Studio Strobe Purchase Advice!

Ozzmosis · Dec 4, 2008

Hello All!

I'm planning on getting a pair of strobes, and I can't seem to make a decision regarding what I want. I have a few thoughts tho...

I've stumbled upon these:
http://www.lightrein.ca/product.htm?pid=632927

The one thing i've found about these, is that they are rebadged RimeLites from Korea which are supposed to be very good strobes. The other great thing, is that this company is local for me, therefore i don't have to worry about duty, exchange rate, and so on...

I was thinking about alienbees, but dont like the color shift at lower power, and I loose about $200 on the conversion from US to CAD.

I would like more options for studio strobes that I can purchase here in Canada (preferably Alberta) But I am unsure of what would be comparable in relation to the LightRein strobes.

Thanks for the input!

JerryPH · Dec 5, 2008

If you are looking for monolights, your best bets are going to come from the US, but look towards the Elinchrome brand. Yeah, they colour shift too, but at 1/10th the amount of the ABs at worst. They are also in the same $$ class as the ABs.

Shop around for a pair of D-Lites and enjoy.

Big Mike · Dec 5, 2008

You aren't going to find a good deal on lights around here. It sucks, I know.

I'll second Jerry's recommendation of the Elinchrome brand but I'll also say that I use Alien Bee lights and the 'color shift' has never really been an issue for me. Sure, they aren't perfect but they are still a good product and a great company to deal with.

It is a bad time to be ordering from the US, but even with the exchange rate and shipping (there shouldn't be any duty) you probably will still get a better deal by ordering from the US.

I don't know about Lightrein, but McBain for sure and maybe Vistek will price match against other Canadian stores...so if you can find something for a better price elsewhere, just ask them to match it.

Ozzmosis · Dec 5, 2008

Thanks for the replies, I'm going to go checkout Lightreign today since i'm off work early today... If they aren't what I'm looking for, then I'll probably have a look at what McBain's has since I always get a heap of gift cards from them for X-Mas

Thanks!

Big Mike · Dec 5, 2008

To be honest, I haven't seen that McBain has very much in stock...although they did clear out the back corner of the shop (main store) for 'studio' stuff. If you are going down there (don't bother going to any of the branch McBain stores) then you are only half a block from Vistek (Edmonton's camera district

). Vistek has a little more in the way of studio gear but again, it's pretty expensive.

Ozzmosis · Dec 5, 2008

I'm not a fan of Vistek... The 3 times I went in there asking for pricing and advice and just to look at a few items, I got really crappy service. It seemed like I had "NEWBIE" printed on my forehead, and the counterperson didnt give me the time of day. I don't shop there because of it anymore. McBain's main location gives me great service without any problems, and I've even gotten to know a couple people there.

I went to Lightreign and ended up purchasing a complete studio setup (more or less) I got 2 400w/s lights, stands, softbox, umbrella, large verticle reflector with stand, and a 10.5X24" muslin with stand for about $2000.00 plus GST

I loved the shop, and the gentlemen that helped me out. Very nice and not pushy. Great service IMHO!!!

Anyone looking for studio lights should go there... Really cool place.

Thanks again for the replies!