Good quality studio flash?

[Dave Dawson]

Hi, I am about to spend some well earned pennies:o on some second hand studio flash units but am wondering what you guys reckon is best value for money ?

The options seem to be Elinchrom, Bowens, Broncolor etc.

Any advice appreciated Cheers Dave

ps...The flash will be used for fairly small still life shots using 5x4

[archphoto]

I have a Bowens 3KA generator and 3 heads. Works great, is dependable.
The generator is a-symentrical so I have plenty of options in power-settings.

Broncolor has a verry good reputation, but the prices are higher than the Bowens.

Elinchrome I have no experience with, so no comments.

Peter

[Pinholemaster]

Dynalite http://www.dynalite.com/index2.shtml

[tequilabong]

best bang for the buck, White Lightning. Might not be as sexy as dyna, bowens, etc......but they work, and the resale values are great. And some of the best customer service people in the industry.....

[epatsellis]

Oh I don't know about best bang for the buck, I bought 4 broncolor packs (3-304, 1-404), 8 heads (including 1 bitube head), reflectors, snoots, barn doors and such for less than $1000.00 Granted these are the older blue (Universal Lampholder) style heads, but they are the ones that built Broncolors reputation in regards to consistent light temp, output, etc. Other than needing 12mm stand adapters, I can't complain about anything, especially for the money.

[resummerfield]

.........best value for money ?........

I think the best value in used equipment is Speedotron Black line, followed closely by Dynalite.

If you are buying new, I hear the Alien Bees are a great value, or their big siblings, White Lightning.

[MikeSeb]

Dynalite.

[Ed Sukach]

I'd vote for DynaLite as well. Easily the most powerful, compact, lightest and most reliable I've used.
While others seem to have a tendency towards optimism as far as their power, I have the opposite problem ... I can't remember a set up (MX 1000 Packs) where I haven't had to reduce their power, through the varitor, or whatever.

Add stock UV correction, user replaceable tubes and lamps, DEDICATED (three-prong) synch cables, arc-less connectors ... and I would not hesitate to buy them all over again.

[John Koehrer]

The OP is in the UK. It will cost a REAL chunk of change to ship a Speedotron unit over there. Broncolor, and Elinchrom are usually considered the most sophisticated and reliable.
You could check with Calumet in Britain & see if they have any Monolights that would fit the bill.

[Ian Grant]

Trouble is Dave is in London so Elinchrom, Bowens, Broncolor are the main choices.

I've used both Elinchrom & Bowens, both are excellent. If you can find/afford a pack system get one, plenty of power for all occasions, otherwise the smaller heads are fine but as your shooting 5x4 you need a reasonable amount of power. Bowens kit generally sells for less second-hand, Look for the 400, 750, 800 Joule heads.

Ian