NEWS FROM THE FRONTLINES

[RicAgu]

My main background of shooting is celebrity portrait, advertising and some fashion.

I have now been shooting for six straight weeks, five days a week, some days at ten hours a day using only Broncolor lighting, 1DsMII's, Hasselblad H1's, Phase One P25 and P45, Sinar P3 with all the Sinaron HR lenses from 35 to 180, C1 Pro, Bridge, CS3, Softraid, Granite Digital Cables, Syncrotech PCI Firewire 800 cards, Kapture Group One Shot cables for the Phase on a Sinar P3 and the Mamiya RZ with the Leaf Aptus H1 to RZ plate, two Apple Dual Quad Core 3GHZ w/ 9 gigs of RAM, two Weibetech RTX4 housings with 750's in them in a combiniation of Hitachi and Seagate.

My past lighting has been exclusively Profoto.

Here are some observations.

Broncolor has been in a studio environment without moving many of the heads.  In six weeks I have blown through 5 modeling lights, something Peter Shafrick has made mention of here.  The rep told me it could be the voltage and he plans on coming out.  I have been using Profoto's for ten years and traveled with them extensively and never had so much as a hiccup.  So this concerns me.  As I don't want to spending my budget on modeling lights.

The one shot cable from Kapture group is amazing for anyone needing it.

C1 one has been bullet proof, except for one MAJOR screw up.  When you have five hands in the mix from creatives to AD and they start screwwing around with C1 to rename the files it can be a problem.  Pay attention

If you go to rename in C1 and you clear it out then accidentally hit enter so as to leave the name area within C1 blank you're in trouble.  C1 freaks out and your session is gone from YOUR ENTIRE SHOOT!  C1 starts to freak out and you have to quit it to get it working.  The problem is when you restart C1 the seesion is GONE.  Luckily an overnight Data Rescue Pro got all the files back.  But the files mysteriously disappeared.  Other than this, C1 has been bullet proof.

Phase has addressed this as making C1 inoperable after I addressed it with them and they are working on a fix.

LIVE PREVIEW SUCKS in C1!

Hasselblad has been working well allthough the files were always missing that magic.  So I decided to order the Leaf Aptus H1 to RZ plate in conjuction with the Kapture Group One Shot cable.  Let me tell you how amazing this is.  You have to get SK Grimes to make you a custom right hand or left hand Grip (in my case right hand) that lets you slip a cable release through the grip and attach to the one shot cable.  Once this is set the Phase backs on an RZ with the rotating plate is simply AMAZING.  The magic in my files came back.  Tethered, to card, vertical, horizontal, rotating like a film back all worked like a charm.  Worked all day long with no problems.  It has given my photography a second life in my eyes, with the Hassy I was feeling a bit stale and now there is something there again that I didn't see in the H series.

Weibetech working like a charm

Seagate drives working like a charm

Softraid software is a god send

Hitachi drives out of the ten Hitachi drives churning away, FIVE have failed.  They were all from different lots and suppliers.  So I would stay away from Hitachi.  If it wasn't for Softraid software I would be in some serious shit.

Bridge in CS3 is simply amazing!  They took it to a new level.

Granite Digital cables as always have been a life saver.  Rock solid as could be, with no error messages.

Phase One backs working like a charm, no failed messages, no errors, no lock ups, no issues what so ever.  This is on set with people pulling the cable out by accident in mid shot, Plug it in and you're back up and going.  Color is stable in everything from Fashion to severe tilt shifting with metallic products.

Doing this amount of work day in and day out I KNOW Hasselblad wouldn't be able to hack it, The old LEAF would have a lot of problems and i am not too sure of the new LEAF.  I am going to be trying either the new Evolution 75 or eMotion 75LV in the coming weeks and will give you guys a workflow run down once I put it through its paces.

C1 Pro seems to be the one to beat speed wise, stability, control and cross platform from 35 Digi to Phase One backs and work btween thetwo without a glitch.

The Canon 1Ds MII have worked like a charm, with no errors other than the battery life after two years starting to go away.

When I am doing a celebrity portrait and i am told I have half a day.  I know I can use a Hasselblad or a Leaf and most likely be fine.  But always have a Phase as a back up.  Leaf is the only contender for me that is really in the league of Phase.  mostly for high ISO's.  Phase is NO GOOD past 200, at least the non Plus series.  The Aptus 75 was great at 400, but not stable at long shoots.  Too many errors messages and conection problems.

Just some experiences for you all.  

I kind of like the new three year any platform support Phase is doing.  Not sure if they are going to stockpile the equipment or ow they will do it.  But it seems like a good idea.  

For the People that liked shooting with the RZ, you shouldn't even think twice about using it again with Phase.  Get a Maxwell screen with the lines etched in and you will be good to go.

All the Best,

Ric

[pixjohn]

OK

[paul_jones]

thanks for that.
i find this kind of information far more usefull than the ususal debates on "x" has better quality than "y", or bitching about unreleased products.

does the rz with its adaptor plate work without any cables fine?

cheers paul

[RicAgu]

Hey Paul,

The RZ with an H1 mounted Phase One back needs a One shot cable with some modifications for convenient handheld shooting.  The cable, plate and modification will run you around $1,400.00 US.

If you buy a Phase made for the Mamiya 645 AFD then no cables are needed and the Pro II D communicates with the back .  There is a guy here on LL that goes by PSSS that uses this set up and raves about it.

Best of luck with your decision and I hope my info gave you some insight.

Best,

RA

[BJNY]

Ric,
May I ask why you switched to Broncolor, instead of staying with Profoto?
Same question about trying the eVolution/eMotion when the Phase One hasn't failed you?
Billy

[mattlap2]

Rick,

The Broncolor modeling light situation sounds like something is out of whack.

I traveled around with the full line of Broncolor heads in my trunk for more than 4 years, demoing the heads almost every day.   In that 4 year time I blew only 1 modeling light in either the pulso, primo or unilite heads.  

The one finicky modeling light is in the pico heads.    The 150w modeling light in them gets pretty hot in the small area and can be tempermental if bumped.   That being said I only went thru a handfull of those, although I have heard of people going thru a few in a short amount of time.

I have seen Broncolor run in rental situations without going thru more modeling lights than other brands so something must be up ...  

What head was it if you remember?

Thanks,

Matt LaPointe

[RicAgu]

Billy,

For my personal work on location it is Phase, Profoto, Bron Para's and Briese Focus.

For this one client we got it all in one place.  SinarBron was the ideal choice.

Broncolor lighting for still life and utmost control of packs makes it the ideal choice.  The head design it is a bit of a pain coming from Profoto.  But I get much more control from Broncolor packs and consistency that blows me away.  Plus the color is spot on everytime.

The reason for the Sinar digital shoot is because I have a P3 and will most likely be adding the Sinar M as the shutter and will be using the live view of the Evolution or Emotion with it and the Phase One's live view is just not there.  Not sure what Sinar's is like, but if it is useable I will switch for this client. This is just gear for one client and then eventually the daily rental studio once it is open.

Once I pull the H series & Canon from the client they will have to get gear so for the fashion I will mostly likely get the Hy6 to adapt the emotion to it and kep the evolution on the P3 M body.


Matt,

It is not happening with one head, it has happened with five different heads.  Three uni lights and Two Pulso G's. The only heads not blowing are the pico lights I have.

I am not alone, check Shafricks posts.  He was having a ton of problems with Bron as well.

I have Jim coming by tomorrow to check on things.  I have always been told how delicate Bron's were.

[mmurph]

I have never blown a modelling light in the studio or on location with Bron.  I was not working as heavy duty, non-stop as you are right now, but that is in at least 5 years of use.

That said, I don't *always* buy Bron marketed tubes. The 250 watt screw in are pretty generic, you can get them from most suppliers.

Are you on 120 voltage?  Full or proportional? What fixtures (softbox, etc.) ?  

Did someone install them without gloves on? An assistant maybe? Oils from your fingers will etch the tubes and cause them to fail!  I assume most know never to touch a modelling light or flash tube bare handed.

Hi Matt!

Best,
Michael Murphy

[pss]

i am the guy who shoots RZ and P30...TOLD YOU IT IS GREAT!....with the mamiya mount you don't even need a cable....a friend of mine just resurrected his RZ this way with his first phase back...loves it as well....

have to chime in on the modellights as well....shot broncolor for years...never had that problem....like someone lese mentioned here....touching the bulb will do it...every assistant should know better...

C1 is absolutely bulletproof but if you have to deal with different sessions it can get hairy.....i actually prefer shooting into LR now (through C1..) works great, just takes a tad longer for the pics to pop up...

[jimgolden]

isnt the "no fingers on the bulb" the first rule of assisting? was for me, always held w/ paper or a tissue...actually learned that in photo school

LR tethered is awesome...

[Morgan_Moore]

Any URLs to check out some of your work ?? (in a good way)

S

[PatrikR]

I have always been told how delicate Bron's were.
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Here their reputation has been the opposite. My Grafits are rock solid. Colortemp stays exactly no matter what power you're on. And all my spare modeling lights are still spared.

I'm on 220V and use from grid spotted P70s to Softboxes on Pulso and Pulso G heads.

Grafits were a big investment but worth every penny. Handmade in Switzerland and hopefully they stay that way!

[ixpressraf]

Hi all,
I am using hasselblad/imacon backs ever since 2002 and i also never had serieous problems and from my ixpress 384 using  flexcolor 3.6 all went well. I shoot pictures on location in heavy industry and off shore and always use the hasselblad CF39 and cf 22and never had one second need to switch to leaf or phase. So i think it is very personal wheter stuff works or not.
For flash i use elinchrom hensel and a small profoto set for on location when traveling light is needed.
No problems with modeling lamps either.
The camera's are two H2 and an old RZII set wich all work fine, the hassy is better on location and has more featerus that are usefull in day in day out working life.
As back up i use the 5d but I have been testing the H3D31 mp at up to 3200 ISO and the Hassie is much better than the 5d at high iso so i am thinking to go for the H3d.
Using latest flexcolor works fine for th one shot back's. My 384 will not work so i have one mac with flexcolor 4.7.1  for thr thethered shooting with the 384 back ( on a H2 or a digiflexII) and that works flawless..Just my personal observations.

[jpop]

Something is definitely amiss with the Broncolor modeling tubes blowing with such frequency.  The high proportional setting will save on some modeling light life as opposed to leaving them on full power.  Also check the manufacturer of the modeling lights themselves as I have had issues with brands other than Ushio or Osram.  I've been told by someone who did lamp testing by GE that they have found those two brands very reliable while other brands may use cheaper filaments and also not properly evacuating air/gases in the envelope during production.

The Pico light modeling tubes are a good place to assess how the various manufacturers modeling light performance, as with any of them they have a short life.  A switch to a couple different fringe pacific rim lamp manufacturers netting only about 20% of the life we experienced with Ushio.  With the failure rate of the less expensive modeling lights and them often taking out a fuse when they go provided proof positive that you couldn't save enough money buying cheap modeling tubes.

[JDG]

Ric,

Live Preview actually works pretty well as long as you keep the lightmeter at the bottom of the screen right in the middle.  If it is too low or too high you'll get all kinds of artifacts and then its pretty much useless.  But in the middle I've got better results from phase than both leaf and sinar.  I have also heard that there are going to be some improvements to live preview in capture one pro 3.7.8.  I'll be interested to hear what you think of the sinar backs, I always thought they had some great hardware features (built-in hard drive), but I found the software to to be extremely lacking and  absolutely hindered a fashion shoot flow.

[RicAgu]

John,

Thanks for the email!

I have no problems with Broncolor.  There is a reason I went with them, over anything else.  Maybe it was a bad batch of modeling lights.  Since they don;t make  the modeling lights I am not annoyed with them.  I do wish the modeling light design was different like the Profoto screw in type, but they must have a reason for their design.

The bulbs have never been touched as these were brand new from Bron.  I have negative handling gloves here when it is time to change bulbs, so covered there.  Thanks for the advice.  Surprised some of you were taught that in school, as it is rare they teach you real life experience stuff.

Ixpressraf,

That is great that the Hasselblad has done so well by you from both a workflow and stability standpoint.  Not sure to say you are lucky, got a good one or just the stability you have found with Hasselblad.  I know a lot of people that have had non stop problems with on every front.  More so the combo units H3, H2D etc.  Not so much with the CF series and everyone I know who used the Imacon backs loved them, except for the tethering option and image bank.  I for one am a HUGE Imacon fan as I owned three of their scanners dating back to 2002.  What a god send!

That the H3d 31 can get to 3200 is impressive.

Paul,

The jury is still out on LR for me, I can't seem to wrap my head around it.  I guess I need to take an LR workshop or maybe download some video tutorials.

JDG,

For my fashion portrait and beauty stuff it will be hard to pull me from Phase.  On my still life set for this client we are on a P3 and I am looking for something with live preview and possibly using the M shutter.  I am still out on that.  The rep will drop an evolution and emotion in the coming days so I can test them out.

I will give it a go with beauty and check the files.  I am sure it will be great.  What I would like to see is workflow, color, noise and sensitivity at 200.

Sam,

www__.**ric**agudelo_._**com remove the obvious


Leaf had a pretty decent live preview in the valeo days.  The 400 asa files on the Aptus were pretty good, but the software was a nightmare, the centerfold was a pain.  Unfortunately it all left a bad taste for a lot of people.