FOBA Baby FOBA

[FOBELIO]

Yeah I saw that one as well...I didn't realise it had the holes in the main refelctor but it makes sense since the fan-forced air needs somewhere to exit.

Look how chunky that grid is!

I want to add that the diffusion panel has a glossy and a matt side...

the grid is large and a bit troublesome to attach

 

[Nokton48]

Elinchrom to Pulso Beauty Light 3 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Elinchrom to Pulso Beauty Light 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr


Bought this Elinchrom Beauty Reflector, then cut metal and painted, converted to Broncolor Pulso. Similar in shape to the Broncolor Staro, somewhat. Like the Staro, this is brighter in the center than the edges. Interesting light and I'm glad I cobbled this one together. Smaller size easier to get in closer on the set.

If I make a Diffuser for the front of it, I would need to drill holes in the back, like in the Broncolor Staro.

 

[dxp]

Elinchrom to Pulso Beauty Light 3 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Elinchrom to Pulso Beauty Light 2 by Nokton48, on Flickr


Bought this Elinchrom Beauty Reflector, then cut metal and painted, converted to Broncolor Pulso. Similar in shape to the Broncolor Staro, somewhat. Like the Staro, this is brighter in the center than the edges. Interesting light and I'm glad I cobbled this one together. Smaller size easier to get in closer on the set.

If I make a Diffuser for the front of it, I would need to drill holes in the back, like in the Broncolor Staro.

I have a pair of these 44cm Elinchrom dishes, one with the silver interior, the other white like yours. I agree the smaller size makes them nice and handy.

I haven't used mine a whole lot, mainly because I rarely bring out my Elinchrom lights, but a couple of months ago spent an afternoon having a play with them in different configurations to what sort of light I could get from them. I do find Elinchrom's counter-reflector solution a bit annoying to use with these (and in general, honestly). Having a single attachment point feels a bit flimsy, and it's got enough slop that you need to actively check and adjust to get it nicely centered if you want the dish illuminated evenly.

And I found that with the grid in place, the shallowness of the dish meant I couldn't have the counter-reflector distanced far enough away from the flash to get the light I wanted...you have to choke it up closer in order for the grid to also fit.

I think a Bron converted dish like this one would be great paired with a Pulso F or G so you can really tune the position of the flash tube in the dish and relative to the counter-reflector and sculpt the light output in a specific way.

 

[Nokton48]

1600J Pulso Adjustable Tube Elinchrom Hacked Super Grid by Nokton48, on Flickr

The Store shipped this 1600J Pulso with Tube Focusing accidentally. Then they sold it to me cheaply ($200!) rather than ship it back. Thank You Guys. Looks pretty much like new and perfect (Thanks dxp!) in hacked Elinchrom Beauty Dish. I used a bolt and nut from trip to Lowes, centered the plastic grid by eye, and it's real close. Getting to be real usuable, and handy. This is cool. I do have all four of the plastic reflectors, right now trying the silver.

 

[FOBELIO]

So today the day started very cloudy and grey here in Switzerland... but on the late afternoon the warming sun showed up and motivate me to go out and take some photos of my birthday present (which was a month ago 😉)

It was a good opportunity to use my Combitube-bag and my new toy is well packed in this waterproof König photobag.
Lighter than I expected!




let see what is in the Combitube-bag first:
- six 80cm Combitube (two in old silver finish)
- two COSNO folding tripods, which accepts a Combitube



now what is in the König photobag?
I see two COTRU (connector for 3 different directions)
and strange stuff with wheels... ok you need to wait a moment with that... 🤓




let's go back to the Combitube-bag... having a stable foundation is always important





ok, there are not two COTRU but two pairs of COTRU (four in total) connected with a strange 10cm COMBITUBE with holes...
it seems that this special COMBITUBE love the tip of the an other COMBITUBE...




I don't stay in the way if two or four love each other... 😂



ok, let fill the holes with more tubes... here each bar consist of two 80cm Combitubes





at this point I continue in a new post with the stuff in the König photobag...😁

 

[FOBELIO]

some of you, especially dxp, already know what is next...


AMOVE
the camera dolly mady by FOBA! FOBA BABY FOBA!!!


and here the underside



ok let's continue... the dolly rolls now but it is unsafe to do, it can slip and then the whole thing is on the ground...
there are this side panels with extra wheels



they are mounted on each side, now the dolly can't slip off the tracks anymore.



the secondary wheels need to be adjusted to have contact to the bar...


now that is better



with a Superball M-1 the setup is now complete! Again FOBA BABY FOBA!!!



If you like to have more floor contact you can use four COTWE (short female-female Combitube) with the rubber feet.



depending of the use case the central plate can be changed with a one with a 75cm bowl adapter



here the whole setup with a camera


SPECS:

• Casters 4 x
• Per Caster: 2.0" (50.0 mm) diameter
• Track Format 6.9" (17.4 cm) wide
• Load Capacity 22.0 lb (10.0 kg)
• Dimensions 11.6 x 7.7" (29.5 x 19.5 cm)
• Weight With Ball Socket Attached: 4.6 lb (2.1 kg)
• With Plate Attached: 4.2 lb (1.9 kg)

PRO:

• very modular with the Combitube system
• can be expanded ad infinitum with stabilisation
• dolly is very stable on track and have a smooth movement (need to test it further), thanks to the large wheels
• holds until 10kg

CONTRA:

• NO MOTOR
• discontinued, very hard to find
• pricey
• in shown configuration with these two tripods a bit wobbly in the vertical axis

For many having no motor can be a deal breaker...
I thought maybe using a motor unit from Syrp could help, since it uses a cord for moving... but it is only an idea.

Other thing is that the AMOVE is VERY RARE! I was looking around for years and never found one until this January I found one on the other side of the world: Australia! Paid quite a bit of money... 🤐😖 During the closure of the factory I saved all parts I found of the Amove... I don't know if I can rebuild a new unit with them... I have some doubts...

An other thing using two tripods and the aluminium variant of the Combitube (to keep things light) brings the disadvantage of less stability... it was a bit noticeable in a wobbliness in the vertical axis...

Using two 80cm Combitube for one bar is perhaps also not the best configuration, better is using the steel variant of the Combitube.
I don't know if 160cm steel Combitube is more wobbly than two 80cm steel ones...
If you need to go over 160cm bar length than you need a stabilisation in between. For that you use two of these special 10cm Combitube called COMOS with lateral holes... with a threaded plate between two COMOS you have a new stabilisation point... I don't know if recommended add one every 80 or 160cm...
Unfortunately I don't have one of these plates, but it will not be so difficult to built one...

Here you see the two COMOS and these special plate in between.

 

[dxp]

some of you, especially dxp, already know what is next...

...

Other thing is that the AMOVE is VERY RARE! I was looking around for years and never found one until this January I found one on the other side of the world: Australia! Paid quite a bit of money... 🤐😖 During the closure of the factory I saved all parts I found of the Amove... I don't know if I can rebuild a new unit with them... I have some doubts...

To add to what Fobelio has said above...I knew what's next because I'd been watching his AMOVE back in Australia for at least six months or more, waiting for the seller to drop the price a little and then I was planning on buying it. Then one day in January...it was sold, and hours later Fobelio messaged me to say "You'll never guess what I bought" but in fact I knew exactly what he'd done! 😂

 

[FOBELIO]

so Kupo, know for light stands and accessories, also make column stands... a copy of FOBAs ASTIO or ASTEO...

The FOBA people told me there was some kind of connection with Jinbei, when I saw a copy of the ASLAI stand...
don't know about Kupo...

Kupo copied also FOBA prices... in Europe you can order this stand for 6999.-€

 

[dxp]

so Kupo, know for light stands and accessories, also make column stands... a copy of FOBAs ASTIO or ASTEO...

The FOBA people told me there was some kind of connection with Jinbei, when I saw a copy of the ASLAI stand...
don't know about Kupo...

Kupo copied also FOBA prices... in Europe you can order this stand for 6999.-€


View attachment 4888962

View attachment 4888963View attachment 4888964

View attachment 4888965

Interesting! I remember seeing the Jinbei one (though I'm struggling to find mention of it online now) but wasn't aware of the Kupo one.

Kupo is Taiwanese but most (if not all) of their gear is manufactured in China, so I wonder if Jinbei is a manufacturing partner (or vice versa)? Could FOBA have sold off some of their designs before closing down?

There are some other photos of this Kupo 398 model here (warning, that page is a long scroll):

https://www.digirabbit.com.tw/products/ec904360-4960-4795-8293-268d7b1cb906

Looks like they couldn't copy all the details though:

 

[dxp]

I recently spotted a familiar shape being offered on an auction site without any brand or model information...just the base diameter. The price was low enough that it was worth a punt even if it wasn't what I was hoping for...but it is! 50cm base, 50cm high, 15cm top diameter...it's a DUPLE!

 

[Pallas]

Regarding Foba, does any of you know what these parts in the picture are?
I found them while clearing out storage at the Art and Design University.
I think these are Foba spare parts — the sleeves, at least — but I'm not completely sure.
Could they be parts from the clamping mechanism of Foba tripods (ALFEA)?

Are they worth keeping?
We don't have any ALFEA tripods; we only have three ASABA studio stands.

 

[FOBELIO]

I recently spotted a familiar shape being offered on an auction site without any brand or model information...just the base diameter. The price was low enough that it was worth a punt even if it wasn't what I was hoping for...but it is! 50cm base, 50cm high, 15cm top diameter...it's a DUPLE!

View attachment 4889831

So glad you got it.
The price was so low that it was worth the risk of buying a lemon... 😉
I got mine at Foba's factory during an exceptional sale in 2023... and yes I paid far more than you...

 

[dxp]

So glad you got it.
The price was so low that it was worth the risk of buying a lemon... 😉
I got mine at Foba's factory during an exceptional sale in 2023... and yes I paid far more than you...

I've gotta figure out how to store it in my little studio...it doesn't fit anywhere.

 

[FOBELIO]

Regarding Foba, does any of you know what these parts in the picture are?
I found them while clearing out storage at the Art and Design University.
I think these are Foba spare parts — the sleeves, at least — but I'm not completely sure.
Could they be parts from the clamping mechanism of Foba tripods (ALFEA)?

Are they worth keeping?
We don't have any ALFEA tripods; we only have three ASABA studio stands.

View attachment 4889994 View attachment 4889995

Grüezi Pallas and welcome to this forum

I think you assumption is right. They look very much as a tripod part. These sleeves are used in the tripod tubes to keep them looked once they extended and locked. Yours look like they are made of some kind of glass fibre material...

I checked my old generation ALFAE tripod and it have very similar sleeves as yours. See the attached photos

Are they from FOBA?
I don't really know... How conclude you that they are from FOBA? Any indications?
Some FOBA tripods use parts that look as they are made by Gitzo... I am pretty sure Gitzo rebranded stuff for FOBA...

Would I keep it?
Definitely or sell it on the usual market places! Spare parts are always welcome! I regret all the stuff I couldn't save during the FOBA closure...

Hope that helps







here the tripod in question, a old gen of ALFAE where the center column is screwed with three screws

 

[FOBELIO]

I've gotta figure out how to store it in my little studio...it doesn't fit anywhere.

I store it upside down with her little baby DUPLI... so I can use also the space around for more little stuff

 

[Pallas]

Grüezi Pallas and welcome to this forum

I think you assumption is right. They look very much as a tripod part. These sleeves are used in the tripod tubes to keep them looked once they extended and locked. Yours look like they are made of some kind of glass fibre material...

I checked my old generation ALFAE tripod and it have very similar sleeves as yours. See the attached photos

Are they from FOBA?
I don't really know... How conclude you that they are from FOBA? Any indications?
Some FOBA tripods use parts that look as they are made by Gitzo... I am pretty sure Gitzo rebranded stuff for FOBA...

Would I keep it?
Definitely or sell it on the usual market places! Spare parts are always welcome! I regret all the stuff I couldn't save during the FOBA closure...

Hope that helps





View attachment 4890010

here the tripod in question, a old gen of ALFAE where the center column is screwed with three screws
View attachment 4890011

Grüezi Fobelio, and thank you for welcoming me to this forum and for sharing your photos. 🙂

I assumed that these parts could be for Foba equipment because my predecessor at the photo workshop labelled the box "Foba".
(My predecessor left about 10 years ago to retire, and this box hasn't really been touched since. 🙂)
There was also a zip lock bag in that box with the Foba logo printed on it and two flat rubber rings inside, that I could identify as the rings that are inserted at the base plate of the large format ASMIA pan/tilt head.

There's still another bag with the Foba logo and rubber rings that look like they could be slipped over the knurled locking rings on an ALFAE.
Was there ever such a ting?
I'll take a photo in the coming days of that bag.

I didn't know that Gitzo might have manufactured components for Foba. I always thought that Foba did all of the fabrication in-house in Wettswil, except for the casting.

 

[dxp]

I store it upside down with her little baby DUPLI... so I can use also the space around for more little stuff


View attachment 4890040

I see you have a flat, mostly unoccupied surface capable of fitting a 50cm diameter thing. I envy you!

 

[Nokton48]

SONY DSC by Nokton48, on Flickr

Thanks to Great Help from a Friend, I have now finished the Plaubel 95x95mm lensboard, to Sinar Norma Board, forward mounted so it works AOK with the Sinar Norma Shutter. So the Seiko Shutter in the lens will work, or I can use the Norma Shutter, which works with barrel lenses. This is the AMAZING 80mm F5.6 Fuji GX680, transplanted into a Seiko Shutter. Sharp Razor contrasty lens, sharp enough for digital. Super Happy with how this turned out. Needs final interior painting with Flat Black Krylon, and it's completely done. In this configuration the camera is viewing Hasselblad CFV16 Digital through the viewfinder. NC2 Hasselblad Prism inverted works well to preview and compose. Broncolor Octobox 150 used as background.

 

[Pallas]

These are the (probably) Foba rubber rings, as I mentioned above.

Does anyone know if these are actually Foba parts? And where were they used?