Anyone Heard of JieTu?

NextWaveG

NextWaveG

Well-known member
So I'm on ebay checking around to see if there are any great deals on Arri's when I come across another knock-off brand. I've seen BluLine and Cool Lights version fresnels, but JieTu is new to me.

Pricing is very cheap, and with free shipping, it's not a bad deal....assuming they aren't junk. I would never buy these as a main light and I might be scared away from higher wattages...but I wouldn't mind an extra 150w or 300w in my kit just to have.

Here's a couple links:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ARRI-150W-Fresn...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c13cfd32f

http://cgi.ebay.com/ARRI-300W-Fresn...tem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c13d013f7

You can find them if you search for "As Arri" on ebay.
 
I can tell you first hand I have a couple in my kit - fact of working in asia and not wanting to pay the horrific lighting prices in Japan.

They have worked effortlessly for 3.5 years without an issue except - I had them completely rewired, which was cheap.
 
Out of the box they work as they are meant to. After a few months of heavy use I noticed a couple of wiring issues, I wouldnt say I havent seen this same issue on other higher quality fresnels either - just not so early in the game. When I got back to Aus I had a friend rewire the internals for me, more for my own comfort.

Arri's are a bit better quality - you'de expect that I guess. But still not as good as Mole. Id rather pick up a 5 year old Mole than one of these new TBH. The interal shielding etc is much better. But on a budget they work fine. Once you drop your lamps in, which you have to buy seperately on any light fitting the quality of output is exactly the same as any other fresnel.
 
The Steven.Studio lights and Blue Line are manufactured by the same company: Jietu. Take a look at the pictures and you will notice same type of top latch for locking the barndoors and same type of spigot receiver - plastic made. The barndoors suffer from poor painting. I had to leave them out turned on for a couple of hours because of the smoke from the barndoors. On the Cinelight brand the painting is much more better (no smoke or rust) and the surface is powder coated making it scratch resistant similar to ARRI. Also the barndoors are thicker on Cinelight.
 
Good for the money

Good for the money

Hey All-

I bought one of their 300's after seeing their store on ebay. I figured for less than $200 shipped if the light was a bust it wouldn't be a total loss.

I have to say I am very impressed with the light. First off, the construction is exactly the same as an Arri. Also the internal wiring looks good. I've only had the light a few weeks, so I can't yet speak to it's longevity.

The light came with a set of barndoors which are identical to Arri's. I bought Arri scrims to use with the light and they work just fine. In fact, if it didn't have another name on the side I think even a seasoned pro would have trouble telling the difference. The fresnel lens is good quality.

One interesting note, they ship the light with a bulb. Mine came broken. I emailed the guys in China and they send me out a box of four new bulbs no questions asked. (Free)

If they continue to have fast shipping and good customer service I can't see why I wouldn't buy these light again. Just an fyi my light kits includes a mix of Lowels, Cool Lights, and Arri's.

Ryan
Creative Liquid Productions
 
CreativeLiquid,

Glad to hear the light is working out for you and thanks for chiming in! I have a couple of questions for you though: Does the bulb cover on the top close all the way? Does the bulb move back and forth smoothly when adjusting focus?
 
Lights Specs

Lights Specs

The door on my light does close all the way. I actually put it side by side with an Arri300 and was surprised how close the two are. Again, I wasn't expecting too much for my $188.

The focus nob on mine is very smooth. In fact, when you open it up and look at the rails near the bottom of the light you can see a fresh coat of lubricant over the rods that the light slides back and forth on.

The only thing I think may be something to replace is the actual plug on the light. The power cord is heavy duty and has a nice in-line switch. But since the light is being produced in China and shipped to various countries the plug itself seems a tad cheap. I haven't had any problems with it, but I can see this being something that could be easily changed out.

I've uploaded some pictures of the light here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/creativeliquid/sets/72157624813828974/

We did several hours of interviews in-studio with this light last week. It was on for most of the shoot and I didn't experience any problems, burning smell, overheating, etc.

I'm actually going to buy a 650 and 1k from them as well.

Ryan
 
Wow, that's good to hear! I'm a college student trying to build my own low budget light kit, and this will help a lot!

I found a user on ebay who sells these lights, but I was wondering where you bought yours from. Also, what kind of stands are you using in those pictures?
 
ebay

ebay

I picked up my light from a store on ebay. Again, so far no issues, this includes the wiring. I did mention the plug will probably need replacing, but that wasn't a surprise. We have a ton of stands of various varieties including C-Stands, Arri, Lowel, Impact and Matthews. Just watch out on some of the cheap stands. We have a few Impact stands I wouldn't buy again because they are just so cheaply constructed. We actually inherited these from a failed photo studio and they rarely see service.

By the way, if you are looking for low cost lights, also check out Lowel's GoPro lights. These are inexpensive and they take a beating. You can find great kits under $1k that include stands, modifiers, etc.

Good luck.
Ryan
 
Cool, I'll check out the Lowel GoPro lights, but the store I found on Ebay has a kit of 3x300 watt Jietu fresnels, 3 stands, 3 sets of barndoors, 3 bulbs, some gels, and a case for about $700!

It seems almost too good to be true, but from the reviews I've been reading from you (and a few others), it sure is tempting!

Anyway, thanks for the info, CreativeLiquid.
 
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