Battle Royale: Lowel VS. Britek

lol.. its funny the lengths we go to to seem a litle bit more pro sometimes.. i was on a shoot a couple weeks ago, and one of the clients looked at the dolly track and said.. "is that PVC" .. i said " yep, standard issue pressure pipe" .. he chuckled and said.. "well isnt that something.. its like your going to plumb the place ha ha! " or something to that effect. i said "you should see a film set with a big old 35mm camera wrapped up in black foil , plastic bags and gaffer tape getting rained on.. it looks like they are trying to make a movie with a damaged wet garbage can." he laughed.. i continued "..you can certainly go with a better looking rail set, or you can go with someting quick and easy, and the camera doesnt know the difference... after our 8 hour shoot today youll see why the right choice for today is quick and easy" of course all said in fun and cordially to the client.

..surely enough, at the end of the shoot he was amazed at the amount of work and knowledge it takes to produce something, and thought the pvc tracks wer slick as all get out becasue they didnt take us forever to change up, and were in fact very quick and easy..


my point is, that you can do or use whatever the heck you want as long as you have the professional knowledge behind it as to why your doing that, and can exhude the confident professionalism needed to pull it off. at the end of the day the client knows nothing about what you do, and if they do they either wouldnt be judging you, or will judge you no matter what you do pending the type of person they are.. and they rate you and your personality and their experience with you both personal and professional way more than the equipment. i mean, clothpins is nothing.. ithey are used professionally all the time. ..if you were using a wheelchair with a tripod duct taped to it for a dolly, well.. yeah.. you might not look too pro. by all means.. having pro equipment DOES help.. it ABSOLUTELY DOES. theres no doubt about it.. if your clients see you in action.. they want to see what they are paying for. so put your best foot forward. just dont sweat the details.. do what you do and do it the way that best suits the production.. dont let looking good come before making a better production or taking less time doing it. being quick is good in your clients book. but if you can do it quick and good AND still look good.. by all means. looking like macguyver on steroids on the set is one thing... but looking like you know all the tricks of the trade and can do your job with professionalism and confidence is another.
 
Very well put, iamloser! That's exactly what I needed to hear... I suppose in a weird way, I almost feel guilty for not wanting to go "guerilla" on it, but in this case, Lowel is probably the best choice for my needs/style and for me the accessories are a plus, simply because I'm used to them (and am likely to lose clothespins)...

What I don't understand is how you talk like PVC was created for any other purpose than to be used as my dolly track ;)
 
Nice debate y'all.

Anyone have any comments about the ease-of-use/set-up time for the Britek softboxes? I have a Lowel softbox, and it's nice... although more than I would've liked to spend. I'll probably be picking up one of the big Briteks soon just cause of size/price. I was just wondering if working with one is more akin to:

a) Opening an umbrella.

b) Pitching a tent for a three ring circus.

???
 
Hey Hemophilia

I just got my Britek 1500w kit a couple days ago and let me tell you...I almost broke the damn softbox. Actually I did break the little holders that hold the metal rods go into on one of the corners of the softbox. But I used a lot and a lot of super glue to fix that, good as new but the material is all hard and stiff now. At first it gave me a problem, then I learned how to assemble and disassemble it easily. The hard part is the disessambling of it, at first I broke the holder(as mentioned earlier) then I took some time to experiment and now I have no problem whatsoever.
 
Yeah, they're pretty easy once you get used to them...I like the "flip lock" rod holders on the mounting ring. The 24" boxes on the focussing 650 have a bit of a hot spot, probably because the soft cover isn't as dense as say, a Chimera with an internal baffle, but hey, for $45 they work fine. I velcro a piece of Rosco Rolux on the front to really soften it up for close ups and table top stuff.
Ken
 
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