US vs EU

[james_mullineaux]

What's the deal with the difference between US made and European made

flash systems' prices? I know the dollar is a bit weak but there

seems to be a bit of a amateur/pro difference that leads me to believe

there might be something to it. If you look at speedotron, novatron,

alien bees, dynalite, or white lightning all their prices seem to be

in a certian spectrum in terms of $/ws. Costs seem to be around $0.

60/ws to $1.70/ws new. When you look at profoto, elinchrom, bowens or

broncolor the prices, new, start around $2.50/ws and go up. Why? I

see these brands used by several pros and rarely hear a high profile

photog bragging about the kick ass speedotron system they used for a

magazine cover. So what justifies the price difference? Obviously

beginners will use systems with the better economics (I'm a novatron

shooter myself). Is there some sort of versatility, efficiency or

color consistency I'm too green to care about? Where is Asia in this

mix? They compete well in lenses and cameras with Europe. Where are

their studio systems? I'm not trying to troll, I just want to know if

there's something to the price difference or if it's just a status

sybol, like wearing a Rolex.

[garry edwards]

It's not a status symbol, you get what you pay for.

 

Pro units take a wide range of accessories, they have better build quality, colour consistency and output consistency. They also have a wider range of adjustment, which in many cases is stepless.

 

Hope this helps

[ellis_vener_photography]

The best known electronic flash system to come out of japan is Comet -- for awhile they

owned Dyna-Light. Sun-Strobo is also big in Japan but barely dented the USA market. Both

companies make excellent gear ain the same general price range as Profoto/Elinchrom/

Balcar. Not quite as expensive as Broncolor & Briese. All of them do have a different --

some think it is better -- light quality especially for portraits. I think it is down to the flash

tubes and materials. Another factor is product design and a third factor is consistency. But

mostly it is aboutthe quality of the light.

 

Speedotron and Dyna-Light are the best USA made electronic flash systems. I know at

least two big time editorial shooters who use Dyna-Light gear for location work: Dan

winters and Mark Seliger. For rental gear they tend to use Profoto. Avedon used Broncolor.

Annie Leibowitz tends to use Profoto packs & heads in Elinchrom Octabanks.

 

Probably more pro photographers in USA use Speedotron and Dyna-Light. The ones you

tend to read about are generally high profile celebrity and fashion photographers.

 

Most professional photographers use Chimera and Plume Softboxes which are pricey but

are made in the

USA.