another gear question

[Buckster]

Not all better products cost more, but yes, if I had to choose between junk and something that was reliable but more expensive, I'd buy the better product.

I'm saying for the price point of the Cowboy studio stuff, not comparing apples to oranges, as you appear to want to do. Find the equivalent pieces of gear; X number of lights, modifiers, etc., etc., etc., and put the package together from any other vendor, and see what the price is.

And you're telling me you enjoy supporting a company that's willing to try and use another photographer's name to sell their junk?

Hold on while I check.... Hmmm... No, I don't see where I wrote that I enjoy supporting a company of any kind anywhere. Could it be that you just read into things what you want? That might help explain your one-sided view here... Just sayin'...

 

[kundalini]

How about a slight twist.......

I've had great customer service and support for lighting gear from Adorama, B&H, Paul C. Buff and my local shop.

 

[Village Idiot]

Not all better products cost more, but yes, if I had to choose between junk and something that was reliable but more expensive, I'd buy the better product.

I'm saying for the price point of the Cowboy studio stuff, not comparing apples to oranges, as you appear to want to do. Find the equivalent pieces of gear; X number of lights, modifiers, etc., etc., etc., and put the package together from any other vendor, and see what the price is.

And you're telling me you enjoy supporting a company that's willing to try and use another photographer's name to sell their junk?

Hold on while I check.... Hmmm... No, I don't see where I wrote that I enjoy supporting a company of any kind anywhere. Could it be that you just read into things what you want? That might help explain your one-sided view here... Just sayin'...

You said the infringement case is between CS and DH and has nothing to do with their products, service, and prices. It does. They're trying to use a popular brand to sell their junk. If you want to turn a blind eye from it and still give the company business, then I don't know what that is if it's not condoning it.

1 150w/s strobe for $99
FP320M Flashpoint II 320M, 150 Watt Second AC / DC Monolight Strobe.

2 lights with a real warranty and that probably won't blow up on you is worth paying the extra couple of dollars for two stands and modifiers. Plus Adorama has verifiably good customer service.

 

[Buckster]

Here's another interesting take on it:

Amazon.com: CowboyStudio: Electronics

Check out the reviews. You'll see the star ratings are pretty good right off the bat. If the company and products are really as bad as some say, that's a pretty neat trick.

Looking at the history of posts about CBS gear on the forum here, it appears to be a mixed bag. Some had good experiences, some bad. Most are comments from folks who've never actually dealt with them, but still have very strong opinions for some reason. Full disclaimer: I myself have never bought anything from them, but I have bought the same kind of Chinese gear from eBay. We all know it's not great gear, but it's worked fine for me when I had a limited budget for gear, and I've used them in conjunction with much better gear that I later upgraded to for many years without a problem. They still work fine. Apparently, it's also worked fine for the vast majority of others who've bought and used it over the years, based on the Amazon ratings of it, despite the (possibly overblown) horror stories that almost always seem to be second or third hand hearsay.

In any case, I certainly didn't mean to start a Cowboy Studio war here just by mentioning the name. In point of fact, buying from "Cowboy Studio" isn't anywhere near the issue I'm advocating; It's that in the OP's situation (starting out, still learning, limited budget), I think they should start off with the really seriously inexpensive Chinese gear to get going quickly and learn how to shape light with it. That gear can be bought in "kits", and one of the most common sellers of those kits just happens to be Cowboy Studio.

Frankly, I think there's a bit of a snob factor involved as well on the furious pushback whenever certain hot-topic words pop up around here too. This forum is a place where people claim they wouldn't be caught dead using "X", like it's a competition on having the best gear more for bragging rights than for getting the job done when snapping the shutter. The place is full of disparaging remarks about any kind of gear or brand names you can think of. I don't really get it, but then, I don't spend much time thinking about it either. Some people are just really, really opinionated, I guess. Whatever...

I take all those opinions with a grain of salt. When something works, I use it. If it works on the cheap, even better.

YMMV

 

[Buckster]

Not all better products cost more, but yes, if I had to choose between junk and something that was reliable but more expensive, I'd buy the better product.

I'm saying for the price point of the Cowboy studio stuff, not comparing apples to oranges, as you appear to want to do. Find the equivalent pieces of gear; X number of lights, modifiers, etc., etc., etc., and put the package together from any other vendor, and see what the price is.

And you're telling me you enjoy supporting a company that's willing to try and use another photographer's name to sell their junk?

Hold on while I check.... Hmmm... No, I don't see where I wrote that I enjoy supporting a company of any kind anywhere. Could it be that you just read into things what you want? That might help explain your one-sided view here... Just sayin'...

You said the infringement case is between CS and DH and has nothing to do with their products, service, and prices. It does. They're trying to use a popular brand to sell their junk. If you want to turn a blind eye from it and still give the company business, then I don't know what that is if it's not condoning it.

You didn't say I condone it, and neither did I, you said I ENJOY SUPPORTING it, and that's simply not a true statement. So, you're just making stuff up on the fly because you're all bent out of shape over this for some reason. I don't get it. What dog do you have in this fight to be all whipped up about it the way you obviously are? What's the big deal here? Did the CBS CEO beat your dog or something?

1 150w/s strobe for $99
FP320M Flashpoint II 320M, 150 Watt Second AC / DC Monolight Strobe.

2 lights with a real warranty and that probably won't blow up on you is worth paying the extra couple of dollars for two stands and modifiers.

The Chinese gear likely won't blow up on you either. Reality sucks, I know, but there it is. Hundreds or possibly thousands of Amazon reviews - now go count how many said their gear "BLEW UP!!!! OMGZZZZZ!!!!!" Dude, settle down. Take a breath. I don't know why you want it to seem so much worse than it apparently is, but try to get a grip.

Plus Adorama has verifiably good customer service.

So put a package together for the OP from Adorama. 4 lights, 4 stands, a backdrop stand, 2 backdrops, 3 light boxes, barn doors, etc., etc., etc., to equal the amount of gear/options in the CBS kit, and come in at under $500 the way they do, or as close as you can. That would be helpful.

 

[Village Idiot]

I'm saying for the price point of the Cowboy studio stuff, not comparing apples to oranges, as you appear to want to do. Find the equivalent pieces of gear; X number of lights, modifiers, etc., etc., etc., and put the package together from any other vendor, and see what the price is.

Hold on while I check.... Hmmm... No, I don't see where I wrote that I enjoy supporting a company of any kind anywhere. Could it be that you just read into things what you want? That might help explain your one-sided view here... Just sayin'...

You said the infringement case is between CS and DH and has nothing to do with their products, service, and prices. It does. They're trying to use a popular brand to sell their junk. If you want to turn a blind eye from it and still give the company business, then I don't know what that is if it's not condoning it.

You didn't say I condone it, and neither did I, you said I ENJOY SUPPORTING it, and that's simply not a true statement. So, you're just making stuff up on the fly because you're all bent out of shape over this for some reason. I don't get it. What dog do you have in this fight to be all whipped up about it the way you obviously are? What's the big deal here? Did the CBS CEO beat your dog or something?

1 150w/s strobe for $99
FP320M Flashpoint II 320M, 150 Watt Second AC / DC Monolight Strobe.

2 lights with a real warranty and that probably won't blow up on you is worth paying the extra couple of dollars for two stands and modifiers.

The Chinese gear likely won't blow up on you either. Reality sucks, I know, but there it is. Hundreds or possibly thousands of Amazon reviews - now go count how many said their gear "BLEW UP!!!! OMGZZZZZ!!!!!" Dude, settle down. Take a breath. I don't know why you want it to seem so much worse than it apparently is, but try to get a grip.

Plus Adorama has verifiably good customer service.

So put a package together for the OP from Adorama. 4 lights, 4 stands, a backdrop stand, 2 backdrops, 3 light boxes, barn doors, etc., etc., etc., to equal the amount of gear/options in the CBS kit, and come in at under $500 the way they do, or as close as you can. That would be helpful.

Hey man, if you like pointing people in the direction of a potentially problematic exchange that has a good number of sources to back it up, be my guest. We can't all be as helpful as you.

And looking back on earlier post, you're quick to jump to the defense of CS by trying to discredit everything I posted as hearsay. Even after I posted all the links with negative experiences and reviews you still don't seem to take any of that information in. You want more? Just Google "Cowboy Studios" with broke, poor service, or any other term that would describe their products and a ton of links will pop up.

The bottom line is this: how badly does the OP wish to gamble with their time and money.

 

[Buckster]

Hey man, if you like pointing people in the direction of a potentially problematic exchange that has a good number of sources to back it up, be my guest. We can't all be as helpful as you.

Really? You think that's what I like? You think that's what I think I'm doing here? You think, after reading my last post, that this is even ABOUT "Cowboy Studio"? Again, you're just making stuff up when you make such claims on my behalf when I've never said any such thing. That speaks to you and your integrity and what you have to say about others, and has no bearing on what I've actually said, nor does it detract from what I've actually said.

And looking back on earlier post, you're quick to jump to the defense of CS by trying to discredit everything I posted as hearsay.

I'm just noting that's what it is. Hearsay is inevitably a game of telephone where, with each telling of the story, it gets more confused, outrageous, etc. Whether that's the case with the stories you've been telling, there's no way to know, but it's a common thing with storytelling which is why it's not permissible in sworn testimony, and it's therefore worth mentioning when that's what it is.

Even after I posted all the links with negative experiences and reviews you still don't seem to take any of that information in. You want more? Just Google "Cowboy Studios" with broke, poor service, or any other term that would describe their products and a ton of links will pop up.

I took it in. But I also note that for every horror story you can point to, we can point to even more satisfied customer stories on just Amazon alone. I pointed that out with the link to Amazon for you and everyone else to look at to help us all understand the dynamic. Nobody has to take my word for it that I heard from some guy on the intertubes that, "IT BLEW UP!!!!" or that "IT'S JUST AWESOME COOL!!!" I have no claims to make either way nor on anyone else's behalf. They can make their own. I just read them, and take them with a grain of salt, as I clearly stated.

Again, it just doesn't matter all that much, I don't think, and it's certainly not worth getting all whipped out of shape about. This isn't about winning or losing you know. It's about trying to help someone get some answers and advice. The OP now has plenty of information, including the bad AND the good experiences of actual customers, in order to help make some decisions, and hopefully that's helpful.

The bottom line is this: how badly does the OP wish to gamble with their time and money.

See, I think the bottom line is this: how overblown is your ranting and raving when all those actual customers on Amazon are giving it 4+ out of 5 star rankings? Something doesn't add up...

 

[lorigon27]

uumm wow

ok--sorry for not being more detailed.
i would like to make money in the future with a photo buisness, but what my goal for the time being is to aquire all the stuff i need and to get alot of xp with it, so that when the time comes for me to open shop that i will be knowledgable and confident that i can put to print what i see in my head.
that being said, i do understand that it will take lots of time and hard work. and i do love taking photos.

thanks for all the advise

 

[Overread]

Village Idiot and Buckster take it to private messages or put each other on ignore, the argument between you stops in the thread.