What do you guys think of this Studio Kit?

andiphoto

andiphoto

Knock-Off Nigel
Suspended / Banned
Messages
2,054
Name
Andrew
Edit My Images
No
For not a vast amount more you can get some good studio lights, instead of ebay....tat lights :) lencarta or elemental are where you want to be looking :)
 
Personally, I'd avoid them. As Paul says, do without for now, keep saving and buy something half decent.
 
can i ask the dumb question as to why?

i understand the build quality maybe suspect etc

but say i'm lucky enough to get one unit that is built good.

why would that package be a bad buy? would the light provided be poor etc?
 
Where shall I start?
These are cheap lights sold under a number of different names. They're made down to a price rather than up to a quality standard, so things like the quality of the vital components such as flash tubes and capacitors may be doubtful.
So too is the number of the capacitors, which usually results in very inconsistent colour temperature and flash energy shot-to-shot.

Then there is the reflector fitting - there isn't one, the reflector is fixed, which means that they work fairly badly with softboxes and not at all with light shapers such as beauty dishes, fresnel spotlights - you name it, it can't be used.

Then there's the lack of a cooling fan, which may not be a problem if you only have it switched on for a short time.

And no cooling fan means that they only have a 75w modelling lamp - and that's useless.

And recycling is about twice as long as it should be.

That'll do for now:)
 
mani said:
can i ask the dumb question as to why?

i understand the build quality maybe suspect etc

but say i'm lucky enough to get one unit that is built good.

why would that package be a bad buy? would the light provided be poor etc?
Click to expand...

Guess you're a gambling man then? If not, why would you gamble two hundred of your hard earned on something that might last a few weeks?

I remember going down to a model agency a few years back to set up their "studio" for them. They'd spent around £500 on four lights and a few modifiers.

They bought them not from eBay, but from another source of low cost Chinese imports.

They'd never used them, and the first time I switched them on, one started smoking.

The quality of the light was appalling, the flash duration not very fast and overall build quality of a low standard.

For me though the most important thing is after the warranty expires....

I'm taking a punt of my own to say that, should a flash tube or capacitor need replacing then it is unlikely that anyone would be carrying spares.

I do know that decades old heads are still serviceable by the manufacturer for some of the main lighting companies.
 
I was also looking for a studio kit, and first started looking at these, price was one thing as i didn't have much in the pocket, and they seemed to offer everything i wanted for my money, plus being a newbie in portrait works i thought they would be good as a starter kit, and move on later. I personally dont have experience of them, but kept reading about lighting gear on forums, and managed to pick up a couple of bowens older style lights for £210 on ebay, which are prob 20 years old, but are stiil as they were when first out.. I was alsolucky enough to play around with them as well as my neice has them.. So i would definately say hold on for a well known brand..
 
andiphoto said:
im looking to get a studio set up... i currently share a studio at the moment but looking to get some gear for myself ..

what do you guys think of this? i know its no elinchrom but unfortunatly i cannot afford anything like that at the moment...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180679316515&category=3860&_trksid=p5197.c0.m619#ht_5251wt_1139
Click to expand...

Gary was too polite - these are total rubbish - and possibly dangerous. You get what you pay for. Just keep saving.
 
i was thinking that too anthony but i guess i'm gonna shop around for some second hand kit from one of the bigger names.
 
mani said:
i was thinking that too anthony but i guess i'm gonna shop around for some second hand kit from one of the bigger names.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think that is going to be my route. I have no clue about lighting so its time to dig deep in the world of info and see what I can dig out.
 
mani said:
i was thinking that too anthony but i guess i'm gonna shop around for some second hand kit from one of the bigger names.
Click to expand...

What will you gain from doing that?
I've seen second hand flashes from Bowens, Elinchrom, Lencarta and Profoto make more on fleabay than they cost new - and not only are they not new but they don't have warranty either.

In fact I've even seen Interfit and Portaflash sell for high prices, it's pretty difficult to get a genuine second hand bargain on lighting.
 
i've done a few studio shoots but once you get your own its mess about time! *L*
 
Garry Edwards said:
What will you gain from doing that?
I've seen second hand flashes from Bowens, Elinchrom, Lencarta and Profoto make more on fleabay than they cost new - and not only are they not new but they don't have warranty either.

In fact I've even seen Interfit and Portaflash sell for high prices, it's pretty difficult to get a genuine second hand bargain on lighting.
Click to expand...

This is true, but when budget is a consideration, you have to take the risk. And to tell you the truth where *** have claimed it's not been used a lot of the time they havn't lied. The Interfit lights that we picked up today, would have cost us £500 brand new, we paid £250 and a fiver petrol, and they look as though they have never been used, and to tell you the truth there is not a spec of dust on them. But there true worth remains to be seen.. ;)
 
Garry Edwards said:
What will you gain from doing that?
I've seen second hand flashes from Bowens, Elinchrom, Lencarta and Profoto make more on fleabay than they cost new - and not only are they not new but they don't have warranty either.

In fact I've even seen Interfit and Portaflash sell for high prices, it's pretty difficult to get a genuine second hand bargain on lighting.
Click to expand...

Whilst some auctions do attract some silly second hand prices on eBay, this isn't true of all auctions. And of course not all second hand lights are sold on eBay. I'm sure people do reasonable trades on this any many other forums.

And indeed I picked up a set of year-old Bowens 500R heads in the deluxe kit for less than £600 from a modelling forum. The guy had been meticulous in their care (obvious by the condition and the fact that everything still had plastic bags around) and had been on a tiny number of outings and still had the original reciept from the dealer (and of course Bowens have a two year warranty).

Calumet are selling that kit for £900 ish, I paid £600. I'd say that's a bargain!
 
Fair enough, and I hope it works out for you.
But there were problems with that particular model when they came out, and a warranty is a contract between the seller and the buyer - it doesn't usually transfer to a new owner.

I'm not saying that it never pays to buy used, but it is a risky thing to do.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Fair enough, and I hope it works out for you.
But there were problems with that particular model when they came out, and a warranty is a contract between the seller and the buyer - it doesn't usually transfer to a new owner.

I'm not saying that it never pays to buy used, but it is a risky thing to do.
Click to expand...

Just for reference, it was the 750R that had the problems when launched, not the 500R.

And the items would also be covered by the Sale of Goods Act of course. I also couldn't imagine Calumet, or any reputable company for that matter, questioning any repair within the two year warranty when presented with a receipt.

Just out out of interest, what would Lencarta's policy be in this instance? Genuine question, not intended to be contentious.
 
I think you'll find that the 500R had problems too.

I can't comment on what a supplier may or may not do, I'm just pointing out that the contract is between the seller and the buyer, not between the original seller and the buyer.

Lencarta policy is to treat people fairly. There are people on this forum who have bought second hand and received free support that they weren't entitled to - but there are limits to what can be done.
 
It is perhaps worth remembering that both Bowens & Calumet have eBay stores which sell lighting at 'below retail' and I was looking on the Bowens Direct shop a few days ago and in their clearance area they had refurbished (current spec) mono heads at below half price with full warranty.

I recently bought a secondhand multiblitz head which was an early production model and the spec has since changed. I contacted the UK distributor and it has just been shipped back to Germany to be brought up to current spec - this is free of charge, just need to cover the postage. :)

My 30 year old heads can still be serviced and I can get flash tubes 'off the shelf' in the UK, none of this would be possible with many brands and especially true with much of the production comming out of China. There is far more to consider IMO when buying kit than just price and spec, although of course they do form an important part of the equation.

Paul
 
course i'm not going to win a bid for the sake of it and pay over the odd's. sadly financial circumstances mean i have a tight budget and as such i have to look second hand. whilst i'd love to buy a new kit but sadly my financial priorities have to lie elsewhere. i might just set £200 a month aside and purchase after a few months

but as i'm sure your all aware when u want a new toy you want it now *L*
 
Garry Edwards said:
I think you'll find that the 500R had problems too.
Click to expand...

Never saw any info about the 500's - have you got a link to anything?

The 750's issues were quite well documented. I would think that if the 500's had similar issues then the fact they sell so many more of the 500's over the 750's I would have heard something - but it may have passed me by.

Garry Edwards said:
I can't comment on what a supplier may or may not do, I'm just pointing out that the contract is between the seller and the buyer, not between the original seller and the buyer.
Click to expand...

Indeed, but the law protects whoever owns the item - often more so than a warranty. To paraphrase, the law says that the goods must last for a 'reasonable' time. If you buy a set of three cheapy lights from eBay for £200 then 'reasonable' may be a whole lot less than a set of Bowens or ProFoto, etc.

And given that the manufacturer warranties the units for two years, one could assume that it's 'reasonable' for the units to last at least that long.

Garry Edwards said:
Lencarta policy is to treat people fairly. There are people on this forum who have bought second hand and received free support that they weren't entitled to - but there are limits to what can be done.
Click to expand...

With respect, that's not really an answer :) No-one's saying that the standard of support you offer to users of this website is anything short of exemplary - but assuming that I bought a second hand unit from someone, still within the manufacturer's warranty period and it developed a fault - what would Lencarta do?

Out of curiosity, I dug out my Bowens documents - and it talks about the 'owner' of the light and that a proof of purchase is required - but doesn't mention whether or not I need to be the original purchaser.
 
Last edited:
Let's not get into legal arguments, I'm not a lawyer I'm glad to say...

The legal advice given to us is that a contract is between the parties directly involved, which is the person selling and the person buying. If the person who buys then sells it to a third party then he cannot pass on the contractual benefits that he had with the original seller. The new buyer then has rights because he has a contract with the person he bought it from, but he has no claim against the original seller.

I think you'll find that the same thing applies to the extended warranties provided with some new cars. The warranty may be for say 7 years, but the only person who can benefit from it is the original buyer, and as most people who buy new cars don't keep them for 7 years...

The standard of support provided by Lencarta to members of this website is exactly the same as that provided to all other customers - nobody gets better or worse service than anyone else.

What would Lencarta do? Each case has to be decided on its merits. If the item is under warranty and the customer bought from Lencarta then the item is either repaired or replaced. If it's out of warranty or if Lencarta didn't sell it to the present owner then it comes down to my discretion with small matters, and if I don't feel that I should provide a free repair or replacement then I refer it to the boss for a final decision. A couple of weeks ago a customer had a softbox rod break on a softbox that she bought about 5 years ago. That particular softbox is long discontinued and there are no parts available for it so she was given a brand new softbox of similar type, and she was delighted. If a softbox rod had been available then she would have been given this instead, even though the warranty was long gone. This free replacement was possible simply because there was something suitable available, and like most reputable Companies Lencarta will always do what it can to help, even when there is no contractual liability.

Most repairs/replacement parts don't cost very much and it's often a good idea just to put things right for free, but as I say there are limits.

I'm not saying that Lencarta's attitude towards customer service is any better or worse than anyone else's - what I am saying is that people shouldn't assume that the manufacturer/original seller will necessarily honour a warranty that belongs to someone else. Which comes back to the original point - buying from Ebay-only sellers is also risky, because they don't have repair facilities, don't usually know anything much about the stuff they sell and may not be too worried about their customers, once the time period for leaving negative feedback is concerned. And the same comments may apply to some of the non-ebay online sellers too. Even if they are well intentioned, they may not be able to provide proper customer support and will probably not even still be dealing with the factory that made the gear by the time it breaks, because they change suppliers frequently, buying on price alone.

And of course, they may not even be in business by the time it goes wrong...
 
What kit would you recommend then in terms of lighting? something cheap but good enough to to warrant an extra spend from £200
 
Garry Edwards said:
Which comes back to the original point - buying from Ebay-only sellers is also risky, because they don't have repair facilities, don't usually know anything much about the stuff they sell and may not be too worried about their customers, once the time period for leaving negative feedback is concerned. And the same comments may apply to some of the non-ebay online sellers too. Even if they are well intentioned, they may not be able to provide proper customer support and will probably not even still be dealing with the factory that made the gear by the time it breaks, because they change suppliers frequently, buying on price alone.

And of course, they may not even be in business by the time it goes wrong...
Click to expand...

Completely agree - as I said earlier on, these cheapy heads will be unlikely to have the same QC of the established brands and even if they are under a warranty with the purchaser, there's not much in the way of recourse in getting them repaired as there is probably not even a workbench with spare parts to be found anywhere!
 
I have seen Interfit mentioned a few times here. They are really good for the price if you only have a couple of hundred pounds to spend. I recently picked up the two head kit second hand for under £150 and they are impressive quality considering the tiny outlay. If you are working in a fairly small room, I would really rate them highly!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top