Xenon or LED Strobes

[mmais68569]

What is the general feeling on which is the better of the two. I am going to add a case next year & want the best.

I am going to by from CDI.

Mike

[Surfing4Dough]

I like the Xenon (from CLS). From reading, I think that many of those with LEDs are disappointed and I have seen several posts that indicate that people are going to buy xenon to add to their LEDs since the LEDs lack the "pop," brightness, and randomness.

[DownTown]

Definitely xenon. The LEDs have no punch like the xenon flash tubes do. Now, if you really want to talk about strobes, I'll tell you about my 3000 watt Atomic Strobe .

D.T.

[JeffF]

I'm an odd ball and actually like the LED strobes. I like being able to fire all of them at the same time or by using a little pre-charge, fire them randomly. I used 23 on our mega tree star this year and during Sandstorm I fire them all together on the beat which looks great in person. You can kind of see it in the video even...

And here's what the star looks like in the daylight...
http://www.mainelights.org/Christmas2010Daylight/dscf0058.html

As far as punch, I think they do have less than the xenon strobes *BUT* you can overcome that with sheer quantity. And like I said, it's great being able to fire them in unison...

-Jeff

[edit]Actually, that video is horrible... it's before I cleaned up the sequence to have the star fire on the beat instead of "kindof" on the beat here and there... but you get the idea.

[George Simmons]

I'll be the counter-point to Jeffrey. The thing I most DISLIKE about the LED strobes is the way they fire in unison. If it was for the first second or two it would be alright, but it lasts for five to eight seconds. For me, that's too long for all of them to be flashing in unison. That's not the look I'm trying for and I don't like the glow when they precharge in the dark at a time they're not supposed to be seen.

The strobes from Paul, at least as recently as this year, the LEDs and Zenon tube models look like they're built by the same company. As a result, even the Zenon tube models all fire in unison for the first few seconds unless you pre-charge them. They fire at a different rate from the LEDs and become random much quicker than the LED models, but it is still noticeable.

Ironically, the least reliable but best-looking strobes that I've personally used are from Darryl Brown at Christmas Light Show. His are/were Zenon tube models and they seem to fire randomly right from the beginning. But the failure rate of those for many people, including me, was well over 50% per year and that's totally unacceptable to me at any price. Supposedly he's getting better ones now, but I'm one of those people who will sometimes accept getting screwed once if it comes with an apology, but I'll never accept getting screwed twice from the same person - no matter the reason. YMMV

Maybe the best choice is using both kinds. (Say 3 to 1 zenon vs. LED) Since I have them, I use both kinds together and the issue of firing in unison isn't as noticeable. Maybe the people at the street they don't notice it at all. But I see it. And it bugs me. So it's pick your poison if you want to stay in the low end price range.

If you really want to get radical, a pixel of a CCR makes for a darn effective strobe.

[Steve Constantino]

I like the xenon ones.

Steve

[Surfing4Dough]

George Simmons wrote:

Ironically, the least reliable but best-looking strobes that I've personally used are from Darryl Brown at Christmas Light Show. His are/were Zenon tube models and they seem to fire randomly right from the beginning. But the failure rate of those for many people, including me, was well over 50% per year and that's totally unacceptable to me at any price. Supposedly he's getting better ones now, but I'm one of those people who will sometimes accept getting screwed once if it comes with an apology, but I'll never accept getting screwed twice from the same person - no matter the reason. YMMV

For what it is worth, I have only had the "newer" strobes from CLS purchased late last year, and more this year, and have had zero failures (I think I have 30-40 strobes).

[JeffF]

George Simmons wrote:

... I don't like the glow when they precharge in the dark at a time they're not supposed to be seen.

I almost never have everything dark when I'm pre-charging the strobes so you don't notice them ever-so-slightly glowing for the 0.8s they are pre-charging.

Like you said, it's a "pick your poison" type deal. I have ~150 xenon and LED strobes that have come from 4 or 5 different vendors. I like buying from Paul during his pre-season sale and I also like the Action Lighting strobes.

-Jeff

[HowardShank]

Most of my LED's have burnt out even with weep holes. All my xenon's are going strong still.

[jimswinder]

I bought about 40 LED strobes from CDI (not that it is their fault)....

anybody wanna buy them?

I was HUGELY disappointed...no "pop" or "wow" factor at all...

to me, they are not much brighter than a regular LED C6 light going on and off...

[JeffF]

How much are you looking to get for the strobes Jim?