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glort Offline [X]
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I was following some links regarding some recently mentioned equipment and thought I'd have a look at fleabay and buy another light to replace the one I smoked in my Chinese Cheapo kit.
Back in the bad old days, Strobes were a hugely expensive item and when I started, some people were still using hot lights due to the expense of strobes. A brand name kit cost many thousands and could be on par with a small vehicle.
I bought my cheap kit because I was doing a lot of event work and I didn't want my Elinchroms being hammered. I paid nearly 4 times for one light what I bought the whole 4 light kit for so I was thinking if I get half a dozen jobs out of it, i'll have done OK. I was concerned aout the light quality but was astonished at what these little heads put out. Every bit as good as he Chromes and Bowen I have.
Man, I have hammered those things for more than 5 years doing all sorts of work and they still are going except for the one I smoked a while back which I later realised was due to my own stupidity in running it flat out for like 30 min instead of getting a couple and having them all run at a much lower setting. I don't know what the max flash/ cooling off time is but I went 10 times above and beyond what any sub floor pack generator could do.
And that's another thing, I have run these heads off dodgy inverters, home made generators and other filthy dirty power sources and they haven't been the slightest bit worried.
Now I see you can get the chinese lights with remote control power settings. No more pulling lights down or climbing ladders to ajust them, do it all from the camera. 300W light, under $250 my money which makes them about $1.95 US. :0)
I also see that you can control speedlights with the same controller. again, cheap as chips.
Then we have the bare bulb flashes and the ice light replacements and so it goes.
Shooters have never had so much gear so cheaply available and with a level of technology beyond dreamed of not that long ago.
Yes, I know, there are the brand snobs out there that won't use anything but whatever brand they favour and think is infallible. And sometimes that's the sensible thing. Other times, the alternatives can be just as good or better. I have been amazed with teh performance of my yongnuo sped lights and was looking at the latest offering in those to upgrade as well.
The thing I ask myself when buying this knockoff gear is what do I want it for? High or low risk setting?
What is the performance like? acceptable good or lousy. So far, I haven't found lousy in anything I have got. How often will I use it?
And finally, will this last as long as the brand name times as much as I save.
Buy this I mean if a canon speedlight is $600 and the knock off is $200, will 3 of the cheapies last as long or longer than the OEM?
So far, I haven't had anything that didn't last as well as an OEM or survive what i would have not expected anything to. I'm sure others have had things fail quickly but I have had OEM that didn't work out of the box as well so to me, brand name that is made in china or some other 2cents a day labor rate place is not an automatic guarantee of quality.
I have seen many things in other interests and professions that have come straight out of the same factory. One as a whoflungdung brand and the other as world recognized and they are the same identical thing bar the over inflated price on one of them.
Accessories for my good "ol boy , made is USA Harley is one of them.
Bugger me, even the printing on the box was the same bar the additional Harley branding. The item was clearly the same made by the same people. Of course the Harley product was 6 times what the one without Harley stamped on it was.
I wrote to Harley and they said they did use other manufacturers and they had tested all their components to be up to their standards but this did not stop the producers of some of their accessories marketing the same parts under their own branding.
In other words, some of our shit can be had from the same factory for a shipload less.
As gear fixated as shooters are, there is so much amazing stuff out there so cheap atm, it's worth buying just to play and have fun with. The chinese have really opened up a lot of possibilities for affordable gear now and at very least, you could buy the knockoff, see if the function of the gear is what you want and if it is, then you could use it till it dies and decide if you want to pay the extra for the OEM. If it's not what you wanted or thought it would fulfill, then you just saved yourself about 75% to find out.
I remember buying Quantam radio slaves for a fortune not even 10 years ago. Now any Chinese kit flash comes with several radio triggers and they are a fraction of the size of the old quantum's and more reliable. Same with Turbo batterys. Once a kings ransom, now readily available and a fraction of the price. there are knock off battery grips with features the OEMS don't have and in my experience, 110% reliable.
Don't even get me started on batteries. Without exception, the knockoffs I have bought within a month of buying the camera have all lasted years longer than the OEMS and had better endurance. No exceptions. I did buy a bunch 6 years ago and one was faulty. I messaged whom i bought them off for a return address and they sent out 3 more without question or returning the faulty one. OEM, Upwards of $80. Knockoff, $7. OEM, lasted about 2 years. Knockoff, still going fine at 5 years.
Whichever way, for the gearheads, the amount and level of technology out there and the low price is amazing.
For old farts like me, what we once dreamed of ( or couldn't even dream of) let alone afford or justify, is now common place and at virtual give away prices.
I'm waiting for the Chinese DSLR knockoffs. They will probably have all the things shooters lament that the OEMS don't and cost 1/4 or less.
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Apr 06, 2016 at 07:56 AM |
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