Interfit/Patterson lights

Any one have any opinions on this setup?

 

Seems too inexpensive. what is the gimmick?

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=251184&is=REG&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation

 

(link corrected by moderator)

Sometimes you get what you pay for and sometimes you pay for what you get.

 

It is what it is. Inexpensive. Five seconds recycle time for 500WS? Slow. 8ft stands you can

probably only use to 6 feet high. Monolights are heavy.

 

What's the history of this brand? Will they last? How expensive is a flashtube replacement?

 

All in all, it's 650 bucks for some lights.

I have the Interfit tungsten lights, not the strobe lights. They are decent value for what I spent, but they are cheaply made - that's the gimmick. The flimsy 3-way switch fell apart in the $160 halogen light, and I just spent $35 putting a new solid switch in it. Would I buy them again? Probably. When they work, they do just exactly what I bought them to do. If I add the $35 to what I originally paid, they're still reasonable value.

For home use they'd be fine but if you start lugging them around and heaving them in and out of the trunk of your wagon then they may not survive very long. Compare the price with Bowens (a highly respected make used by pros and expected to take heavy use).

I haven't used them, but played with them in a photo shop once. They are beautifully made, but I don't like the tactile controls that so many systems are going to. Also they started out a lot more expensive and I didn't think worth the money, but this setup seems like a great price to me. I worked for the USA distributor of the brand in the late '70s and early '80s. Everything they made seemed to be plastic, but the quality was still quite good (developing tanks, micro enlarger focusers, etc.) I bought the Interfit flash meter when my Sekonic took a spill on an assignment. It is dead-on accurate. I'd certainly entertain buying the kit.

The Interfit "Stellar" stuff sounds a little nicer to me, but I haven't been able to find them in a

store where I can look at them, and I haven't heard any user reports.