Pacific Coast Lighting Systems
- Thread starter tankgirl
- Start date
I agree. DON'T BUY from Pacific Coast Lighting Systems. It has been 3.5 weeks since I ordered the 5760 Watt daylight fluorescent lighting kit and still DON'T HAVE all the components!!!
The guy there who answers the phones, Mark, is dishonest and makes general statements like oh the lights will come this day or the lights will come that day ... He gave me the run around for 2 weeks until he finally confessed that he was out of stock and that he had just received them and would send them to me !!!!
I should have researched them more thoroughly before I bought. I really regret buying there ...
Also some of the bulbs where damaged during the transport and they still have not been replaced!!!!
The guy there who answers the phones, Mark, is dishonest and makes general statements like oh the lights will come this day or the lights will come that day ... He gave me the run around for 2 weeks until he finally confessed that he was out of stock and that he had just received them and would send them to me !!!!
I should have researched them more thoroughly before I bought. I really regret buying there ...
Also some of the bulbs where damaged during the transport and they still have not been replaced!!!!
RichW
Active member
Pacific Coast Lighting
Pacific Coast Lighting
I ordered a softbox with lights from this place on Dec 8, 2007 hoping to get it by christmas. It never arrived, plus they were away until Jan 4. However someone contacted me before then, told me that the shipment had probably been lost.
Then I found this thread and got worried. However when I called them again, they promised to send another one via 3 day Fed Ex. I just received it, within 3 days, and they also included 5 additional bulbs for free. So I am pretty satisfied. They did try to make amends, and it was costly to them to do so.
The lights are quite cheap and look great. :happy:
Rich
Pacific Coast Lighting
I ordered a softbox with lights from this place on Dec 8, 2007 hoping to get it by christmas. It never arrived, plus they were away until Jan 4. However someone contacted me before then, told me that the shipment had probably been lost.
Then I found this thread and got worried. However when I called them again, they promised to send another one via 3 day Fed Ex. I just received it, within 3 days, and they also included 5 additional bulbs for free. So I am pretty satisfied. They did try to make amends, and it was costly to them to do so.
The lights are quite cheap and look great. :happy:
Rich
Zander
Well-known member
scam being the root of the word. i'll stay clear.
RichW
Active member
PCL kit
PCL kit
I got the DayFlo 4-bank fixture, which is four 80w flourescent bulbs in a very big softbox, with four separate switches (rated at an equivalent of 1280 watts incandescent). $149 incl shipping.
It seems really nice,although I'm not sure it is really 1280w. It was difficult to assemble, and it is very big to transport assembled. The advantage is that flourescent is cool, unlike tungsten.
I am quite pleased. Please note that it is 5600k, not 3200k like tungsten. Supposedly this is better quality light. It is like sunlight. So it should not be used with tungsten unless the latter is gelled with CTB, or this light is gelled with CTO, or both. :2vrolijk_08:
PCL kit
I got the DayFlo 4-bank fixture, which is four 80w flourescent bulbs in a very big softbox, with four separate switches (rated at an equivalent of 1280 watts incandescent). $149 incl shipping.
It seems really nice,although I'm not sure it is really 1280w. It was difficult to assemble, and it is very big to transport assembled. The advantage is that flourescent is cool, unlike tungsten.
I am quite pleased. Please note that it is 5600k, not 3200k like tungsten. Supposedly this is better quality light. It is like sunlight. So it should not be used with tungsten unless the latter is gelled with CTB, or this light is gelled with CTO, or both. :2vrolijk_08:
is it this one: http://www.pclightingsystems.com/fl/FixtureSoftbox3.html
BTW, playing with 3200k and 5600k is a great idea, look for movies with the orange and blue glow... it is very pleasing if you balance in between or use gels to augment the color spread
I bet the bulbs are very decent, and being able to switch them individually is great... too bad it is a poorly manufactured and therefor tough to assemble unit.. maybe after a bit of practice it turns out not to be so bad? That happened to me with my Alzo 800's soft box, I got better at banging that thing together.
It REALLY sucks that it is not easy to transport, but what a deal!
It looks like they are targeting more of a studio clientele... meaning lights set up and left in place for long periods of time... post a clip or shot of something lit by it please
BTW, playing with 3200k and 5600k is a great idea, look for movies with the orange and blue glow... it is very pleasing if you balance in between or use gels to augment the color spread
I bet the bulbs are very decent, and being able to switch them individually is great... too bad it is a poorly manufactured and therefor tough to assemble unit.. maybe after a bit of practice it turns out not to be so bad? That happened to me with my Alzo 800's soft box, I got better at banging that thing together.
It REALLY sucks that it is not easy to transport, but what a deal!
It looks like they are targeting more of a studio clientele... meaning lights set up and left in place for long periods of time... post a clip or shot of something lit by it please
RichW
Active member
field test
field test
Here is the link. I can't find it on their web page any more., but it is a great deal for $149 if still available.
However I used the light for the first time yesterday and was not impressed with the output level (footcandles). It has four 80 w fluorescents, which they say is equivalent to 1280w of incandescent. No way. I have not used a light meter on it yet (I will today), but it doesn't come anywhere near my 1k Mighty Mole. And, of course, fluorescents simply do not have the throw of incandescents anyhow.
field test
Here is the link. I can't find it on their web page any more., but it is a great deal for $149 if still available.
However I used the light for the first time yesterday and was not impressed with the output level (footcandles). It has four 80 w fluorescents, which they say is equivalent to 1280w of incandescent. No way. I have not used a light meter on it yet (I will today), but it doesn't come anywhere near my 1k Mighty Mole. And, of course, fluorescents simply do not have the throw of incandescents anyhow.
RichW
Active member
field test
field test
forgot the link; here it is:
http://www.pclightingsystems.com/fl/1280dfbuy.html
field test
forgot the link; here it is:
http://www.pclightingsystems.com/fl/1280dfbuy.html
RichW
Active member
field test
field test
I just went to that site and see that it does not include the softbox.
but I received a 32" soft box with it, and i think that is what the ad said originally. Maybe he realized that it was just too good of a deal.
http://www.pclightingsystems.com/fl/1280dfbuy.html
field test
I just went to that site and see that it does not include the softbox.
but I received a 32" soft box with it, and i think that is what the ad said originally. Maybe he realized that it was just too good of a deal.
http://www.pclightingsystems.com/fl/1280dfbuy.html
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RichW
Active member
Nuff said about this, I think...
Nuff said about this, I think...
I tried the light on a feature film shoot last weekend and it was a big failure.
Why? Because there was way too little light. I don't know how suppliers ascertain that fluorescents are nearly 4 times as powerful as their rating, but for movie lighting, it just does not hold up. For example, this light has four 80w fluorescent bulbs, and many suppliers would say it is "equivalent to" 1280w incandescent light. PCL actually calls this a "1280 watt fixture". If I had not been able to make up for the shortfall with other lights, the entire shoot would have been... (you know), and my name would have been.....(you know).
So I just now did a test, comparing footcandles of this "1280w" to my 1K Mickey Mole and my LTM Pepper 420w:
1280 Fluorescent 1K Mole 420w Pepper
At five feet 110 900 300
At 10 feet 34 300 110
At 20 feet 11 110 42
To make matters worse, these lights have a color temperature of 5600k (i.e., outdoors) , so if you want to use them with tungsten, you have to put on a CTO gel, which reduces the light 2/3 of a stop!
Plus, it is just a fact that fluorescents don't have much of a throw; they fall off fast in any case. In my opinion, this kind of light is almost useless except for very close work in a windowed room.
Nuff said about this, I think...
I tried the light on a feature film shoot last weekend and it was a big failure.
Why? Because there was way too little light. I don't know how suppliers ascertain that fluorescents are nearly 4 times as powerful as their rating, but for movie lighting, it just does not hold up. For example, this light has four 80w fluorescent bulbs, and many suppliers would say it is "equivalent to" 1280w incandescent light. PCL actually calls this a "1280 watt fixture". If I had not been able to make up for the shortfall with other lights, the entire shoot would have been... (you know), and my name would have been.....(you know).
So I just now did a test, comparing footcandles of this "1280w" to my 1K Mickey Mole and my LTM Pepper 420w:
1280 Fluorescent 1K Mole 420w Pepper
At five feet 110 900 300
At 10 feet 34 300 110
At 20 feet 11 110 42
To make matters worse, these lights have a color temperature of 5600k (i.e., outdoors) , so if you want to use them with tungsten, you have to put on a CTO gel, which reduces the light 2/3 of a stop!
Plus, it is just a fact that fluorescents don't have much of a throw; they fall off fast in any case. In my opinion, this kind of light is almost useless except for very close work in a windowed room.
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RichW
Active member
one more thing..
one more thing..
I also tested a household 100 w bulb and got 4 footcandles at 10 feet.
The four fluorescents at "1280" gave 34 footcandles at 10 feet, which equates to one fluorescent = 320 w, and 34/4 = 8.5 fc for each.
So that is roughly correct when you compare to a household bulb: 8.5 fc for an 80w fluorescent = about 10.6 fc if it was 100 w fluorescent.
10.6 / 4 = the fluorescent is about 2.65 times as bright as the same wattage incandescent.
HOWEVER, the big error (deception?) is to advertise to movie people that these lights are "equivalent" to what we expect for 1280 watts. Movie lights put out a lot more for the wattage than household type bulbs.
one more thing..
I also tested a household 100 w bulb and got 4 footcandles at 10 feet.
The four fluorescents at "1280" gave 34 footcandles at 10 feet, which equates to one fluorescent = 320 w, and 34/4 = 8.5 fc for each.
So that is roughly correct when you compare to a household bulb: 8.5 fc for an 80w fluorescent = about 10.6 fc if it was 100 w fluorescent.
10.6 / 4 = the fluorescent is about 2.65 times as bright as the same wattage incandescent.
HOWEVER, the big error (deception?) is to advertise to movie people that these lights are "equivalent" to what we expect for 1280 watts. Movie lights put out a lot more for the wattage than household type bulbs.
rmurdock2@hotmail.com
New member
Hi folks, I just joined the forum because I saw questions regarding Pacific Coast Lighting Systems. I am currently trying to get my order completed after two months of unreturned emails and phone calls. This is not a legitimate business. I have been told on five different occasions that the rest of my order was ready to ship. They are dishonest and extremely hard to get a hold of after they have your money. I cannot stress enough, they do not conduct business in a professional manor. Although they will try to use excuses like miscommunication with their service dept.. , it appears there are actually only two employees- Mark Kessleman and Roxanne.
I am very dissatisfied with my experience with this half-assed outfit and will be filing a complaint with the BBB and the Attorney General's Office of Wisconsin within the next 24 hours.
If anyone has any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them.
I am very dissatisfied with my experience with this half-assed outfit and will be filing a complaint with the BBB and the Attorney General's Office of Wisconsin within the next 24 hours.
If anyone has any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them.
RichW
Active member
What is going on?
What is going on?
My guess is that this guy is short of cash due to poor cash management and is trying to pay his suppliers with money from new orders, which delays his ability to fill orders. He is therefore trapped in this until he can get the old bills paid.
What is going on?
My guess is that this guy is short of cash due to poor cash management and is trying to pay his suppliers with money from new orders, which delays his ability to fill orders. He is therefore trapped in this until he can get the old bills paid.