sungphoto
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 p.3 #2 · Profoto A1x over my AD200.trying to figure out game plan | |
jlafferty wrote:
The thing is… if the convenience of having the gear delivered is the sell here, then why does owning any lighting gear matter? Or what is the proposed convenience of owning Profoto in your scenario? Like, traveling with just your Air trigger? Or traveling with just modifiers? It falls apart when you think about it. Sure you *could* make the case that you find it easier; but I could just as easily make the case that resolving any issues is just part of doing your job well anyway, and there are a lot of ways to do it no matter what gear you own.
Sung has a good point about ubiquity and getting some components from assistants, or being an assistant who rents their lighting kit out, but even this is kind of a narrow use case. As a photographer, either I’m bringing lights and using them as a revenue generator, in which case brand doesn’t matter, and I’m taking partial failures into account and packing redundancies; or I’m renting and having local gear delivered, in which case the gear I personally own and use doesn’t matter.
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I think taking a step back, the convenience factor (at least for me) really only comes into situations where I need more than the lights I personally own. Everyone runs their business differently - I know several photogs that don't own any lights and a fairly simple camera kit, and rent almost everything else. And then there's gear addicts like me that perhaps go a little overboard 
https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/56bdf0db01dbaeb8c76c21cd/1561492268500-UQR6UEZNGOA150ORA2VL/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kK60W-ob1oA2Fm-j4E_9NQB7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z4YTzHvnKhyp6Da-NYroOW3ZGjoBKy3azqku80C789l0kD6Ec8Uq9YczfrzwR7e2Mh5VMMOxnTbph8FXiclivDQnof69TlCeE0rAhj6HUpXkw/image-asset.jpeg
The convenience factor for me is minimal, as like you, I'd rather buy the strobe and rent it to my client as part of my lighting kit fee, and ultimately pay for the strobe in my financials that way.
I initially was running both godox and profoto, because I have a fairly wide spectrum of shoots. For my private client work, occasional weddings and events, for the most part I'm comfortable with godox. I prefer profoto when I'm doing commercial - specifically high volume work. As my business model has shifted to almost entirely commercial the last couple years, it made sense to go all in with profoto because the financials supported it. Also it just didn't make sense to juggle two systems, two modifier mounts, different triggers, different batteries and chargers etc. It was primarily done in my case because of the high volume work I do.
For the high volume stuff (especially product and the occasional stop motion), I need a really high degree of color consistency and trigger/fire dependability over a long period of time, in a variety of shooting situations (locked down in studio as well as on location). I think a lot of the color consistency tests that you see of the godox strobes are likely only a few hundred or so pops over a handful of hours, which is a great test if that's all you use them for, but when you're firing them for 8-10 hours with upwards of 4-5k pops a day, that's when you really start to shake out the more extreme use case issues.
In the end, what I've realized from befriending other full time pro photographers in various areas and points of their careers (some primarily editorial, others mainly wedding shooters, sports photogs, etc) is that we all have different business models, different workflows, etc etc. and the ones that stick around base much of their gear purchases on solving a problem rather than having the fanciest brand names. I know plenty of horrible photographers that have no business using anything more than a flashlight and their iphone that have all top end kit, and I know plenty of amazing photographers that produce great work with a single camera and lens (my old roommate when I used to live with a couple other photogs in brooklyn shoots all his stuff for the New Yorker and NY Times with a beat up 5d3 and 24-70 f2.8 mk1, and he thinks I'm insane to have so much kit)
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I’m a minimalist and do my best to make the most out of reducing the emphasis on gear in my work. Sometimes that still means packing 6 lights, 3 cases, extra bags and a roller cart, but my real attention and energies about the process lie elsewhere. 