ProGene strobe from link deligh

[ghache]

Anyone bought these strobes?

they pretty much look like the opus strobe i have,

i need a couple more light for my home studio. i know you have what you pay for but i got good use of my opus l150 that i paid about 150$

Thanks

 

[tirediron]

You'll have to at least provide a link.

 

[ghache]

ProGene 300W Studio Photo Flash Strobe Light Lamp [110V] | Studio Lighting Systems | Photography | LinkDelight Limited

there you go

 

[Alpha]

I have mixed feelings about these. They're obviously cheapo chinese strobes. If you're on a very tight budget then OK but you should be aware of a couple issues that are common to pretty much all strobes like this.
1) Servicing and replacement parts are difficult to come by, particularly in a pinch. In fact, the website you linked to does not even list a spare flash tube or modeling light as an accessory and I cannot find either via google. What will you do when your tube dies, as it inevitably will?
2) Modifiers are limited.
3) They seem to have a VERY slow recycle time. I'm naturally skeptical because on this particular page they don't even list the two specs that are arguably most important: recycle time and flash duration. If it's any indication of how the 300W performs, the 1000W version required 0.7s to recycle even on the lowest power setting. If you intend to use this strobe anywhere near max power you're probably looking at recycle times of 2-5 seconds.
4) Overheating can be an issue if you pop off a lot of shots (as most of us are wont to do). That the recycle time is slow doesn't help with this. I did a group shoot with another photographer once who was using Photogenics (a more reputable, though not necessarily better brand in my opinion). One of his strobes basically melted down about an hour into our session and would not fire again until it had sat in front of an industrial fan for some time.

In sum, I think if you're using one of these for low-level fill with a single modifier that you never change, then it will probably be OK if you can stomach the slow recycle time and do not shoot fast. However, from the looks of the flash tube situation you should be prepared to buy an entirely new unit when the tube goes.

 

[ghache]

I have mixed feelings about these. They're obviously cheapo chinese strobes. If you're on a very tight budget then OK but you should be aware of a couple issues that are common to pretty much all strobes like this.
1) Servicing and replacement parts are difficult to come by, particularly in a pinch. In fact, the website you linked to does not even list a spare flash tube or modeling light as an accessory and I cannot find either via google. What will you do when your tube dies, as it inevitably will?
2) Modifiers are limited.
3) They seem to have a VERY slow recycle time. I'm naturally skeptical because on this particular page they don't even list the two specs that are arguably most important: recycle time and flash duration. If it's any indication of how the 300W performs, the 1000W version required 0.7s to recycle even on the lowest power setting. If you intend to use this strobe anywhere near max power you're probably looking at recycle times of 2-5 seconds.
4) Overheating can be an issue if you pop off a lot of shots (as most of us are wont to do). That the recycle time is slow doesn't help with this. I did a group shoot with another photographer once who was using Photogenics (a more reputable, though not necessarily better brand in my opinion). One of his strobes basically melted down about an hour into our session and would not fire again until it had sat in front of an industrial fan for some time.

In sum, I think if you're using one of these for low-level fill with a single modifier that you never change, then it will probably be OK if you can stomach the slow recycle time and do not shoot fast. However, from the looks of the flash tube situation you should be prepared to buy an entirely new unit when the tube goes.

thanks for the recommendation,

i think i will wait for now, stack the money a little bit and get the alien bees.