Okay, let me jump in here...
I have used and own few of this brands, now in the process of reading my self of two brands in favor of the ultimate one, BRIESE.
Make no mistake, that lighting it is your PEN and INK, if you don't have a good Pen you might be able to write just the same but if the Pen looses INK left and right, and or its strokes aren't the same over and over, then your story wan't read properly and look like crap on paper, well... LIGHTING IS THE SAME!!
Many lighting companies offer different things, not al company build the same lights, not all companies build within the same margins, and definitely not all companies and or products have the same results.
I like Broncolor, and I like Profoto and own several of their systems, but when it comes to the light spectrum direction and reflection offered by the control FOCUS system of the BRIESE FOCUS there is nothing like it, and I mean NOTHING LIKET IT!!
BTW: B2PRO were sued and lost against BRIESE for having stolen and copied their products, not a good business in my book.
The BRIESE FOCUS CINEMA Lights, which I only use in HMI, I just DON'T use Tungstens, and also for Flash use, but lately I have come to much prefer Continuos light yet still immensely enjoy the Look, Fill, and texture given by the Briese Focus system and their Materials.
So much so that I am shooting my next Movie with this Fixtures with Continuos HMI lighting, as well as shoot the RED EPIC for Frame Grabs extraction for a Fashion Project for Print, in which I will also might use some Profoto Flash units.
They are yes Very Expensive, and not easy to find around, but the BRIESE web site is very comprehensive in their description and ordering is been super easy for me Anthony, possibly you have gotten some crap by low end dealers, other then that, you choose you order you pay and they deliver...
In over 30 years of Still Photography and most recent 15 in Cinematography, I have used just about anything to light up a scene, form Candles to House hold light bulbs and you name it, Tungstens, LED's, HMI's, Gas lights, Chinese Globes, and so on and on, yet at the end of the day, every application has its needs, but for my type of work and what I like most, aside form few Super Powerful 18k HMI's to punch thru as the Sun or Thru the Sun, I prefer LED's and mostly now moving completely to the BRIESE FOCUS CINEMA system.
We all have our preferences, and most, like my self in the past, have BUDJET constrains, now fortunately I don't have them any more so I can afford the absolute very best, and that is BRIESE.
This again is my Expert Opinion, after I have been working on all available lights for years now, in different fields, form Still Photography to Cinematography, both in 2D and in 3D, and the way BRIESE allows me to light up my Subjects and my Scenes is just Marvelous!!
Oh, and if I was to make an example... Comparing other lights in question here to the BRIESE is like comparing the 35mm cameras to the MF ones, there is those that see it and those that don't, I DO...
Yeah I am a freak of LIGFHT...
BTW: Good seen you here Anthony...
email me if you need any assistance in ordering the BRIESE.
Yvonne Kappes has been great...
Briese Lichttechnik
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