Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: adam z on July 23, 2011, 02:59:02 am

Title: Help! Can't remove reflector from Bowens Gemini Esprit 500
Post by: adam z on July 23, 2011, 02:59:02 am
I have rented this for the weekend. The shop does not open again until Monday! Pulled it out the bag and the lever release won't move. I assume it should pull back (I also tried pushing it in but no luck), have only used elinchrom gear in the past. Any ideas, particularly from those who have used Bowens lighting gear. I am supposed to be shooting a 12 week old puppy tomorrow, and have a medium Chimera softbox ready to go on, but that is obviously not possible without getting the standard reflector off.

Any help would be much appreciated.
Title: Re: Help! Can't remove reflector from Bowens Gemini Esprit 500
Post by: David Good on July 23, 2011, 08:59:47 am
Adam,

You are correct, the lever should slide back. The only thing I can think of is that, as a rental unit, it has been bumped and is stuck. Either try forcing it or return it for another one.

Dave
Title: Re: Help! Can't remove reflector from Bowens Gemini Esprit 500
Post by: avelpavel on July 23, 2011, 04:20:45 pm
Hi Adam,

I have a similar issue with one of my Esprit DX 500. The solution in my case is to lift up with strenght the lever and then slide it back to remove the reflector. I hope it helps.

Best regards, Rob



www.pastrovicchio.com
Title: Re: Help! Can't remove reflector from Bowens Gemini Esprit 500
Post by: adam z on July 24, 2011, 12:17:31 am
Thanks for the replies guys.

I ended up taking it to a friends house when we went for dinner last night, as the guy is pretty technically minded. He worked it out, and it was the same solution you posted Rob - lifting then sliding back. I am not a fan of the system already, and I assume with the design of the lever that might be a common problem with Bowens mounts that are used regularly. Also had some issues with it firing inconsistently both with remote trigger and sync lead. I don't know if the power dial was old and worn, but it was not east to move it one click stop to the next perfectly for fine adjustments. I found it difficult to dial in the exact amount of output I wanted. I ended up shooting a few basic portraits of the guy who sorted it out for me, and of his wife and son, nothing fancy, just some shots on an armchair in their living room. As it is raining here today in Adelaide, the puppy shoot has now been cancelled and rescheduled as most of it was to be done outside (I hired the Gemini along with the travel pack). I think I might hire the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra now for the actual shoot, if they can get me a decent sized softbox to use on it. I need to get my own gear soon, a Ranger RX Speed AS and accessories (followed by a second one asap after). I love the RX rangers as despite their weight they are easy to use, predictable and reliable. The mounting system is a bit more fragile, but have had no issues in the time I worked with them. Might post a shot of my technical saviour later, taken with the Chimera box. I balanced the color changing led light behind him so that it threw a warm highlight on the shadow side of his face, and some orange light on the wall to make it a bit more interesting.
Title: Re: Help! Can't remove reflector from Bowens Gemini Esprit 500
Post by: adam z on July 24, 2011, 02:09:04 am
(http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d13/adantz/_MG_8507.jpg)