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.
A client of mine bought some new packs and heads during 2023, so, I think they're still going.
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
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.
promark has been buying up a lot of lighting gear brands. https://www.promarkbrands.com/our-brands/
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!
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.
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. lolOriginally Posted by 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.
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.
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