We have it so easy now! Astor strobe of the 1960's.

[x-ray]

Norman P2000D's were sometimes referred to as the Norman Portable Grill. I had a wedding photographer buddy who blew one up one day during a bridal shoot and caused a pre-bride to soil her linen.
On the other hand, Bill Norman made some really good portable 2oo watt second packs and heads back in the 70's.

I had 2 of the 200 ws portables and they were very good.

I had quite a few of the old P2000's and several of the newer smallercand lughter ones. Yes I had some P2000's blow. I'd been using a setup all day with 3 packs shooting products. I shut everything down, went out to supper and and came back and turned everything on. I was bent over onevwhen I turned it on and the diode blew!!! There was a ball of fire about three feet in diameter and a bang like a shotgun. It took me a while I come down from the ceiling. I had several blow but got rid of the Norman's and bought Speedotron.

I had 3 P4000's that were the worst units I've ever seen. Norman finally had the dealer exchange them for 2000's. One I had modified by Norman with heavy duty diodes and a cooling fan. The Sharper Image had theirs done that way. I got it back from Norman and tested it. First popwss ok, second pop it blew up.

I had several 800's. I was shooting in a live surgery and one shorted out and started stinking. There was no smoke but a really foul odor. One nerve thought the hospital was insenerating an amputated leg and then the pack started smoking.

Actually Norman and Speedotron are owned by the same company now. They own quite a few companies that make strobes. Hope the improve the Normans and don't cut corners on Speedo.

 

[rfaspen]

I'm still using a Norman 202 pack with LH-2 and LH-4 heads. Not their newest lineup 🙂
Works very well, but like many other brands of the day the power pack has a disconcerting hum when I turn it on. I also always isolate the trigger with an optical unit. I just know there's zillions of amps ready to kill in that thing.

 

[Nokton48]

"One of the big complaints Ive had with strobes vs hot lights is the lack of fresnel spot lights. You almost have to have hot lights adapted."

This came with the 606 outfit from the British 8x10 fashion photographer in NYC. A Colortran Spot adapted professionally to old Broncolor Pulso, so this will fit 606 heads on down to the Broncolor C70. Even has a built-in muffin fan to remove heat. Shown with one of my little C171 Broncolors; these are great strobes but the modeling lights really generate a lot of heat being 250W. You can grill your hand if you're not careful.

This unit rolls around my studio on an extra large Manfrotto Stand with casters.

Last time I priced new Broncolor 606 flashtubes, I think they were something like $4000 each 😱😱😱 Forget that!

Colortrans Spotlight Broncolor Pulso Adapted by Nokton48, on Flickr

 

[x-ray]

Holy cow 600w modeling light. Speedos use 250's.

I'd forgotten about the the Altman spot that Speedo makes.

 

[ColSebastianMoran]

In 1970 I bought a Braun flash unit (very portable, but weak) and used it for years; then the rechargeable battery died. I continued to use it as a slave on AC power in my house.

Braun F900. I have a couple of these. You can get the rechargeable battery pack rebuilt for a reasonable cost. I use them with slaves in DIY light boxes.

 

[robert blu]

So many interesting stories! Thanks!

robert

 

[rybolt]

I had 2 of the 200 ws portables and they were very good.

I had quite a few of the old P2000's and several of the newer smallercand lughter ones. Yes I had some P2000's blow. I'd been using a setup all day with 3 packs shooting products. I shut everything down, went out to supper and and came back and turned everything on. I was bent over onevwhen I turned it on and the diode blew!!! There was a ball of fire about three feet in diameter and a bang like a shotgun. It took me a while I come down from the ceiling. I had several blow but got rid of the Norman's and bought Speedotron.

I had 3 P4000's that were the worst units I've ever seen. Norman finally had the dealer exchange them for 2000's. One I had modified by Norman with heavy duty diodes and a cooling fan. The Sharper Image had theirs done that way. I got it back from Norman and tested it. First popwss ok, second pop it blew up.

I had several 800's. I was shooting in a live surgery and one shorted out and started stinking. There was no smoke but a really foul odor. One nerve thought the hospital was insenerating an amputated leg and then the pack started smoking.

Actually Norman and Speedotron are owned by the same company now. They own quite a few companies that make strobes. Hope the improve the Normans and don't cut corners on Speedo.

The Norman problem was that once a plug on the pack went bad it would also fry the head. If you saw any trace of carbon you should not use that plug.
I was keeping Dick Texler up in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, really busy for a long time fixing packs and heads.

 

[x-ray]

Braun made really good strobes. I had one of the RL-515 units that used the small 515v battery. Batteries weren't cheap though but they lasted a long time and recycled super fast. The 515 had a good guide number too.

My dad had or borrowed a Braun portable that had a wet cell battery like a car. It was about the size of a 515 but used sulfuric acid and lead in the battery just like in a car but was much smaller. It had a clear window on the front with colored beads in it to indicate the specific gravity of the acid to indicate the degree it was charged. It's a lot like the car battery testers you get at the auto supply store or the ones for antifreeze.

 

[x-ray]

The Norman problem was that once a plug on the pack went bad it would also fry the head. If you saw any trace of carbon you should not use that plug.
I was keeping Dick Texler up in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, really busy for a long time fixing packs and heads.

I never had a head go bad but could see how that would happen. Overall I liked the size and weight of the newer 2000's. Weren't they designated as the 2000x? They were about half the weight and 2/3 the size of the old P2000. The old LH2000's were good but the clip on fan always rattled. The newer plastic ones were quieter but the clips that held the reflectors on would break. Weren't they the LH2400? I used some pretty large and heavy light modifiers. I had some 6ft soft boxes and had one on a 8ft remote boom. I also loved using the big beauty dish with the grid. It gave a beautiful light without the grid that had a hotter center than at the edges and could be feathered nicely. Add the grid and it was directional and soft. I had some trouble-liters too that were nice at times. You could get a pencil thin beam of light in those tough places. Unfortunately they would only take 1200ws.

On the Norman packs all heads used 900v tubes and I'd you swapped the fan and modeling light wires in the plug they could be used on Speedo black line.

 

[Nokton48]

Holy cow 600w modeling light. Speedos use 250's.

I stand corrected; My little C171 Monolights take 250W like Normans and Speedos. But the big 606 standard heads are 600W. The bigger Hazylight 606 head take 1000W. Expensive to replace; I have had to do it. Not easy to take apart, either. Fan cooled of course.

 

[x-ray]

The big colortran / Ascor softlight I posted a picture of in my first post had 4x 1,000watt halogen bulbs and 2 quartz flash tubes about 3-1/2 feet long.

 

[Nokton48]

I think I have something very similar; except I removed the tubes and modeling lamps, and disposed of the giant metal softbox. I figured some day I could build a softbox out of the striplights and related parts. The softbox was humungeous; I seem to remember I paid $100 for it. It had four plug ins. I wonder if it was Ascor?

ascor light bank by Nokton48, on Flickr

 

[x-ray]

On the one I used it had 2 cables that went to the packs. Each tube could take 2400ws. I'd guess they'd take more because they were quartz and huge. The tubes are 900v like Speedotron blackline. Norman pro level packs are 900v too.

Do you know if any of the current systems are 900v like Balcar, Acute and Elincrom. I'd like to know if other heads are adaptable to Speedo. I don't ever want to attempt to rum a 400v head on 900v, fireworks.

 

[Pherdinand]

LOL i have read "astro strobe" and i was wondering what kind of strobe power you would need for astrophotography bu ti see it's not about that. What a disappointment.

 

[Nokton48]

Do you know if any of the current systems are 900v like Balcar, Acute and Elincrom. I'd like to know if other heads are adaptable to Speedo. I don't ever want to attempt to rum a 400v head on 900v, fireworks.

Sorry I don't have an answer on that. I googled Flash Clinic in NYC, and I see they have closed. What a bummer. They were always able to take care of my Norman 200b's and always did great work for me. This is just a guess, but I'll bet other brands can be adapted to Speedo. But not something I would want to do myself.....

 

[x-ray]

when I sent my Ascor spot off last week I searched for places that service studio flash equipment and every one of the independents that I found reference to had closed. Bad news! I decided to see If Speedotron would since the bought out Ascor and fortunately the said send it up.

I ran into the same thing with a Fujinon 180mm viewcamera lens. Fuji never officially imported them into the US and never serviced them here. I bought a mint lens from Japan and it was extremely soft. The company in Japan said to keep it and they would refund my money. I decided to try and get it repaired and searched for an optical company that would know how to work in it with an optical bench and the correct instruments. I was shocked to discover there were none in the US except CenturyOptical / Schneider in California.

I had some work done on a 121 super angulon by them several years ago but that's a Schneider lens not a Fuji. I contacted Century and asked if they worked on other brands and was told no. After a moment the tech I talked to asked what kind of shutter is it mounted in. I responded, Copal. He said there's a chance they would work on it because Schneider distributes Copal. They did in the end fix it. Someone had tossed the shims when removing the cells from the shutter causing element spacing to be wrong. It took an optical bench to do the work and they have the only one in the US that does this kind of work.

Unfortunately we're approaching a time we're not going to be able to get our equipment repaired.

 

[Nokton48]

Helix is Chicago is another possibility, but Speedotron has the business and I've heard they are great. I did a little data mining and a lot of heads that are adapted have a drop in power with the new Speedo pack, for various reasons. I read Flash Clinic was modifying Profoto heads to Speedo (and used to make adapter cords). The Profotos tubes were shorter lived, the Speedos packs runs at much higher voltage. Not sure I like the sound of that. Yes I agree best to get repaired what you have, while you still can. Shops are closing up.

 

[x-ray]

Isn't flash clinic gone?

Speedo uses the highest voltage as does Norman and Ascor when they were made. Each made or make a lower voltage series too, brownline and 500 series. I don't remember the designation of Ascors.

As cheap as used packs are now it'd probably be cheaper to buy a prophoto or Elimchrom or similar than having something adapted. I bought a nearly 2403B for $99 locally and 102 heads for $50 each. My last 4803CX was just over $400.

I've been tempted to buy a nice little Dynalite or Comet system but picked up a Speedo blackline 800cx like new for under $200. I never had a Speedo pack that small and light. Speedo packs have come a long way with a 3 stop adjustable output in 1/3 stop increments. Handle can be combined or isolated and recycle is fast. The 4800 recycles to full in 4 seconds. It pulls 40 amps as it does it too but it's fast. Broncolor might have been faster with 220v input.

 

[Nokton48]

I call the Broncolor 606 "The Iron Horse". LOL I've never weighed it but it's about the size of a portable refrigerator, and heavier than one of those for sure. Yes Flash Clinic is gone, unfortunately for us they were great for modifying strobes and repairs. As I mentioned I really enjoy my Hasselblad Ringlight attached to Norman 200b pack, which was a highly overused fashion lighting tool in the 1980s. I think it was made by the German company Hensel. I was delighted to get one, they were adapting them and sending them everywhere. 200WS through a smallish ringlight attached to the front of the Blads. Everybody was using them. Quickly the effect went out of fashion. The 606 does recycle in about four seconds on fast recycle, and about thirty seconds on slow recycle. Prices sure have dropped over the years. You can buy now about whatever you want at very reasonable prices.

Peter at Flash Clinic was even making plug-in battery checkers for the 200b batteries. Very useful.

 

[x-ray]

I had 2 of the older 200's and 3 heads with a Y cord. My work changed and I shelved them. During the great (nothing great about it) recession a friend who did ball teams and weddings and owned a commercial lab hit on hard times like a lot of photographers. I think it effected about everyone no matter where they were. Anyway I gave him my 200's trying to help. I had two new batteries in them so they were good to go.

Funny how trends come and go so fast. Like you said ringlites are cheap now and you rarely see anyone use them. Remember the hosemaster? That came and went pretty fast too. Then there was cross processed transparency film in C-41 and HDR for the digital guys. About a year ago one of the art directors I've worked with for thirty years asked me if I still had any color gells. She wanted to use them on a shot I guess. I embarrassed her without thinking when I said "oh that's so 80's". After that comment We never used them. I think for giggles I'll drag the box out one day and take them on a shoot.