Wholesale at Amvona.com, questions :)

[Monument]

I see that amvona.com is selling a lot of light modifiers at a discount price. I've searched around the forum for information, but I can't seem to find it, so I'm asking.

1. Amvona says 4-6 weeks delivery, is this correct? Are they faster\slower than this?

2. From what I've gathered, the build quality is fine, so I'm wondering if they will fit my Elinchrom Style heads. They say "Fits most name brand light heads" at the page, but what does that mean?

3. I'm thinking of getting two strip boxes, size recomandations? I wan't to do portrait and full body. My daughter is a fine model, and so is my girlfriend. :) My prelimanary choice is the Amvona DPN-56; http://www.amvona.com/?page=shop/flypage&view=1&product_id=2718#faqs

4. Anything else I should pick up while there?
-I've got details;
4x Elinchrom 1200 Style heads
5x lightstands
1x background stand
4x octaboxes, will be selling two or three

[mbellot]

I can't say about Amvona.com directly, but the two items I've purchased from them through fleabay were both shipped extremely quickly.

The quality was OK for the price, although the backdrop stand was missing one of the internal springs that stop it from slamming down. I fixed it myself rather than screwing around with RMAs and waiting.

The backdrop is nice but the colors don't come close to what was shown in the listing.

[Monument]

Well, thats what I'm thinking. Cheap, works ok for the price, and helps me learn. I can not afford to go the elinchrom way now, but later when I know what I need, I'll do that. :)

[Lotto]

1. It takes 4-5 days after the payment before they ship, so usually takes a day or 2 less than 2 weeks before I receive in California.

2. Their universal speedring is the Bowen S type, so it would not fit the Elinchrom, but I read you can can buy a inner adapting ring for $10-15 to fit the Chrom.

3. Their strip box has Velcro strips on the inner edges, you could mask off the larger box easily. In fact, they come with a set of masks.

[Monument]

Hmm, intresting. :)

Where do I buy the adapter ring? I can't seem to find it on the site. Hmm, do I have to buy from BH-PV and modify for the boxes?

[crazyseany]

on the ebay auctions I paid on friday and they were at the house in ohio on tuesday or weds.

been happy so far. have the backdrop support and a tripod.

sean

also had to deal with customer service and received the missing item as quick

[tetrode]

Hmm, intresting. :)

Where do I buy the adapter ring? I can't seem to find it on the site. Hmm, do I have to buy from BH-PV and modify for the boxes?

I can help you with that one. What you want is the Norman ring:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/350716-REG/Norman_812635_Speed_Ring_Adapter_for.html

It's $18.50 at B&H and I just bought my second one from them yesterday. The Normans fit my Amvona speed rings perfectly. As I mentioned in a thread some time ago, DO NOT get the SP Studio Systems Elinchrom ring or, as I discovered yesterday, the Photek Elinchrom ring. These rings are less expensive but they are also fractionally too small in diameter to sit properly on the retaining lip of the Amvona rings.

Just to make things interesting, here's a tidbit I also discovered recently: Apparently, not all Amvona rings have exactly the same inside diameter. The Bowens mount that came with my Amvona 36"x48" softbox will not fit in the speedring that came with my small Amvona 16"x22" softbox. Conversely, the Bowens mount from the smaller box fits somewhat loosely in the speedring from the larger box. The Norman ring does fit in both of my speedrings but, inasmuch as there is some minor size variation in the Amvona rings, I can't state with 100% certainty that the Norman will fit ALL Amvona rings.

See this thread for everything you need to know:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=503325

Dave F.

[m3rdpwr]

I'm not overly impressed with the Amvona gear I've purchased.

However, since I am in Massachusetts, I get my product pretty quickly the times I did order from them...

-Mario

[crazyseany]

I'm not overly impressed with the Amvona gear I've purchased.

However, since I am in Massachusetts, I get my product pretty quickly the times I did order from them...

-Mario


what does that mean?
I'm not overly impressed either but thought it was good deal/ quality for the money..... I don't think I would be overly impressed with a tripod that cost $1000 ..... it better do more then hold my camera...... Mr. Tripod I would like a sirloin med rare please.... If it could deliver then I would be impressed

sean

[tetrode]

what does that mean?
I'm not overly impressed either but thought it was good deal/ quality for the money..... I don't think I would be overly impressed with a tripod that cost $1000 ..... it better do more then hold my camera...... Mr. Tripod I would like a sirloin med rare please.... If it could deliver then I would be impressed

sean

I'm with you on this one, Sean. The Amvona boxes may not be impressive, but they do what they're supposed to, offer good if not stunning build quality, and represent very good value. I don't much care for the company itself or their customer service but the few products I've purchased from them certainly exceeded my (admittedly limited) expectations.

Dave F.

[TMR Design]

Unfortunately I had the opposite experience. I was so very disappointed in the piece of crap light stand and boom I got from them. It looked used, beat up and scratched. Bags of parts were opened and incomplete and on top of that the product was junk.

Dealing with customer service was a nightmare and I was pretty angry when they wanted me to pay for the return shipping. Needless to say they ended up paying for it.

That's probably the extreme and I realize others have been happy with Amvona but I won't do business with them again.

[Titus213]

Be selective about what you order from them. Heavy duty they ain't and as Robert says, customer service can be an issue.

I've been happy with the background stands I have - not terrific but easily worth the price as was the 5-in-1 reflector.

[m3rdpwr]

what does that mean?
I'm not overly impressed either but thought it was good deal/ quality for the money..... I don't think I would be overly impressed with a tripod that cost $1000 ..... it better do more then hold my camera...... Mr. Tripod I would like a sirloin med rare please.... If it could deliver then I would be impressed

sean

I'm with you on this one, Sean. The Amvona boxes may not be impressive, but they do what they're supposed to, offer good if not stunning build quality, and represent very good value. I don't much care for the company itself or their customer service but the few products I've purchased from them certainly exceeded my (admittedly limited) expectations.

Dave F.

Well than perhaps I should be more specific and share my experience.

Their muslins are of poor quality and are practically see through.
This means I have to double fold the backgrounds to make sure they are opaque and not show what's beind them.
I had ordered two different products and wanted them shipped together for reduced shipping but they never replied to me so I had to pay double shipping.

So as Robert and Dave said, customer service is not great. And my personal experience with their muslin's (which I have several of) in my opinion are of poor quality.

As long as you are expecting average products and possible bad customer service, than go right ahead.

I was simply offerince my experience as well as others have...

-Mario

[DerekW]

Well than perhaps I should be more specific and share my experience.

So as Robert and Dave said, customer service is not great. And my personal experience with their muslin's (which I have several of) in my opinion are of poor quality.


-Mario

If you weren't happy with the quality, why did you buy "several" ?
Just Curious

[m3rdpwr]

If you weren't happy with the quality, why did you buy "several" ?
Just Curious

Good question DerekW, and I will explain.

Somone in photo class turned me to Amvona so I gave their ebay auctions a try.

I won a new 10-x20 (Or 10x18, I think) tye-dye background from amvona ebay for an amazing $5.50. Shipping of course was probably ~$15-$17 I believe.

When I got it, the quality wasn't actually that bad, especially for the price.

So being happy scoring this for just over $20, I bid on two more, a white and black muslin. Which of course was a lot more than the $5.50 one I purchased.

These were supposed to be of "high quality" so I expected to pay more, which I did. Unfortunately, by the time I actually got to use them, (a few weeks later) I realized they were of poor quality. Both opacity and being slightly smaller than they mention.

On top of that, they never responded to my multiple requests to combine shipping (which they offer in the auction) which would have been about $20-$22 and instead I had to pay $17 each. Hence why I was a little upset about there customer service.

While one can't expect a high quality background.
One would expect that it would not vary so much in their lineup.

Shipping was always fast from them being only a few cities away.
(And I do give them prop's for that as I mentioned.)

However, I'm not likely to buy from them again unless I could actually see and feel the product.

I've bought other good muslin's from other sources and while more expensive, well worth the cost.

In short, you get what you pay for.

Sorry for the long post.

-Mario

[TMR Design]

Sometimes great deals are only great because of price and consumers that are price conscious are more than willing to take the chance in an attempt to find out if in fact the deal is as great as it seems.

The most important thing is to learn from it and not repeat mistakes.

[mbellot]

In short, you get what you pay for.


Anyone who ignores this most basic rule of purchasing is just fooling themselves.

The Amvona stuff is sold/auctioned at a much lower price than similar (function) other equipment, expecting the same high quality for 25% or less the price of the "good stuff" is living in a dream world.

The background stand I have is decent for the light use it will get. If I was a "pro" who dragged equipment all over the place I doubt it would last a week.

The muslin I have is a bit thin, but its dark and I shoot up against a dark wall so its not much of an issue.

I actually remember reading a couple weeks/months back someone here buys the muslins from Amvona and refinishes them to their liking because its actually cheaper than buying raw material.

[ueb0258]

m3rdpwr - I dont know about your auctions but in the times I have won multiple auctions from Amvona when I went to check out in My Ebay the items were combined and the shipping was reduced. As I said I dont know about your auctions but I have never had any trouble with the reduced shipping costs.

With that said I have not had any issues with any of the many Amvona products I have ordered from ebay. I knew they would not be pro build and bid accordingly. For the money I paid the tripod, triple background support set, 2 heavy duty lightstands, 5 ft. octobox, 4x6 ft softbox, stand and boom arm, and a couple of tripod heads have all been well worth I paid for them and are still in use to this day. I purchased from them on ebay before things there started going well above what I thought an off brand might be worth for trying out. I always spent lots of time and watched tons of auctions and never went over what I intended to spend (total with shipping) and I have been reasonably happy.

[m3rdpwr]

ueb0258, back than Amvona didbn't have a combined button.

It was said you need to contact them after you won the bid.
Which I attempted to do.

Also, when I first started bidding ebay Amvona they had tons and tons of auctions going at once. So lower winning prices were common.

It seems now they put up a lot less so bidding seems higher.
At least that's what I've been seeing.

Anyway, I'm not here to bash them.
Just share my experience.

-Mario

[TMR Design]

Everyone judges a quality product differently based on needs, type of shooting, studio or location, etc.. so a product that seems great to one person may be junk to another and vice versa.

[crazyseany]

I agree Robert. I didn't have a tripod at all and spending $700 on one is out of the question for me. I ended up getting a set of legs and a head. The checkout combined shipping by itself although it wasnt too much of a discount. I paid $70 for both shipped (858 legs and A03 head)

I ordered the A-015 backdrop stand. it is the one with 3 crossbars. the stands are really robust and its HUGE... lol guess never thought of the dimensions... ut I can always shrink it down.

They forgot to include the 2 brackets that hold all 3 crossbars at one time.... I called and hit the option to place a new order ( I always do this then you're not on hold for an hour (same with the cable company)) They transfered me and after 20 minutes (The guys computer was SLOOOOOW!!!!! He shipped them that day or next and got them within a few days.

Remember when looking at review websites. I was happy, everthing went as planned... I didn't post on the review site. what do they say.... 1 bad experience tells 25 ppl but it takes 25 good ones to get a new customer.....

Sean

[darkvibe]

I have their 014 background stand (the one with 1 cross bar) and a 10x16 muslin. The stand is robust and the build quality is alright. The background is fine, I don't find it see through at all. (made a post about it here http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=533965 )

I'm happy with everything. It's probably not the right stuff for someone who's doing it for a living but for a guy learning to take portraits in his livingroom it's more than good enough.

I bought both from ebay and never dealt with customer service but everything shipped immediately.

[DerekW]

Thanks for the detailed response.

[Monument]

Thanks for the info guys, guess I forgot all about that deal. Seems like it was for the best. Well, I'll save up for Elinchrome accessories then. :)

/me wanders back into the dream world