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Author Topic: On location lighting Profoto B2 250w - but is there a viable alternative?  (Read 13903 times)

Harold Clark

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Re: On location lighting Profoto B2 250w - but is there a viable alternative?
« Reply #20 on: December 11, 2017, 05:42:41 pm »

Does anybody have any experience with the https://www.dynalite.com/in-the-news/bajab4/  system?

I played with them in the store, very nicely built and I would imagine well supported by Dynalite. These are rebadged South Korean lights I believe, unlike  the AC units which are still built in the USA. Not that this is a problem, South Korean standards are very high.

The deal breaker for me was recycle time, which may not be a problem for you depending on how you plan to use them. I went with Godox AD 600s and I am very pleased with them.
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Kirk_C

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Re: On location lighting Profoto B2 250w - but is there a viable alternative?
« Reply #21 on: December 13, 2017, 12:40:55 pm »

I played with them in the store, very nicely built and I would imagine well supported by Dynalite. These are rebadged South Korean lights I believe, unlike  the AC units which are still built in the USA. Not that this is a problem, South Korean standards are very high.

Dynalite and Comet merged a few years ago. Both brands now exist but Dynalite is sold in North America and Comet is sold in the Pacific rim. For a few years Dynalite marketed Comet in the U.S. but Comet was a brand that never had significant market beyond the East coast/New York city area.

You won't find a better quality light than these. I have Comet packs and heads that are 25+ years old and function perfectly. The Baja monoblocks are designed by Comet but intended as a price competitive light to compete with the Chinese manufactured products. In terms of features they're a little behind the times, i.e. lacking LED modeling lights, but again that's to keep the price point low.

I've been shooting with Profoto and Broncolor for nearly 30 years and I'd consider the Bajas as a very viable alternative to those brand for location monos.
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David Eichler

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Re: On location lighting Profoto B2 250w - but is there a viable alternative?
« Reply #22 on: December 14, 2017, 12:29:31 pm »

I've been shooting with Profoto and Broncolor for nearly 30 years and I'd consider the Bajas as a very viable alternative to those brand for location monos.


You would say that the build the Bajas is robust enough to compare favorably with these brands, or even the Dynalite packs. I consider the Chinese brand Godox to have pretty functionality and manufacturing consistency, enough that I can and do use them for some professional applications, but I would not consider their build quality to be nearly as robust as these other brands.
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Kirk_C

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Re: On location lighting Profoto B2 250w - but is there a viable alternative?
« Reply #23 on: December 14, 2017, 08:55:36 pm »


You would say that the build the Bajas is robust enough to compare favorably with these brands, or even the Dynalite packs.

The quality of Dynalite went up considerably after they merged with Comet. They adopted the Comet head design as the Dynalite head design and dropped the old Dyna monoblocks for all Comet designs, including the Baja. But as I posted above the Baja is a price point product so the features are not up to par with the big names. Quality of light and dependability I would expect to be as good.

I'm just investing another few grand in Broncolor modifiers, which isn't much when it comes to Broncolor, for the specific things they do better than anyone else. In the studio I use a mix of Comet, Profoto and Broncolor and feel they're equal in quality with the only weak point being the idiotic Broncolor mount.

I haven't looked at Godox because I don't need to go there. If the brand works for others, great.
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Two23

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Quantum strobes, or the Godox knock offs of Quantum.


That's my suggestion too.  Lots of output in a very portable package.  And affordable!


Kent in SD
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Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris,
miserere nobis.

tcphoto1

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I have owned Profoto Acutes for nearly twenty years and have been quite happy with them. If I were to go battery powered, I'd buy a used 7B2 kit. If you need lightweight, I'd look at the Acute600 and PWFlexTT5 for HS sync. I'm confident that you can find two clean Acute600 kits for the price of one new B1 500ws or B2 250ws unit.
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FataMorgana

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Thanks.

I am going to the Photography Show next week (17th - 20th) and have been Short Listed in the annual Sony WPO Awards last week, which is exciting, so I must expand my portfolio me thinks, this means getting some new, more powerful and portable lighting solutions.

Looking at the full range, at the NEC on Mon and Tues (19 & 20). Will bring some new gear back with me no doubt!

Also looking at MF digital to increase my versatility and output.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2018, 11:27:52 am by FataMorgana »
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Kirk_C

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Elinchrom introduced their new ELB 500 TTL this week. I'm sure the build quality is better than the PF B2 and anything made by Godox.
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