Rosco Litepad pricing is a ripoff!!!! Read this if you want to save a ton of cash

F

frollins

New member
Hi All

I am posting this because I have found out some rather disturbing news regarding Rosco and their product, the Rosco Litepad.

 I spent some time online trying to find pricing on this product because I have a client who needs 10 Litepads at 24"X 24".
 I found the average price for this size to be around $700.00

I then stumbled upon a craigslist posting by a company in Canada called Nu World Distribution they had an ad up for " Nu World LED Light Panels" which looked alot like the Rosco Litepad, so I called them up to inquire. I told the guy that I was looking for these for my client who will be using them in a stage production. He then went on to explain to me that his Nu World Panels are the exact same product as the Rosco Litepad but he is not permitted to sell in the entertainment industry due to the fact that Rosco has the market tied up.
 So he said that he is sorry that he cant help and we ended our conversation.
 I really wanted to find out if the pricing was much different so I had a buddy call him up and say that he needed these panels for a signage application and GUESS WHAT>>>>>>>>>>

 $445.00 per LED Light panel !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 That is $255.00 less per panel than the ROSCO Lite pad.

 We ordered a small 3" X 3" panel just to be sure that it is not some cheap knockoff and it is identical to the rosco lite pad.

 I am by no means a cheapskate but this is disgusting Rosco is really ripping us off!!!

 I am happy that I have found this channel and will be using them in future for all purchases even if it does require some cloak and dagger tactics and I encourage all to do the same ........I will be saving $2550.00 on this purchase of 10 panels.

 Feel free to email me if you want any other info about this ripp off!!
here is the website www.nu-wo.com

 Cheers

Fred:furious3:
 
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1. Dude, try white text next time. The red really hurts the eyes.

2. They're "not permitted to sell to the entertainment industry". I find this extremely unlikely. On what legal grounds are Rosco able to prevent them from doing this?

3. First and only post is a thinly-veiled ad for this company. Are you sure you have no connection to this Nu World mob?

:-)
 
All red=hard to read lol. I know you want to convey your anger and everything but changing the font back to white would really help other people out.

I think the Nu-world alternative is a good find for anyone looking to save some money. But as to Rosco ripping people off, I don't know. They're selling the panels to a niche market for film application and they'll charge whatever they feel the market will bear. That's how capitalism works.
 
Sorry about the red font, bad choice I know.

Even though I have nothing to do with this company you could call the post an " ad",because I would like to spread the word that there are other options available.
I dont know what the legal grounds are but i guess he would have sold them to me if he could have... why wouldnt he ?
I guess you are right perhaps it is rosco flexing their corporate muscle and not a legal thing.

Huy Vu: From time to time I get requests for lighting solutions and in the past I have had to use the Rosco Litepads but there is no profit in it because it becomes rediculously expensive once I have put a bare minimum of 10% on top.
Now at least it will be a profitible item.
So instead of Rosco lining their pockets I can make a little bit as well.

Cheers

Fred
 
I never used these colors before, pretty cool!

Actually, my friend, Mr. DingDing, makes these in his garage here in China for both Rosco and your friend in Canada. He told me to keep it a secret but I just can't anymore.

round1Cm.jpg


ring1Cm.jpg


I guess you (or the company) can claim whatever you want, but its all anecdotal really...

Nothing particularly proprietary or hard about laser etching a piece of acrylic and putting LEDs around the edge. There's probably a few that can do that. Can even make it round or ring shaped if you want.


As far as a 24" x 24" for $445, meh...

I think something like this, in the same price range is a far better deal.


CLLED600BlueSmallCm.jpg


Then put this on it and you've really got a worthwhile 24x24 source much more powerful than the litepad types!

ProfileSBSmallCm.jpg
 
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Yes Peter, the old and new are the same physical size, weight and shape and they both have the accessory holder which allows something like a speedring to be dropped in there instead of barndoors.
 
Hi Richard

Very interesting!! Can you have them made to 24" X 24" just the panel on its own?

If yes, how long would it take? How Much?

This is great news

Cheers

F:grin:
 
That softbox is lookin' good Richard. Drop me a line sometime and update on what you have been up to.

Thanks,

Dan
 
frollins said:
Hi Richard

Very interesting!! Can you have them made to 24" X 24" just the panel on its own?

If yes, how long would it take? How Much?

This is great news

Cheers

F:grin:
Click to expand...

Hi Fred,

We do have plans to make these as well. I have lots of little projects like this but unfortunately with only me as the driver behind all of this stuff, it sometimes can take a while to come to "light" so to speak. Anyway, we do have 3 protos now, here's the other one (12 x 12 inch square) I didn't show:

square1Cm.jpg



I don't have pricing and ETA yet but it will be good pricing. I had a few gripes with the prototypes and we still need to research the frame around the unit as that is easily the hardest part of the whole thing. One thing for improvement is we need double the etching (1mm squares) as opposed to the 2mm they gave me which isn't as good in my opinion. More etches equals more output. Also we need LEDs on all 4 edges of the square not just two. Sometimes communications get lost in the chain it seems!

My beginning models are likely to be a 6" circle, 12" diameter ring, 12 x 6 inch rectangle and 12 x 12 inch square. I didn't think about a 24 x 24 but its certainly possible.
 
puredrifting said:
That softbox is lookin' good Richard. Drop me a line sometime and update on what you have been up to.

Thanks,

Dan
Click to expand...

Dan's back from his long project! I will email.

Here's another look at the softbox speedring. It is the same kind of frame we use for the barndoors.

The interface between softbox and speedring is just tension from the softbox against the metal rods on the speedring, so its easy to put on and take off.

SpeedringSmallCm.jpg


We will probably have another speedring at some time in the future for more conventional softboxes but as you know, that's probably more of a candidate for a cast iron mold to make it look better. The welding job we did on one similar to the one you did didn't look that great to me so I put it on hold for now.
 
Hey Richard,
If you're looking for input on sizes, something small enough to fit on a dash behind a steering wheel would be a nice way to go. I'm entertaining buying a 3x12 litepad for that purpose.
 
Yes of course, I was thinking the car would be the main use for these. I thought a 6 x 12 would be good for that but it sounds like that might block too much so you guys prefer the thinner rectangle then.
 
Hey Richard

Ok , So nothing available right away.

Can you please put me on a mailing list or something so that I will know when they are readily available.

Thanks for the info

Cheers

F
 
Regarding these litepads, Richard - one thing I'd like to bring up:

Earlier this year, I was gaffing a feature doc for a DP I really like. He makes such great images with not a lot of stuff. I met him years ago as an AC and he would show up with just an old duffel bag full of china balls, clamp photofloods, and a 30-year old HUGE par. But WOW, the images he could make with that stuff. Anyway, for this shoot, the producer was concerned about maintaining a professional and expensive image for the subjects, so for the duration of the shoot, we rented my more conventional lighting and I gaffed. Anyway, on one shoot, the DP came to set with litepads that looked EXACTLY like the ones posted here and in the link in the OP. He insisted we try them out. We definitely had to minus-green the tungstens, though the daylights were better. Definitely put out some nice light. Then 30-minutes into the interview (about 45-60 minutes total on-time, the 12x12" daylight would turn off for a second and then come on for 8 minutes. Then off for a sec and on again for 6 minutes, slowly decreasing the time between offs until we just powered off for good. The next day, we had another shoot, and again, he insisted on using the 12x12" daylight again. I recommended against it until we could get some test time with it, but he was confident. Sure enough, in about the same time, the off-on cycle started. Needless to say, we never used them again on the shoot.

Any idea what could have caused this and any way to ensure that the coollights one's won't do it too? If so, I'll be the first to buy some (especially the ring).

Thanks.

~~Dave
 
Could have been a power supply issue where the supply was under-rated for its use or not really well tested for 110v, etc. Who knows. I doubt all the clones from that company did that, perhaps just that one he had.

I'm sure any product we put out won't have this issue.
 
I don't like that "ripoff" talk. I have a lot of respect for Rosco products and I don't begrudge them their profit even though I AM something of a cheapskate and often grumble about high prices in this industry. The term used is extremely pejorative, too much so for my tastes, brother. [/end rant]

Richard, what is behind the LCD of a large flat panel TV? It can be dimmed and its color temp adjusted right? What is the source of illumination? Would it make a good movie light with some tweaking?

BTW, I finally got a good look at some CoolLights fluoros this week. I liked them and thought they were better built than a competitor's. When I need a new flo I'll look you up.
 
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