, and a sliding slot in the cross-braces would provide individually adjustable leg angles; sliding/telescoping leg extensions would increase the footprint substantially. Then a standard spigot on the legs to attach a lump of ballast weight or a platform for a sandbag, or mount a light etc. And big feet please, so they don't sink into soft ground or dig into carpets :)
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Rather than a slot, perhaps a series of holes - not as flexible, but avoids the risk of a leg extension 'self adjusting' under load!
 
HoppyUK said:
Quite :) But I don't think it's difficult if you just look at the problems faced by location photographers and how we have to work around them. Take a regular light stand, and a sliding slot in the cross-braces would provide individually adjustable leg angles; sliding/telescoping leg extensions would increase the footprint substantially. Then a standard spigot on the legs to attach a lump of ballast weight or a platform for a sandbag, or mount a light etc. And big feet please, so they don't sink into soft ground or dig into carpets :)
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The issue is head loading, put a decent sized modifier on and multiply the strength requirements many fold, you should see the size of some of the military mobile masts in comparison to size/weight of the head unit

Mike
 
Terrywoodenpic said:
Dog stakes are far easier to put in and take out. they are also excellent placed under a tripod to tether the centre column hook under tension..
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Having used both, I personally disagree - the heavy duty pegs I linked to simply push into softer ground (via standing on them!) and on harder ground I use a standard 16oz claw hammer - which would bend a normal peg, but not these, which I can clout as hard as I like :)
 
Faldrax said:
Having used both, I personally disagree - the heavy duty pegs I linked to simply push into softer ground (via standing on them!) and on harder ground I use a standard 16oz claw hammer - which would bend a normal peg, but not these, which I can clout as hard as I like :)
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hammer not part of my kit;)
 
Haha we've come from another big flash manufacturer going bust to tent pegs :D

But bringing things full circle, it's all about manufactures being out of touch and failing to understand the (major) problems we face. Flash is moving outdoors, and that's seriously good news, but it's not just about mains-free battery power. On location, everything changes, and a lot - yet we have less time to overcome bigger challenges, with less options available and a constantly moving target.

None of this is rocket science and all the technology now exists in affordable form. It just needs looking at the whole caboodle (@soeren ;)) from a photographers point of view and putting together with different priorities - namely speed, ease and reliability with minimal compromise. We can look after the rest :)
 
mike weeks said:
The issue is head loading, put a decent sized modifier on and multiply the strength requirements many fold, you should see the size of some of the military mobile masts in comparison to size/weight of the head unit

Mike
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The most stable and versatile rig I've used recently was a two Godox AD600 units twined into the 1200Ws extension head. So minimal weight on top, and an octagonal softbox with a bit less wind resistance than a rectangular one. AD600 power packs clamped towards the ends of two legs, acting as a pair handy 3kg-ish ballast weights, turned into the wind. That was pretty stable, and I'd put money on Godox designing it with that thought in mind, in the same way as they've made the AD600 shoulder-portable as well.
 
soeren said:
I think next step is a generel 2,4 GH transmitter built into the camera bodies with the flash protokols for the different systems as downloadable firmware reading separate triggers obsolete.
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Pie in the sky ... come on Nikon (not sure about others) can't even get a 2.4GHz transmitter built in for their OWN flashes. And looking from the other end, every flash manufacturer has their own 2.4GHz system, some even have different systems for different ranges of flashes; so who should Nikon (as an example) support? But flashes are the same as lenses, from Nikon's point of view only Nikon lenses should be used with a Nikon camera (same for Canon, Sony, et al); afaik only 4/3 and micro4/3 are "open" standards which embrace third party lenses and cameras - and even there Olympus and Panasonic have mutually incompatible stabilisation systems so you can't use hybrid IBIS / OIS if using Olympus body and Panasonic lens (or vice versa).

Perhaps the world of cameras would look very different if everyone had used F mount in manual focus days, then EF for AF (D)SLR and now E mount for mirrorless (with m43 for small sensor mirrorless) - but then everyone wanted their own system for their own purposes.

(Sorry rant over).
 
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