new Speedotron equipment

[Thom Bennett]

Anyone purchase from Speedotron in the last couple of years? I didn't realize they were still in business! Learned studio lighting on Speedotron 30 years ago. Now owned by ProMark Brands. Looking to replace our 20-year old Profoto pack and head gear with something more affordable. Do not want monolights; prefer pack and head. Will be used strictly for product studio work. Gear never leaves to go on location. Any other recommendations? Need something reliable, affordable, repairable.

[Tracy Storer]

A client of mine bought some new packs and heads during 2023, so, I think they're still going.

[LabRat]

I have a Speedo 2403 from back in the 90's that still works perfectly and in good shape... If the pack is used regularly, or at least powered up for an hour or more every couple of months, flashed once and left to charge a couple more hours, it reforms the power capacitors to live on long/strong...

A lot of new gear is not as good as comparable older gear of olde (if the components haven't gone bad)... A company I worked for purchased replacement Norman packs (but kept the old ones), but the new ones developed regular problems, sent back and forth for service regularly, and the old ones were kept in service regularly...

Hot tip for long life is leave recycle switch to slow, and don't "machine-gun" the flashes, rather allow a longer recycle time (which is good for the pack & flashtube)... (Forget using for rapid fire fashion shooting with motor drive + speedy drugz)... ;)

Steve K

[Thom Bennett]

Thanks for the input! I was shocked to discover that Speedotron was still in existence so I'd like to find out as much as I can about the "new" Speedotron gear and service.

[maltfalc]

promark has been buying up a lot of lighting gear brands. https://www.promarkbrands.com/our-brands/

[Mark Sampson]

Well, Speedos are rugged, powerful, and reliable. Pretty much the standard gear for commercial studio photographers for at least 45 years. Other brands have gone under- Balcar, Bowens/Calumet, Dyna-Lite, to name a few, but Speedotron remains. Looks like Promark want to own the whole lighting market!

[Mal Paso]

It's Promark or Profoto. A new 2400WS Norman pack is under $4K. A new 2400WS Profoto pack is just under $18K. LOL Is it really $14K better.

[Dugan]

As a dyed-in-the-wool Norman guy...Norman for the Win!
Just don't forget to power down before plugging-in/unplugging heads. :)

[Mal Paso]

As a dyed-in-the-wool Norman guy...Norman for the Win!
Just don't forget to power down before plugging-in/unplugging heads. :)

Or switching capacitor banks on the P2000Ds. I don't think the rocker switch models produce that pistol shot sound but I was well trained before I purchased one of the newer power packs. I bought my first Norman about 1980, a big improvement over 50B flashbulbs. lol

I believe Norman and Speedotron share operating voltages and flash head plugs although the pinout is different. I've seen several Norman Tri-Lite optical spots rewired for Speedotron.

[shelby_wright]

Need something reliable, affordable, repairable.

I am surprised they manage given the huge cost differential between the new stuff and what the (perfectly good) old stuff goes for used. You can get 24xx packs for around $200 secondhand these days.

Affordability wise, I would buy used gear and just replace it if it breaks.

[Thom Bennett]

I am surprised they manage given the huge cost differential between the new stuff and what the (perfectly good) old stuff goes for used. You can get 24xx packs for around $200 secondhand these days.

Affordability wise, I would buy used gear and just replace it if it breaks.

That's my approach for my personal gear but this is for the studio I work for and we need good, solid, reliable gear. Two photographers shooting all day every day so anytime something goes down it really disrupts the workflow. The Profoto gear we are running is on its last legs and cannot be repaired anymore. I'm a pack and head guy but the other photographer thinks we should go with monolights. The video guy thinks we should go to LED constant light sources so we can al share gear but I just don't see enough modifiers or power from LED but I do need to research it more. I'm trying to make a long-range decision. The Profoto's lasted us 20+ years and the company likes to buy once, cry once.

[rdenney]

This thread was revived by a spammer who you will no longer see, but since it was revived...

I'm using a Brown Line D1604 head with a pretty good selection of lights and modifiers. This thing has to be at least 40 years old. I've never done anything to keep the capacitors reformed, and it's gone for years at a time without use.

But I pulled it out and set it up in the upstairs of my shop because I needed a studio for a full-length portrait of a military retiree in uniform. The blue paper background roll I bought closer to 50 years ago found new application and paid me back for hauling it around all these years. I at least have it hanging on a roll from the ceiling.

The lights worked flawlessly. I didn't have to do anything to reform the capacitors or anything like that. The only change I made to it was adding the low-voltage protection isolator that Speedotron sells to isolate the 300V trigger voltage from the low-voltage trigger circuits in modern cameras.

All their products seem to be the same as they ever were, and I'll bet they are made the same way in the same factory. Some electronic components might not be as tough as in the past, but that would affect everyone.

So, no, I haven't purchased from them in the last couple of years. But I wouldn't hesitate if I needed to.

Pricewise, yes, their prices are high on their web page. But they do recommend buying from a dealer rather than directly from them, because dealers have a lot of discount latitude. Speedotron is an old-school business.

For your situation (really for those in your situation, since you've probably already made your choice), I think I'd buy an old Brown Line setup for still photography and a continuous lighting setup for videography. I'm not sure video cameras and still cameras are served by the same lighting systems--no LED I can afford will let me run the ISO down as low as I like when photographing a large group.

Rick "and that is a recommendation" Denney

[Thom Bennett]

Rick,

Thanks for cleaning up the thread. Since it is revived, it spurred me to think again about Speedotron. I'm going to send in a pack that needs repair and see how that goes. May lead us to buy new Speedo's as opposed to Profoto monolights.