Speedotron Force 5 Monolight with 11" Reflector

Comments about Speedotron Force 5 Monolight with 11" Reflector:

The Speedotron Force 5 is a must-have in your arsenal of lighting tools if you're a professional photographer. No one light can do it all, but to kick-start or build your Pro portraiture or product photography business, the Force 5 is practical, versatile, and compliments any studio space restrictions.
The adjustable power dial allows you to endlessly experiment with different lighting props, i.e., disks, mirrors, backdrops, different colored core board arrangements, and gels, with or without a slave. It is powerful enough for any simple set-up or a more challenging set that can drive other slaves. Most important to me, it's a system I can build on!
Joel - Pro Photographer

Comments about Speedotron Force 5 Monolight with 11" Reflector:

Choose this 500 ws version over the Force 10 when you fearoverloading your AC lines. This mono light will pop several times a second for yourfashion needs. Remember this: you don't want to blow fusesin the middle of a shoot! Consider the fact that the difference between the 1000 wsversion and this 500 ws version is the fact that each timeyou flash, the unit pulls amps at the highest rating of theunit each time irregardless of its lower power setting. Allvoltage variator type power selection monolights work thisway. So, you want to fit your flash unit choice closely to yourpower needs so that 3 or 5 of these units do not pop yourfuses in the heat of a shoot. This unit will give you about3 pops per second at a moderate lower power, such as 75-100ws. At 37 ws I believe it is 5 pops per second. Perfectfor digital photography. It has two ranges of 1/3 f stop or1/6 f stop changes by turning a knob. It will also do 1/10f stop using software and a palm computer. You can create asymphony of programmed Force 5s or 10s, 25 mono lights totalall in software and connected by internet. You can havedelayed pops, timed length pops, multiple pops, etc. Whatother monolight does this? Contact Speedotron technicaldepartment for really detailed information, they are veryfriendly and helpful when going over features.This unit has all the features of the Force 10, but the realreason you would go for it over the Force 10 is the factthat you would use 3 to 5 of these units on one AC line. Yes, it has slow recycle to reduce the possibility of popinga fuse. But again, in the heat of a shoot, you want fastrecycle, and so the Force 5 will lessen the drain on your ACline. This unit is very light output efficient, almost asefficient as Balcar. It is made from football helmetplastic and it has smooth edges. The internal circuitry ismodular for easy fixing. It has a computerized boot-uproutine to prevent capacitors from blowing on start up (ifyou haven't used it in a while, this matters). This is a Rolls Royce unit, top of its class. Considergetting two Force 10s and two or three Force 5s. Use theForce 10s for your umbrellas and the others for yourbackground lights, etc. And then when you need highestrecycle speed in a weak AC line, use the Force 5s as yourumbrella fillers.

Problems Encountered: None

Previous Equivalent Items Owned: Balcar, Norman

Items I Recommend: Any reflectors you need.