Good Brands?

[Party Rocker]

Hey all, I'm back.

I was recently going through my stuff and was trying to find some cheap but very good equipment and I was wondering about the reliability of some brands.

I noticed Adkins Professional Lighting sells some good looking lights for cheap. I bought a pinspot from them and I guess I just didn't expect it to be so small.

Anyways, they have a 18 LED RGBW that is really designed for up lighting but I plan to use it to flood a stage. I found it for $25 and I was just curious if it seems too good to be true?

Is Adkins Professional Lighting a good brand to use?

From my experience:

Elation - Good quality and price.
Stage Ape/CheapLighting.com - Spotty quality, decent price.

 

[techieman33]

Places like Stage Ape, and cheaplighting should be avoided in my opinion. What they do is buy generic lights from China and slap a sticker on them, maybe create their own manual and then sell them to you at 1.5 to 3 times the price. You might get better support when buying from an American company, but I don't think it's worth the extra expense. Instead I would just buy direct from China through a site like alibaba or aliexpress and just buy extra lights with all the money you saved. When they break you can try to use them for parts or just throw them in the trash. These lights are usually at the bottom tier for quality. You might get lucky and they'll work for years, or get unlucky and get a few months out of them.

Beyond that you move into the companies like American DJ, Chauvet, and Elation. Their DJ lines are a step or two above the generic Chinese fixtures. They won't be amazing, but they should work, and you'll get tech support, warranties, replacement parts, and can send the lights in for repairs.

Then you get into their professional lines, 5 years ago they were mostly considered a joke. They were at best a step up from the DJ grade fixtures, and wouldn't survive long on the road. These days they still have some fixtures like that, but for the most part their quality is rising. Some of their fixtures are competing with the top tier products at much lower prices.

Beyond that you get into the Martin, Vari-lite, Clay Paky, ETC, Altman, and some others. They are the big boys. They have been in the business for a long time and have very good reputations. When you buy one of their fixtures you know it's going to work, and be reliable. Your going to pay for it, but if your going to take it on tour or know you'll be using it for a long time it's usually worth it for the peace of mind.

 

[len]

I agree. However, with buying direct (alibaba) you need to be VERY specific and thorough with your RFP, and don't settle for one quote. Ask several mfg. for one. Budgeting for spares is also a good idea, since they may show up damaged. It happens and some of them don't deal with returns very well. Besides which, return shipping may cost more than the fixture is worth.

 

[Party Rocker]

I've looked on eBay and such at the really cheap LED Pars from China and the things I didn't like about them was that they didn't have power-linking and something else I believe. But, I've bought an LED Par from StageApe and has worked quite amazingly for me. But I've had some less than stellar lights from them too.

This is great advice, thanks!

 

[DavidNorth]

I've looked on eBay and such at the really cheap LED Pars from China and the things I didn't like about them was that they didn't have power-linking and something else I believe.

I'm confused. The original light you asked about, the Adkins Professional 18 LED RGB Uplight does not have power pass through either. You might also want to ask them if it can be used in an orientation other than UP as it is passively cooled.

David

 

[Matthew Symons]

I have previously bought some lights directly from China, some are ok some are junk. I usually open each one up to look at the mains power supply to ensure it is safe (and fixtures directly from China will not likely have any approvals such as UL or CSA, so keep that in mind). I am finding that you get what you pay for, cheap lights are low quality fixtures, and don't produce great colours.

 

[SHCP]

I was looking to start buying LED movers, and was considering the Elation Platinum Wash ZFX Pro. Does anyone have experience with these, or is there a better alternative for the money?

 

[Thetechmanmac]

I was looking to start buying LED movers, and was considering the Elation Platinum Wash ZFX Pro. Does anyone have experience with these, or is there a better alternative for the money?

I really like the Chauvet Rogue series. Their wash fixtures are very similar to elation's, but probably a bit better quality. Chauvet has really improved themselves, I have been using several Rogue R2 spots and have been happy. See this thread about LED wash movers.