Speedotron Explorer 1500 Flash Unit

[bigrue]

<p>Has anyone use the Speedotron Explorer 1500 Flash Unit. How did you liked it or hated it. I am also interested in purchasing one for my mini studio, Rufus.</p>

[rob_h5]

<p>If you are looking for a portable pack and head system the Speedotron Digital Explorer 1500 is an excellent portable pack and head unit from what I hear. It is also available for rent at major photo rental shops. I recommend trying it out first to see if it suits your needs. Although I shoot with the Bowens Explorer 1500 I have used Speedotron (black line) and they are excellent and dependable studio strobe lights. Without a portable battery or battery generator to power studio strobes you are forced to use a noisy and heavy gas generator 100 miles from any AC outlet which is not fun, (in a movie production there is no choice since continuous lights are used) so if you do on location photo shoots and need a reliable pack and head battery generator system the Speedotron Explorer 1500 is the way to go.</p>

<p>Remember here are some things to consider with portable pack and head systems depending on your budget and lighting style:<br>

Maximum and minimum watts needed<br>

Flash duration- this will depend on your lighting needs<br>

Model lamp (this is often not a big deal unless you are doing photo shoots at night) even then you really do not want to use it since its a major drain on your battery)<br>

Recycle time (the minimum you need)<br>

Number of outlets needed for more studio strobe light heads<br>

Battery life and flash power per full charge - (this will depend on your usuage whether you use it at max power or minimum power or somewhere inbetween.)<br>

Optical slave/radio - I recommend using radios if you are shooting in the daylight outdoors. Some pack and head sytems have a slave or radio built in or BOTH (Dynalite, Bowens, Profoto...all use both radio/optical slave)<br>

Recycle beep- often overlooked, this helps a lot because you might be far away from your pack to tell if its recycled</p>

<p>Pack and head battery generators systems<br>

Profoto<br />Hensel <br />Speedotron<br />Broncolor <br />Dynalite <br />Bowens/Calumet <br />Elinchrom</p>

<p>More info comparing different pack and head sytems<br>

<a href="http://www.timothyarmes.com/blog/2009/05/choosing-a-battery-pack-flash-system/">http://www.timothyarmes.com/blog/2009/05/choosing-a-battery-pack-flash-system/</a><br>

Speedotron Digital Explorer 1500<br>

<a href="http://www.speedotron.com/products/details/black_line/black_power_supplies/184/spec">http://www.speedotron.com/products/details/black_line/black_power_supplies/184/spec</a></p>

[rob_h5]

Edit: The Dynalite isnt a battery DC generator it is a AC generator but there is Dynalite XP1100 battery that works perfectly with the AC power packs.

 

http://www.dynalite.com/?page_id=428

[studio460]

<p>Wow! The Speedo unit is a bit pricey. Powerful, though. If the price were right for a used unit, I'd be tempted to say, "yes" (though, I've never used one myself). But, new, they're probably a bit too steep for me.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, the 1,100-Watt rated Dynalite XP1100 AC/inverter has been discontinued since early- or mid-2012. Other options include Innovatronix' line of pure-sine wave AC/inverters, and the Godox LP-750 (Chinese-manufactured, available in the US by importers only, but looks pretty cool).</p>

[rob_h5]

<blockquote>

<p>Unfortunately, the 1,100-Watt rated Dynalite XP1100 AC/inverter has been discontinued since early- or mid-2012</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Ralph thank you for updating everyone on Dynalite XP1100 inverter. I had no idea they discontinued this as there is no mention of this on the Dynalite website. Luckily though my local photo rental store still rents the Dynalite XP1100 inverter which is a very well made inverter.</p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>Here is the first part of interesting tutorial about lighting...</p>

</blockquote>

<p><strong>Oleg please do not troll/spam/hijack the forums here</strong>. This thread is about Speedotron lights and you are using Profoto. You are not even contributing to any of the thread discussions started here or anywhere by the OP. <strong>You have posted the same thread over 20 times in the lighting forums.</strong> We get it! Most everyone here knows lighting so really most topics here are about lighting gear anyway (although lighting techniques is perfectly acceptable here). Its great you want to start a tutorial and get more hits on your website. Thats fine but stick to one thread which you have already posted. Yes you didnt get any responses but stop jumping from one thread to other threads just to get hits on your website. Stick to one thread and post there, the one you already posted. Thanks! :)<br /> Your tutorial thread, post here only:<br /> http://www.photo.net/photography-lighting-equipment-techniques-forum/00bDsa</p>

[studio460]

<p>No problem, Rob! I wouldn't even have known what an XP1100 was if it weren't for photo.net! I spoke with Dynalite directly a couple of weeks ago, and they are in fact discontinued due to low sales volume. When asked if they're replacing it with a new product, the answer was, "maybe." If they do, it will likely be Lithium-based, but still cost about the same.</p>

<p>Yeah, it's a shame, since it's an excellent product. Just minutes ago, I finally got to test my "new" XP1100 that I bought used from Adorama. The batteries were DOA, but Adorama really stepped up and offered me a generous partial refund. So, I just installed a brand new, after-market replacement battery (Enersys Odyssey PC680), and it now recycles a 1,000 Watt-second monolight at full-power in just under two seconds . . . awesome!</p>