I have to disagree.. bogen and avenger
 

bogen and avenger very similar but very different from each other as far as product quality and range of products.

I like Avenger stuff much better than bogen.

They are all distrubuted by Manfrotto and the whole thing is owned by Vitech in England..

I don't want to argue about something so trivial but many Avenger product even have the same number as their manfrotto cousins.

Items like the super clamps, the reflector holder, grip head and some of the baby stands are identical except for the knobs and name stamp. The clamps and the reflector holder have the same part number.

The head office in Italy is at the same address. Granted Avenger is upscale and goes beyond the Manfrotto line. All one has to do is go on line at www.manfrotto.com to see the obvious similarity. They both share the same web site as well.

This is not heresay, I've actually bought Avenger stuff when I couldn't find the manfrotto equivilent. Avengers grip selection is much more extensive than the manfrotto but the fact remains much of it is the same thing.

Some other company may well own them but the fact remains Gruppo Manfrotto consists of Manfrotto, Avenger Grip and LiteC.

Chimera 24x32 kit on super special..
 

go to www.videogearshop.com

Look under SoftBanks/Softbox lighting for the Chimera kit

$525 is a great deal.

Happy Holidays

A small modification to Richard's list might be to consider a dedo 650 in place of the Arri or Mole - not that there is anything wrong with those, just that the dedo is, well, a dedo.

By the way, I had a look at some neat little dedo stands in B&H and found that they were identical to the Manfrotto ones but at twice the price. Not similar, identical. Same castings, same everything, except the 1/4 thread poking out of the spigot.

Best,
Helen

some of the Arri kits are now including a Chimera softbox for the 650 in the kit. i just picked one up and have been quite impressed with the performance.

Helen, or anybody else, could you please articulate the differences between arri fresnels and dedolights, pros and cons of each. I've gone through the search of prior posts and didn't find much.

Dedo is a god.........
 

Let me put it this way.. there is no other light that can do what dedo lights do.

they are like surgical tools..

Optical spots, Iris, Smooth beam spread.. tight spots.. bright and unique..

beyond fresnel..

I love the 650 Dedo too Helen but it is like $600 bucks.. and worth every penny..

I love a woman who knows her dedo..

Plus Dedo Weingart is a very cool guy from Germany..
I would suggest you get a catalog so you can look at Photometric data..

Lots of choices...
 

www.videogearshop.com has the Chimera item 8000 for $525 and that is a great deal.

Mole, Arri, LTM all make nice lights

Lowel makes good stuff as well

www.chimeralighting.com has a new quick release speedring coming out soon