AlienBees VS. Broncolor Mobil

[Jim Salvas]

I long ago decided to drive a Toyota instead of a Ferrari. Granted, the Ferrari is better in some regards, but the Toyota seems to have been a wise choice when I look at the money remaining in my investment portfolio. Talking about a Toyota and a Ferrari in the same sentence, however, is quite a testament to the overall quality and value of ... the Toyota.

Similarly, AB and White Lightning monolights are frequently compared to the most expensive brands on the market. That says quite a bit about the Paul Buff products. It also says a lot about a multi-level distribution system which overprices the most expensive brands while Buff saves money by selling direct.

In a perfect world, where we could all fly First Class and idle away our winters on the Cote d'Azur, price counts for less and that makes it easy to choose a Ferrari or a Broncolor. For me, I have to take price and depreciation into account.

A couple of years ago I did exactly that. Having acquired an extensive set of Elinchrom monolights at the BANKRUPTCY auction of a local studio, I resold them, replacing them with an equal number of AB units, PLUS a new Canon digital SLR and a couple of lenses. I couldn't tell the difference in the quality of the light, nor could my clients.

However, I kept the Elinchrom umbrellas. Now, THEY are worth a little extra money.
--
Jim

 

[photosystem]

What head or heads are you using with the mobil?

It's not the most powerful and flexible pack in the brand, but it is portable and you can buy an extension cable for the head if needed. I have no clue what you use it for.

What I know is that it will allow Hyper Sync with 2 pocket wizard tt5 set up properly. That's 1200ws for HS! Other Bron product only work HS with Bron's own radios. I would go with two Bron radios if you were to invest in more lights, but PW is good if you plan on abandoning Broncolor down the road.

 

[Switcheroo]

You do know, that you just replied to a 10-year-old thread, right?

 

[BAK]

Life moves on

BAK

 

[photosystem]

Yes, I realized this... too late.

However there are plenty of Bron Mobil available on ebay due to their long lasting advantage. The fact that they will do HS with standard PW makes them very contemporary for 10+ year old in my opinion. Internal battery can also be replaced by standard batteries from places like Batteries Plus