£400 Budget what would you get

kiteninja

kiteninja

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Morgan Lee
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This is another one of those Gear threads :).


I have a budget of £400 Looking at some location lighting solutions.

At the moment I'm thinking of some Yonguo Speedlites but I don't know if I can deal with all the batteries is there any other way of powering them with a camera battery solution ??

Weight needs to be kept down, I have been using a safari but for the last month I've gone back to my Bowens TravelPak and that is fine but its heavy for lots of moving around its ok if I'm not planning on going far, anyway need to replace the Safari (long story).

Hit me with your Suggestions :).
 
Which Bowens heads do you have? It's my understanding that the Vagabond will work with most non-digital heads.
 
kiteninja said:
Anyone used the Vagabond MIni

£329 only leaves £70 for head though, but it does only weigh in at 3.5lbs thats pretty light weight
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Might be worth visiting some of the US forums to get more views of the Vagabond. For instance, people have found some problems with using the Vagabond with newer lights that don’t come from the PCB stable and found that PCB are very unhelpful, only supporting their use with PCB flash heads (totally understandable IMO). There also have been quite a few instances of the threaded support mount becoming detached from the case and the whole unit taking a tumble – there's a topic on the “Canon Digital on the net” forum about the best DIY mounting solutions – so if you do get one, don’t rely on the threaded mount, hang it by the strap :D

Alternative option would be the Innovatronix Explorer Mini – heavier, older (more stable) sealed lead acid technology with fan cooling. Which at $349 + $40 shipping + taxes and duty (25% ish overall) I think would be about £320 max(?) unless we have any in the EU yet.

Paul
 
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Was just looking at the explorer mini this morning as I'm also looking for a cheaper location set up to my current kit. I can't find any uk suppliers yet but they're shipping direct
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
Which Bowens heads do you have? It's my understanding that the Vagabond will work with most non-digital heads.
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500Pros but they are proper heavy and bulky :(.


I Will have a hunt for more info I did like the look of just clamping it too the lightstand kind of adds a bit of balast to your stand as well as powering the light but if it just snaps off that would not be a happy shoot lol.

The explorer mini weighs nearly as much as my TravelPak that is one reason why i was looking at the vagobond as its not only tiny but weighs 3.5LBs (1.5KGs?)
 
Mahoneyd187 said:
Was just looking at the explorer mini this morning as I'm also looking for a cheaper location set up to my current kit. I can't find any uk suppliers yet but they're shipping direct
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I keep thinking about having something to play outdoors with & as I have a have a pair of old (thus non-digital) Multiblitz Minilites which are currently lounging in the corner unused
aIMG_0945.jpg

it does strike me that these would be great for use with ether the Vagabond or the Mini - though only 200ws so perhaps not good enough for bright sunny days :thinking:

Paul
 
paul williams said:
Might be worth visiting some of the US forums to get more views of the Vagabond. For instance, people have found some problems with using the Vagabond with newer lights that don’t come from the PCB stable and found that PCB are very unhelpful, only supporting their use with PCB flash heads (totally understandable IMO). There also have been quite a few instances of the threaded support mount becoming detached from the case and the whole unit taking a tumble – there a topic on the “Canon Digital on the net” forum about the best DIY mounting solutions – so if you do get one, don’t rely on the threaded mount, hang it by the strap :D

Alternative option would be the Innovatronix Explorer Mini – heavier, older (more stable) sealed lead acid technology with fan cooling. Which at $349 + $40 shipping + taxes and duty (25% ish overall) I think would be about £320 max(?) unless we have any in the EU yet.

Paul
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I think that's fair comment. PCB doesn't seem to be too interested in customers outside of his town state country anyway and, realistically, most of the enthusiasts who praise their products to the heavens are total beginners who have no experience of anything else. Even ZA, who likes some aspects of their products, points out that the flash energy bounces around by 1/3 stop pop to pop...
 
Have found this also I did see while back another company doing similar Tronix Speedire battery pack for a speedlite now this solves all the Recharging loads of AA problem with a battery pack now that looks perfect I can't find from google another solution but i do remember seeing one somewhere.

Edit -

Found another one Impact MINI that thing does the same job again though in the USA :(

Edit 2 -

Answered my own question :) Elemental GODOX PB820 small, light weight at .5kgs and pretty cheap at £160.
 
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Kris said:
Pretty cheap at £160 plus £20 connecting cables plus delivery?

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/godox-...-580ex-580ex-ii-550ex-430ez-540ez-flash-58511

£70 inc cables and del.

All batteries on TP today ....
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Coming from the US though so what about import tax, VAT ontop etc..I know it wont be another £90 but still has to be remember, Always a bit scheptical about getting things imported as they may not turn up and its harder to then negotiate with the seller if they don't.
 
Deal Extreme are well respected. I've bought plenty from them and never had a single problem whatsoever, and have never been stung with import and customs. I wouldn't think twice about buying from them.

They are Hong Kong based.
 
If you are worried about returns, why not buy three of them for only £20 more than one from Elemental?
 
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