HS Photo Teacher seeks new and durable lights (strobes)

Hi, I teach HS photography and we are thinking of buying a new set of lights. We currently have a set of novatrons and a set of Westcott's. The novatrons have served us well but one is not firing and the other won't take a modeling light. They need to be retired. The westcott set is only about 7 years old, but one of them started smoking last month the other has several broken things. It really hasnt been a very durable set of lights. We have 6000 students at our school, 10 classes of photography every day. The lights take a beating and I want to know if anyone knows which lights are the toughest. I'm not as concerned about lighting output, durability is the name of the game for us. I've searched for a list of the most durable lighting equipment but none really tell me this information. I remember back in the day that Alien Bees were the tank of lighting equipment, Anyone that had those had them for years. Is that still true or are there others that are now longer lasting? Any advice anyone has would be much appreciated. thanks.

I teach studio lighting at a community college and our equipment takes a fair amount of abuse--we have White Lightning X series 3200 and 1600 flashes and accessories and they have held up quite well, with a couple of flash tubes and modeling bulbs replaced over the last year. I have also used these heavily in my studio for the last 20 years with similar reliability and lack of repairs. The X 1600's will probably have plenty of power for you--when I bought the X 3200's I was still shooting a lot of 4x5 with ASA 100 transparency film and shooting interiors that needed a lot of light. If I were buying new units now I would probably go for 1600's for the lighter weight. The company that makes them provides excellent service when you need it and fair prices on reflectors, radio transmitters/receivers, spare parts, etc.

The novatrons have served us well but one is not firing and the other won't take a modeling light.

 

Hi, I'm not gonna make any recs on a brand; I've been out of touch for the past 6 or 8 years. But I come from an outfit that had literally thousands of full-time portrait studios, and the number one reason for "not firing" was a bad flash tube. So if you've not already done so, you might try swapping in another flash tube. Assuming that they are user-replaceable. Flash tubes definitely have a limited life span, perhaps on the order of a hundred thousand, maybe a quarter million high-power flashes. Much longer life span at lower power settings. In our busiest studios flash tubes were replaced probably every year or two. Generally the unit just stops firing, but sometimes they would get intermittent; the easiest troubleshooting step is to just swap in a new flash tube, assuming they are user replaceable. The older Norman and Photogenic flash tubes were a simple plug-in operation. Expensive, about $150 each, but anyone can do it, and no one ever gets a shock (from exposed trigger wire) or cuts their finger on a broken flash tube.

 

In our operation we always used what I'd call heavy-duty pro gear, which in the US would have included Norman and Photogenic (now owned and manufactured by Promark, I believe), as well as Speedotron. These were all expensive, but reliable, which (reliability) is what you need when running a high-volume business. In later years Norman and Photogenic both brought out "budget" lighting systems to compete with the cheaper systems springing up; these were made with lower-spec components, etc., so are presumably not as rugged as the old-school gesr. But modern demands are less stringent, mainly due to the modern digital cameras. In the old days you might be using film with a speed of 100 or 160, and shooting with a lens aperture of f/16 or so. With a digital camera you could generally get by with ISO speed of 400 at f/8, roughly 16 times less power. So the old heavy-duty gear is not generally necessary any more.

 

If I were in your position, one of my main concerns would be to make sure that students would not be able to burn fingers on a hot modeling bulb, nor be able to touch the trigger wire (on the flash tube). I'd also look for an approved rating by something like UL or CE, or whatever. I'd also consider compatibility with your existing modifiers (soft boxes, etc.). I'd also want to make sure there are fall-back options in the event of equipment failure. For example, what will you do if you get new equipment and it fails in short order? Will the supplier replace it pronto? Or do you want to get extra gear to hold in reserve, etc.? I'm presuming that using this gear is part in the curriculum, and it is necessary to always have functioning gear for classes.

 

Finally, there is the question of what to do with the old gear. I think it would be worthwhile to evaluate having it repaired. If you can get in touch with your originally supplier they might have recommendations for a repair service. If you do have a repair service it's probably worth talking to them about what brands to consider. If, for example, they are a warranty service for brand xyz, they will probably have a variety of factory repair parts in stock, giving you the ability to get gear back in service quickly.

 

Ps, I would most definitely get "UV coated" flash tubes.

 

Pps, if you are in the US (you did mention "Alien Bees") you might consider the house brands of either B&H or Adorama; I presume they will stand behind their products. As well as the Paul Buff gear AJG suggests. (But, as I recall, some of this may have exposed trigger wires; HS students may need more accident-proof gear than college students.)

Thanks so much...if we are ever back in an actual classroom again I will take your advice. Stay safe!