Regrets and reflections: Was £32,000.00 a waste? 

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As a LA photographer I have used Norman lighting for over 30 years and they will out last me as they are made so well and get the job done, let’s just say they have paid for themselves over a million times! The only upgrade I have made was the power packs, still got the same lights I started out with just have more of them as my gigs got bigger. Never had a client ask me what lights I use? Some of my competition moved to Pro photo but I stayed with Norman, I problem have more $ in my bank than they do! LOL

Before becoming a photographer, I used to be a retoucher that worked on global campaigns. That accuracy both color, flash duration and exposure will save a ton of time in post production as well. Let also not forget that you can now rent that kit to your productions.

Thanks a lot for all of your advice. I've only been shooting 5 years and want to gain traction with bigger clients like you all. I will continue to listen.

Always a treat to hear you speak good business advice. I haven’t always been able to buy the best, but as a hobbyist, I don’t have the need for rock solid consistent performance forever. Usefulness can be goodness or almost greatness.

Just bought a camera gear lot on a government surplus website too. 7 canon cameras (two 5d mark ii, four 5d mark iii, and one 5d mark iv) with 3 ef 16-35mm L lenses, a 24mm L lens and a 70-200mm L. I'm beyond excited to pick it up

I’ve been using a speed light and two cheap studio lights for the past two years. The total off the shelf value of them is like $450 total. Im finally looking at upgrading to a pair of FJ400’s because I’m reaching a point in my work that color and flash consistency has some significance, and I want lights that I can run off of battery. But I’ve stretched my current lights to the limit of what they can do, and it’s shocking how far you can get with truly budget gear.

Makes good sense if you need consistency on a 30 shot merge!

Excellent moves I think. Even with the recent Fuji deal, setting yourself up for a capable future

I do agree with the sentiment that i do not take out loans for any reason... if i can't afford a lens, i dont get to own it yet. My studio is paid for, and my stupid day job didnt buy my gear, Photography did! One little bit at a time. I think the main difference is you are trying to survive from your photography endevors, where i feel fine rolling 100% of all my proceeds back into my gear. I just keep my needs and wants simple and tell myself i cant own all the toys at once. (But with enough time, and patience, you can take care of needs)

Thanks for your honesty, great job!

Having lights that are consistent time after time AND consistent with other lights used in the shot is a no -brainer in my world. Assuming you hire in Broncolor for your shoot days, you'll also get the benefit of seamlessly translating your test shoot settings & setups, especially if you also use the bronControl. Awesome!

I can hear the youtube photo bro’s screeching that you spent money and you said not to. We love to see it 😂. Love your work Scott

A perfect decision and it makes complete sense as to the reasons why you went that way. I still use a fleet of Bowens packs and heads, the newest of which are 20 years old (traveller/estime packs and heads) I own 30 year old quadmatics and even a pair of mono 800E lights. When someone says to me come and get these packs and heads for 250 dollars, my car keys are out before the phone call ends! Did a lifetime buy of spare flash tubes, pyrex domes, modeling lamps, and flash capacitors. My total investment in all of this is about 2-3 godox packs but ended up with sooooo much more, this investment has been over the last 15 years too so financially well ahead. To me the biggest thing with this gear is the use of real modeling lamps and easily being able to see the effect each head will provide before firing. There is no substitute for a 300w tungsten model lamp IMHO.

As well as providing interesting information, you make me laugh. Priceless!

Congrats for the adquisition !!! Bron´s high end line is the best (Pulso, Grafit and now, Scoro) like Profoto.

New to your channel. Love the videos. What did you shoot this video on? Seeing a slight grain and it's quite pleasing. I hate buying new gear too. 😂

I always prefer to invest in long lasting quality… buying right for buying once! As an amateur I am not willing to buy new Broncolor stuff since the second hand market is well filled with good bargains. Here in Switzerland Broncolor second hand is not cheap but affordable. If you take time you can find almost everything (still waiting for a Broncolor Zoom reflector 😢)

the expense of buying replacement flash tubes is a thing - but otherwise, yes.

I figured it had to be the color accuracy. I was looking at the 1200 godox for Black Friday and saw it doesn't have the same color accuracy as the 600 and 400 monolight so I was like ill rent broncolor and keep the 600 and 400 for smaller projects

Thanks for this -- I get it you got them in a auction and that is great -- GREAT NEWS. Had you not found this deal == why Broncolor when Profoto provides almost the same performance for a large fraction of the cost of the Broncolor. You do not seem to be shooting high FPS - ther Broncolor solution is awesome for that. Are you shooting very very large scenes you have to light. Godox strobes/speelights have proven to have issues when working very fast and covering large areas. BUT they certainly are more affordable and work great if you do not push their limits. ALSO - since they are not formal partners with any of the major camera companies - users are at risk until Godox update the firmware in their heads/triggers to work with the latest Camera model/firmware update. Biggest Godox issue is with mirrorless cameras which shoot above 1/160th -- banding is seen across a few bodies.

Bowens was not 'owned' by Godox. Godox wasn't DNA in the Godox company founder's brain-testicles when even those lights you owned were made. Bowens started in the 1920s and started making lighting just after the end of WW2. As the market started to change in the 2000s, they decided, using the 'if you can't beat them join them' logic (often the beginning of the end!) to get Godox to build a new system for them, rather than just making the stuff in their Southend factory. They went bust. Now, the brand has been bought up by the same private equity company that own WEX and they make 'Bowens' lights in China - or rather Godox make lights under the Bowens brand for them. Bowens, alas, went the way of just about every mid-priced prosumer/pro lighting company. Only Elinchrom have survived in the 'quality European but not as pricy as Profoto or Broncolor' area.

Is there a reason you use pocket wizards instead of the Bron rfs 2.1 or 2.2 transmitters? I have found that I miss frames occasionally using the rfs transmitters both 2.1 and 2.2...

I hadn't thought about flash duration consistency being a problem. I remember when I got godox pro's the adverts talking about color consistency, but didn't know enough about lights to understand why other brands charged more. For headshots, they work fine though.

I’ve got some old second hand Bowens too 😂 the case they come in looks like it should be used by a magician to cut someone in half Then my pixapro box comes in such a handy little box.

Well, the misspelling of colour still bugs me. But seriously, it's the same as in my field of electronics where the expensive test gear needs to be repeatable and calibrated.

Here in France, Bron was really popular in the 80's and 90's... but nowadays, Profoto is almost everywhere !

So now that you have the broncolor kit yourself, I reckon you will rent it out for the big commercial jobs?

Are there any issues mixing broncolor and bowens? Just wondering if it's important for color temp to stay with one brand of lighting.

You explaining why you purchased them and the financial numbers to justify them is responsible.

it is 100% 10x better. Buy right, buy once.

Broncolor and Bowens best out there.

Those are the coolest looking pack and lights ive ever seen

bowens are british company right ??

did you shoot this on your fuji instead of your Blackmagic?

"If you see the difference, pay for the difference," once told me the photographer who trained me. My Broncolor Scoro A4S has completely revolutionized my way of using flash and opened up so many possibilities! I'm just surprised that you haven't bought a few Pulso F4 considering your lighting style. Enjoy it to the fullest!

I bet those were more painful than the GFX :D Did the PW cables work all right?

Does the Broncolor have a good warranty/repair for its products 💁🏽‍♀️

Why not Profoto?

3:32 how do you connect the lights like the one on the left to the one on the right?

Consistency.

I think a bunch of pro 7s would have been a smarter invest. Never liked the scorro, strange menue, strange settings and besides of the para, satellite the modifiers aren't that nice. Btw if you want i could sell you a 5 meter bläsing strip 😂

When you say "made 30k a day" is that how much profit you made in a single day?

😊 Swiss Qualität … Swiss price factor … great bargain I hope

LeBRON

Sounds like a lot of rationalization going on here...

worlds tightest photographer? no.