Briese Lighting

Anybody has experienced Briese lighting? Any detailed info will be

appreciated.

First, www.briese-lichttechnik.de .

 

Second, what do you wish to know? Briese is the most esoteric lighting kit on this planet and outside of Pier 59 Studios in New York City and Los Angeles, you won't find many places renting them out.

 

Briese's main claim to fame is their FOCUS giant umbrellas which range from 77cm to 330cm in diameter. Yes, Briese started this giant umbrella which soon spawned imitators like Profoto's ProBig and Broncolor's Para with the latter being the most faithful copy of Briese's own. And elinchrom's own Octabank is a lower priced imitation of Profoto's ProBig.

 

The FOCUS umbrella's unique selling point is its focussable light. This gives a broad wrap-around source of light which is also specular in the highlights. It is somewhat like a giant Fresnel light but more wrap-around and specular. Sounds contradictory to be both wrap-around and specular but that is what the FOCUS brollies are. The FOCUS brollies come as a complete set of tubing, flash head, brolly, mount and set-up 'helpers'.

 

The Briese flash packs or generators are OK. They are not as user friendly as Profoto or Broncolor nor as feature packed. To this end, Briese has provided an adapter which allows their light modifiers to be used with Broncolor now, and other makes in the future.

 

If you're thinking about buying Briese, unless you have a Bentley Arnage parked in your garage, you can forget about them because they are so expensive as to make Broncolor look affordable. The 330cm FOCUS brolly set is about Euro 17 000.00 and up complete and then you have to supply a stand and a flash generator. The 77cm FOCUS costs about Euro 4000.00.

 

The rest of the Briese line-up is nothing special and can be found in the catalogues of other manufacturers. The Briese ringlight can be had for Euro 1008.00. Profoto has better lighting modifiers in general for fashion and people photography; Broncolor has better ones for product and still-life photography.

 

If you have seen the Broncolor ad shot by Marcus Klinko of Tyler Banks sitting on a flight of glass steps, you will have some idea of what the effect of the Briese FOCUS looks like. That Broncolor ad was shot with Broncolor's Para, a Briese imitation.

(note - the Klinko shot is of Iman... with the Para, in what appears to be the Chicago Apple

Store)

 

The Para is gorgeous...I was playing with one yesterday. Don't think I can justify it tho,

nevermind paying what Briese wants for theirs.

The biggest difference between the Para and the Briese, is that the para's use regular

broncolor heads fired into the para - like a giant umbrella (or at least that's how the one I

was using was configured).

 

The Briese uses a long open tube strobe - like a starlight - so you have direct strobe -

giving you the specularity, plus all the reflected light from the big brolly.

No, you don't get light like a direct flash from the Briese. Every flash tube comes with a counter-reflector.

By the way, the specularity comes from the parabolic shape of the Briese FOCUS, the setting of the flash TUBUS (flood, medium and spot) and to some extent, its choice of lining. There are two linings: white for Soft, and silver for Hard.

 

Wolfgang Briese thought these things through when he designed them. To leave the end of his flash tube exposed would have created ugly hotspots thus the counter-reflector.

hmmm... the one I saw had no counter reflector.. but perhaps it was only rigged up as a

dummy without the actual briese head in it - using somebody else's tube. I did not have a

chance to see it in use.

 

Thanks for the correction Shiver Me Timbarrrrr...

I already knew that Briese system is very expensive but I was trying to figure out if there are any brands which they can compete with. In one of the fashion shooting for Uomo Vogue I have seen this light and was amazed about the huge umbrella and the diffused but intense light. Thanks very much for the info.

Briese competes in a small way with first Profoto and then Broncolor. I suspect the few

people who Briese are doing so as a way of possibly seperating themselves from everyone

who uses Profoto. Thye certainly look very cool and i wouldn't kick them out if they

suddenly showed up in my studio,

 

Virtually any large light modifier can be rigged to work with any head from any

manufacturer -- a lot of people use Profoto and other brand heads in Elinchrom

Octabanks --which way predated the Broncolor Pro Big.. So it is important to look at the

light quality of the head .

 

 

There is also the Satellite from Broncolor:

 

http://www.bron.ch/bc_pd_ps_en/detail.php?nr=1404

 

and the Super Diamond Box from Balcar:

 

http://www.balcar.com/produit.asp?ilst=SupDia&l=3&cat=1

 

and the 2, 3, & 4 meter diameter Jumbrellas from Plume,ltd.:

 

http://www.plumeltd.com/jumbrella.htm

 

Another modifier that was semi-popular among lighting junkies for awhile is the Aurasoft:

 

http://www.lee.co.uk/lee/cgi-bin/lee_database.cgi.188.html

"Elinchrom Octabanks --which way predated the Broncolor Pro Big." Uh, uh, wrong. Check your facts. The original Profoto ProBig made its market debut when Peter was the Profoto distributor in the USA, before Mamiya USA took over the reins. This was in 1997 or so. The elinchrom Octabank came in response to the ProBig because it was considered expensive at over $2000.00 each.

really? Ok I'm corrected. I remember Peter. What is he up to now?

Haven't heard from Peter in a while. I often wondered myself. I hope that he is well and in fine fettle.

Last time I heard from Peter he was in Los Angeles /West Hollywood and repping Matthews

Studio Equipment -- that was maybe 10 years ago. He was flying thorough Houston.

Briese ? ok i hate them.

if you like to play aroung with your own gear its ok but if you have an assistant forget it. i dont know an assistant who can switch the pilot lamp on/off/1:1 without looking at the panel for at least 10 seconds.

if you turn them off they fire a flash. wich could be very harmful when done by your assistant when you remove the reflector.

 

IF you really really have all the other sh. down and you think you need that big focus reflector (and can afford it) buy one and get it adapted to pro, bron, hensel, balcar, or ANYTHING.

always save some 600? for a flashbulb as well.

expensive, heavy, user unfriendly, the only thing i like is the enourmous POP when you fire them. thats maybe because of the long flash duration.

 

id rather buy a mac, polaroid pack film, a rolleiflex and a leica (R6 lol) than a briese pack.

 

D.

I want to say that the Octabank has been around a little longer

than the Profoto Pro-Big. Here's how I figured this.

Jan 1997 I became equipment manager for a rental studio here

in nyc. We had the Octabank. The Briese was around at the

same time as well, usually parked at PIer 59 in the hallway.

They parked it where I worked as well but it mainly got in the way.

About June I met Mr. Briese. He wanted to start pushing the

Briese in ny so he teamed-up with one of the equipment rental

places here. It was around Dec. when I saw my first Profoto

Pro-Big. Then it disappeared from the rental houses. I heard that

Briese was taking Profoto to court over the focusing mechanism.

And the Broncolor Para -it seemed like a couple of years before

that made it to market but i'd have to check on that one.

 

Anyway, I also just came back from LA where I worked for

Briese/US.

 

take care

mike

This is a very interesting thread.

What happened with the Briese/Bron controversy?

When studying Claude Brons range of Para reflectors, I noticed that you can now get the Para, the Para FF and the Para FB. I understand that these are different ways of obtaining focus (front/back), but could this also be ways of legally getting out of a patent infringment lawsuit?

 

It is interresting that Briese use a form of sticklight to illuminate the Focus.

Apparently Bron is going in an other direction, now using the new Ringflash "P" to illuminate the Para FB.

Does anybody have any comments on this?

 

best regards,

Marco/

I was in briese studio. And I saw new type of lamp head system , It is completely diferent kind of lamp head. the lamp head will be avilable on market in early next year..

Interesting!

 

Marcus - from Briese - is VERY kind and service minded, and have invited me to Hamburg to study their range, and to tell me a bit more about the Bron-Breise controversy! As soon as I return from Hamburg, I will post more info here...

 

But if Briese is good enough for Playboy photographer Steven Wayda, then I'm pretty certain, that it is good enough for me too ;-)

I agree! They deliver beautiful light, especially when spotted in all the way. Very directional, but soft. You don't always need to use the diffuser because it looks great "hard". There's something about the way this light falls on a face, especially a female face, that you simply can't quite get with any other light. Hard to believe, I know, until you actually see it.

So, in sum, I think that Brent Langton and his guys are doing a great job!

In this months issue of the German magazine ProfiFoto, you can study an in-depth comparison test between Brieses Focus, Broncolors copy the "Para", and the large 7 fot reflector from ProFoto.

The article is in German.

 

To anyone searching for a slightly more scientific answer in the major differences between the Focus and Para, Briese use a linear flashtube, very similar to a ProFotos StickLight or Brons Litestick, where Bron use a circular lightsource; the Ringflash P.

 

Adapters are now also available to drive the Briese Focus from other generators than Brieses own, who some users find slightly difficult to operate.

Hi Phillip,

 

Thanks for updating this thread. I hear that Briese discontinued the adapters for using other brands' generators. More's the pity.

 

Also, Brent Langton and BrieseUSA were recently dropped by H.W. Briese as his US representatives. In their place, Briese appointed a coffee-machines and beans distributor. Go figure.

 

Anything about the Briese-Bron controversy that you could reveal online, Phillip?

 

Could you also summarise the findings of the Profifoto test? What does it say about each of the reflectors vis a vis the others?

Funny to dig into history, i used the first 2 prototypes of the Probig in the Desert outside

LA. We had some Octa's with us but they collapsed due to the substained wind. The 2nd

Probig gave out as well bu we propped it halfway open (like a large V) and i had about 4

guys standing on the lightstand holding this contraption. Anyhow, Briese is around since

the early 90's, the light from the umbrellas is great but i also do remember a pack blowing

up, without being moved or touched all day, at the end of that shoot, and it sounded like

gun fire. Everybody was freaked out and this thing just spew flames and smoke. Anyhow,

we rigged a Profoto bitube and finished our cover. So end of story, i love the Octa, very

versatile, and Profoto (ever played around with the clear cover), very consistant and tough.

If you have the money to blow, rent Briese Umbrellas and rig a Profoto inside. Ever spotted

Nick Nights little rig with the home made pentagon shape frame, love it, M

<p>To all "Pro" Photographers; First stand on your heads to allow more blood flow to your brains so that you can think this throughly, Only, Only, Only, seasoned photographers who classify themselves as lighting "snobs" or lighting "connoisseurs", will be able - while squinting, to see the difference between a Briese, profoto,or broncolor giant umbrellas; I can "almost" assure you that "your clients" will not be able to tell the difference even if you offered to do the job for free! Yes Briese is a wonderful lighting system - if you can spring for it and you like yellow :) but profoto , considering what you pay and what you get is GREAT! Diminishing Returns are high with Briesse, less with Broncolor and none in comparison with profoto. Hope this helps if you are thinking, "Darn, I wish I could afford or justify a Briesse system. Happy shooting. <br>

Garyfotographic.com</p>

<p>Gary, I really don't like the tone in your post !<br>

Have you actually worked with all three - or in fact ANY - og these three modifiers ? If so, then you should know that the Profoto doesn't offer STEPLESS FOCUSING, as found on the Bron and Briese: On the Profoto, you have the choise of two metal rods - not very easily changed while shooting - while on the Briese I can have an assistant change the character of my key source in seconds, and this is handy when working with high profile clients where time indeed is money.</p>

 

<p>Gary, I really don't like the tone in your post !<br>

Have you actually worked with all three - or in fact ANY - og these three modifiers ? If so, then you should know that the Profoto doesn't offer STEPLESS FOCUSING, as found on the Bron and Briese: On the Profoto, you have the choise of two metal rods - not very easily changed while shooting - while on the Briese I can have an assistant change the character of my key source in seconds, and this is handy when working with high profile clients where time indeed is money.</p>