Innovatronix True to Their Word

The Innovatronix gear recently and generously offered to me arrived on Wednesday. I had been tracking it's journey on the UPS site. From Manila to Osaka to Anchorage to Ontario (CA) it flew half-way around the world. From Ontario, it was trucked to Sylmar, CA, and then put on a another truck for local delivery to my doorstep. Total shipping time? Somewhere between 36 and 48 hours!

Three of the four products offered to me were shipped and delivered: The Explorer XT, with an accompanying Auxiliary Battery, and the Air Blower. The fourth product they offered, the self-powered, remotely-controlled, smoke machine, will be shipped in a week or so. Glen, Innovatronix's marketing guy, advised me their engineers are making some additional mods to the unit's wireless controls and, as soon as these changes were complete, he would be shipping me a unit. The smoke machine, BTW, isn't as yet available for sale so I'll be receiving a beta unit.

I'm stoked!

Initial reactions, in addition to excitement and appreciation: This stuff looks and feels great! It appears ruggedly constructed and definitely falls into the category of professional photography gear. The Explorer XT comes with a cool carrying bag that is quite functional: It has flaps on the top and on each end for easy access to the controls and power inputs/ouputs as well as a shoulder strap and hand grip that allows for easy carrying or attachment to a light stand to stand-in for a sand or shot-bag. I also figure the bag goes a long towards protecting the unit from dust, dirt, sand, moisture, and other potentially unfriendly elements. Glen tells me the unit can remain in the bag at all times, during production or while its charging. So, I'm guessing the unit doesn't generate too much heat.

I'm a little curious why the Auxiliary Battery doesn't come with a similar bag? (It's a bit smaller than the XT altho it seems a little heavier.) A bag for the aux battery would complete the power-duo's pro appearance, protection from the elements, and overall ease-of-use and functionality. The XT's bag, BTW, is very pro cinema-gear-like.

The Air Blower. as stated, seems ruggedly-constructed. It's heavy-duty, painted red, and also has that pro gear look and feel. It only appears to operate with DC provided via the cable and connector to an XT or an aux battery and looks like it only has one speed. Ideally, I'd like to see this unit have a DC converter so it could be used where A/C is available, not requiring the XT or aux battery for power, and perhaps varying-speed controls. We'll see if these are true issues once I use it in production.

I'm excited to test drive this gear! I'm considering a couple of different photo-scenarios where I'll be taking this gear out for a maiden, production voyage.

I can't wait to put this stuff to the test!

The pretty girl at the top is Jennifer from a shoot last summer. We were on location in a car impound garage. I love shooting Jennifer and I've done so a number of times. Besides being a total sweetie, she can SOoo bust-out the moves and poses!