Skarkowtsky wrote:
Any ideas who made that light bank?
That light is in fact a STROBE Fish Fryer. STROBE is the make. Larger were called "Swimming Pools" they're about 5'x4' and the pack was the counter weight to prevent them falling over.
It comes with linear tubes to produce an even coverage across the modifier and each of the connections could handle 5,000Ws, meaning that one in your picture could use 10,000Ws.
STROBE made 5,000Ws packs consisting of 5x1,000Ws capacitor packs and a control module called a 'CITY'. Each unit was the size of an integrated cooker. To use 10,000Ws you plug one cable into one 5,000Ws and another into a second 5,000Ws.
I expect you would only ever find them in studios closing down now.
Skarkowtsky wrote:
...Any ideas who made that light bank?
I'm a couple of days late to the party, but I'll throw in my two cents' worth:
The original Fish Fryer (and that was an actual trade name, not just a nickname) was produced in England by a gentleman named David Cecil. His son Tim continued the business for a time after David's death, under the name Strobex, but as far as I know they are no longer in business.
Skarkowtsky wrote:
...Could these be rewired for Speedotron?
The problem I see is finding a source for long flash tubes. Maybe they're not as uncommon as I think they are. (I haven't shopped for studio gear in ages.)
You could punch out openings for multiple standard strobe heads, but then you'd be essentially just making a light bank, and there are plenty of those already available.
Thank you for the detailed responses. I'll start looking for one, and be patient with my results.
Could these be rewired for Speedotron?
IIRC, the Strobe were designed using high-voltage MP capacitors in the range of 2500V while Speedos work with nowadays usual voltages around 500V. Obviously not compatible
Check out the right hand picture of this rental studio, showing some Strobe :
www.big-shed.co.uk/facilities
Skarkowtsky wrote:
The 7' version sold on eBay UK for £40!
The s&h might have been a bit more than that for you
I sold my swimming pools and fish fryer's about 18 years ago. Repairs and parts were difficult to obtain, people to repair them were hard to find and consequently the cost for these were rather too expensive.
If you get one (some) you really need the space to use them. They can't be packed away and stored, as they take up the space of a small car.
They did provide an even illumination though, even across reflective surfaces.
BrianO wrote:
The problem I see is finding a source for long flash tubes. Maybe they're not as uncommon as I think they are.
Certainly available, although not necessarily cheap. Profoto uses a tube that appears to be 50-60cm in length for their Striplight and StillLight models. The tubes are user-replaceable. For a homemade rig, you then get to wire it up.
