Bowens Gemini 500 Twin Flash Kit

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MLse7en

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Hi guys,

I am looking to invest money in my first studio lightning kit.

I was looking into Lencarta, but they are out of stock for a very long time now and I am giving up my hopes about getting a kit from them.

At this point I've come across an ad which [<---Link] has got my attention.

Could you guys express your opinion on these heads and possible cost of repair?
 
Good reliable heads - better than current models apparently. I used some of these professionally for a good few years and they never had a single issue other than a blown modeling light fuse and a few replacement modelling bulbs.

Its probably just a fuse needs replacing (user replaceable) but Bowens are really easy and cheap to repair but considering there is an issue with one of the heads I feel the price may be a little on the expensive side.
 
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I'd guess about £40 per head, it's a fairly common problem but you're paying for their time. Prices seem to have gone up a little lately but normally a fully functional version of that kit would be in the £300-400 range so it seems risky to me without knowing the exact repair cost.

The GM500's are pretty solid heads, they lack some frills like radio control but are well constructed, reliable, cheap, a good amount of power, a decent power range and the Bowens fitting is the most common so that'll make it easier to get modifiers.

That kit has one of the Redwing softboxes so I'd guess it's around 10 years old?
 
gazwas said:
Its probably just a fuse needs replacing (user replaceable) but Bowens are really easy and cheap to repair but considering there is an issue with one of the heads I feel the price may be a little on the expensive side.
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I think there's only one fuse on those heads so if the fuse had blown it wouldn't be getting any power.
 
gazwas said:
Good reliable heads - better than current models apparently. I used some of these professionally for a good few years and they never had a single issue other than a blown modeling light fuse and a few replacement modelling bulbs.

Its probably just a fuse needs replacing (user replaceable) but Bowens are really easy and cheap to repair but considering there is an issue with one of the heads I feel the price may be a little on the expensive side.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your input. What do you think would be an adequate price and is this setup something to got for?
 
simonbarker said:
I think there's only one fuse on those heads so if the fuse had blown it wouldn't be getting any power.
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Fuse is only for modelling lights and will flash just fine with a blown fuse. Until I sold my GM500's I had a head with a blown fuse and it worked (flashed) perfectly well for 12 months without replacing it.
 
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MLse7en said:
Thanks for your input. What do you think would be an adequate price and is this setup something to got for?
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Not knowing the condition of the bag, stands, softbox and especially flash tube and working modelling bulbs (£15 each) I'd say £220-£250 max but yes should be a really good first set of lights it they all check out.
 
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I called Lancarta yesterday, they expect delivery, early-mid January, maybe worth waiting.

On other hand, Bowens are good, I have used Gemini500 in the past a lot, they are heavy and big, but i cant say anything bad about quality.
 
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