Briteks crapped out today.

TC

TC

Resident Agitator
So today I had my first shoot using the Briteks (600s w/ softboxes) I had one set up and working great, then I go to set up the next one and poof. The first one goes out, with no rhyme nor reason. No more lights were plugged in, nobody hit it, it just went out. A little bitter I go to set up the other one and snap, the speed ring breaks apart. Luckily I was able to use the softbox from the first one, and the light from the second one to make one workable softbox.

And luckily, we had a full Arri kit and some Mole Richardsons, so we weren't short handed, but I'm definitely not pleased. When I ordered the lights, I ordered 2 additional globes, that I never recieved, I called up Rostronics and they said they'd send them out to me, but I never recieved them.

Oh, also, one of the pouches for the softbox was ripped when it arrived. I'm going to call Rostronics tomorrow and hopefully get this all straightened out. I know many of you have had great experiences, so hopefully this was just and unfortunate string of events.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

All I can say is: thank god for Arri. Those lights have been around forever, and gotten tons of use and they're still going strong.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

Sad to say, but sometimes you get what you pay for. Arri's and Moles are like tanks, and if they ever do crap out on you, it's pretty easy to diagnose and eliminate whatever failed.

I've never used briteks personally, but I've heard enough stories of questionable build quality to make me save a little more for a light from a more reliable manufacturer.

That stinks TC, I feel your pain.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

I agree with the above. These lights are inexpensive and that is what you get in terms of reliability.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

Quick follow up question, as I am now looking into different brands for lights. What do you guys think of Altmans? I've never used them before, but I like a few of their models.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

I had a few briteks give out, too, on my first shoot after 6 hours, and it wasn't pleasant. Nice light, but not made like an Arri.

-Jerry
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

..imho i really think its a matter of the bulb quality and not the build of the actual light itself. ive had no problems with mine but did order extra bulbs just in case. Id be interested to know if anyone running other brands or makes of bulbs has had any issues, and what type of bulbs they are running.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

[quote author=iamloser link=board=lighting;num=1101095939;start=0#7 date=11/22/04 at 09:18:44]..imho i really think its a matter of the bulb quality and not the build of the actual light itself. [/quote]

Well in terms of design they go hand in hand. DIfferent bulb designs make for different life-spans and most important different shock proof-ness. The Britek type of lamp is A weak bulb in terms of design and hence why they blow out easily. Also the way a fixture is designed has a lot to do with how well a lamp burns or how inefficiently it burns.

As for Altman, it depends on what models you are buying. I own Altman fresnels (the professional series) and they are equal to Arris but less expensive.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

The other thing to consider is that lights are under extreme elemental stress. The heat at the head is ridiculous and doesn't allow for a lot of manufacturing tolerance.

Filmmaking is just an incredibly stressful process on a manufactured product. You have to consider that a light is going to get hot plugged all the time, switched on and off constantly, left to burn for hours, in and out of various weather conditions, dropped several times during it's life, packed incorrectly, shocked electrically, and tossed in and out of cases on a regular basis.

A light has to be able to take some serious abuse, and if the materials or manufacturing isn’t absolutely top notch...it's going to show in the reliability.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

[quote author=TC link=board=lighting;num=1101095939;start=0#9 date=11/22/04 at 10:16:46]I used one of these (though not Altman's) a few weeks ago and fell in love with it.[/quote]

Then you don't need us to tell you what you already know. Yes this is a great fixture made in Yonkers NY by the Altman family.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

I used a similar product by Arri, and I noticed that the Altman was a bit cheaper, so I was simply wondering if the Altman build was just as good.

And it sounds as though it is.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

[quote author=TC link=board=lighting;num=1101095939;start=0#12 date=11/22/04 at 13:32:33]I used a similar product by Arri, and I noticed that the Altman was a bit cheaper, so I was simply wondering if the Altman build was just as good.

And it sounds as though it is.[/quote]

I have the first generation lights that Bob Altman gave me. Since then they had to make a minor cosmetic change because ARRI was going to sue them. They are identical in terms of quality.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

Though I've used and was about to pruchase some Altmans, I got such a deal on a crate of LTM Peppers that I couldn't refuse, including LTM's version of the Altman Softlight Jr. I love it.

If you hanker for the Softlight Jr., let me suggest that you look very closely at the full-size (1K-2K) Softlight as a B&H Kit. It is switchable between two lamps and with a couple of different lamps, you could have 500W, 1KW, 1500W or 2KW output on a larger face. The Kit comes with two 1K lamps and an eggcrate and is only about $60-70 more than the Junior. The one in your link has no stand adapter, no lamps and no more than a starter cable, so you would need to spend a bit more to actually use it.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=279226&is=REG
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

[quote author=TC link=board=lighting;num=1101095939;start=15#15 date=11/22/04 at 23:15:20]That's a good call Rogue.[/quote]
But wait, there's more. I just realized that this Softlight also takes 300W and 750W lamps. So that means that the output could be 300, 500, 600, 750, 800, 1000, 1050, 1250, 1300, 1500, 1750 or 2000 Watts! Did I miss any combinations?

Do people leave bulbs in their Arri's between shoots?
Click to expand...
I certainly wouldn't speak for others, but I leave my lamps in the heads even when I pack the heads away in the case, unless I know I'm going to be moving them on a location, then I put the lamps back in original cardboard boxes and pack them in foam.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

I leave my fixtures lamped all the time. Had a 1 ton grip & light package that rode pretty rough in a truck and never took out the lamps. Too many fixtures to be doing that. Never seemed to have any problems. Lamps lasted a long time. But I never had a control group so can't verify scientifically. But all the grip trucks I know never pull the lamps after a job.
Some will pull the very expensive HMI bulbs.
 
Re: Briteks crapped out today.

I'm with Xort, I've never pulled the lamp out of a fixture, nor have I seen the grip/lighting trucks do it.
 
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