Hi again

Will the small and cheaper Picolite do an as good job lighting umbrellas (and somtimes also bouncing white walls and roofs on location) as Unilite? Got one Pulso to start with but need two more lights for (mainly) umbrella (and bouncing). $, size and weight speaks in favour of Picolite (and I got one Pulso for demanding lighting) but I want the quality of light to be good even for such "simple" tasks as umbrellas (and bouncing). My thought would be to just add the Unilite barndoor (for bouncing).

I know that the Picolite is more of a dead end with regard to light shapers, compared to Unilite. BUT if it lights umbrellas as good as Unilite I will go for it to save bulk and $.

I´ve been using Profoto and Bowens until now and need some Bron input.

Regards Ulf

Ulf,
the lighting angle of 130° is wide enough for standard (105cm) umbrellas. Specific umbrella reflectors of other brands show a similar angle. I also see no problem when bouncing them.
cheers, Peter

Yes I know that they (Picolite) are made for umbrellas. It´s just that the tiny reflectors with the UV-glass does seem soo, well compromise, compared to for ex Pro Zoom reflector with a "proper" glass dome.

Just because they are made for umbrellas and bouncing doesn´t mean that they does it as good as Unilite with a "real" reflector...

Peter, if I understood your post you use them yourself for umbrellas and bouncing and are happy?

Regards Ulf

Pico is great - high quality. I have 5+.

I have Pulso G, Unilite, and Pico. I rely on them all and would use them interchangably in terms of quality.

I like the G for heavy duty studio use - beauty dish, large softbox, etc. I use the Unilite more on location, they are extremely well built, very solid, nice size and weight, you could use them for all your needs.

The Pico is great for hair, background, lighting small areas. But you could also reverse the setup and put, say, a 7' Octodome on a stand and then just hang the Pico off the back.

No reservations at all about using them in any application, main, fill, ,background, etc. They are beautiful lights, the size and weight of a can of soda. Very high quality.

The adapter to use Pulso reflectors, etc. is a liitle pricy, but worthwhile. I have 3 of those. They are $200+ new.

They sell fpor about $450 used on eBay. The Unilite run about $650 to $800. The Pulso G are $1,000-$1,300, though the regular Pulso are less, around $700-$800.

More later, out of battery ...

M.

Ok

I´ll go through my needs since I got such a detailed answer.

I use a bunch of modern Bowens monos in a studio.

The Bron Verso will be for adding light in other studio like situations but also for location work.

I´ll use Wafer bouncers for both brands. (Up to 3m2)

Will get a Boxlite 40 for the Verso.

On the wishlist is a 170cm para (copy) for out of the studio work.
The Pulso G2 (Now Bron just calls them G, is my 1600J specified G2 an older version?) will be used for Wafer and a possible Para. I´m not a ringflash guy, even if that is supposed to be nice for the Para. A Para copy will do I think, if I find one fast. (See my Para post).

Then I need 2 smaller heads for temporarily studio backgrounds and location interior photography. (Also umbrella for occasionally people stuff.) Unilite or Picolite?

I see two advantages with Unilite;
1 The possibility to not take with me the G2 with a bouncer (and also being able to use 2 bouncers).
2 A possibly better light quality with the Unilite, even with a plain umbrella.

Bulk and $ speaks strongly in favour of the Pico though. (this Pro/Bron switch will COST.)

Will need them on this years budget though so used stuff will be a bit stressful I think. (Scandinavian people, feel free to contact me if you need to get rid of Bron stuff:-)

Regards Ulf

The "2" or "4" just means 1600 Ws or 3200 Ws for Broncolor. 3200 Ws heads, packs, etc. are always more expensive.

I think it comes from the time when they used 850 Ws capacitors. So you had 2 capacitors in a 1600 Ws unit, etc. Not too sure about that though.

For location, I built my lighting kit around Unilites. They are a "just right" size. The Pulso G are pretty big and heavy to haul around for location. You might want one for a big main light though - 7' Octodome, etc. if you are mounting those to the head and not directly to the stand. If you mount the modifier tro the stand you might be better off with a Unilite or Picolite if you leave it hanging and unsupported.

The Unilites are vey well made. Solid pieces of metal (not literally) with a good adjustment system so that they can hold a lot of weight. Very compact also.

They are "newer" units - have not been around as long as the Pulso - so you don't find them used too often. So they are always in high demands.

In general, I would use the Unilite for main and fill. Probably background also if you are lighting a large area, or need even light, etc. You can use the Unilite or Pico for most other lighting.

You can usually get new Bron items on sale if you wait for a promo with a 25% off sale. But ut if you need them now ... Some larger Bron resellers will stock up on Bron products when they are on sale and will still have them at sale prices. You might try the best Bron reseller in your area, they may want to clear out product for year end.

Good luck!

Best,
Michael