Bowens International
Encyclopedia
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
based camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
repair company, in 1923 which by the 1950s had grown to be one of the largest in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. In 1963, the name Bowens International LTD. was registered.
Company history
Bowens manufactureManufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
lighting equipment for photographers. The first flash bulb
Flashbulb
Flashbulb may refer to:*Flash photography*The Flashbulb, one of the pseudonyms of electronica musician Benn Jordan*"Flashbulb", a bonus track by Nirvana...
units were produced in 1947 and in 1950 the company started to produce its first electronic
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
studio flash
Flash (photography)
A flash is a device used in photography producing a flash of artificial light at a color temperature of about 5500 K to help illuminate a scene. A major purpose of a flash is to illuminate a dark scene. Other uses are capturing quickly moving objects or changing the quality of light...
systems.
Until the 1960s, studio flash systems were large and cumbersome, requiring bulky power generator
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
s to power the flash heads, connected by large cables. In 1963, Bowens invented the first electronic studio flash unit with its power source built into it. This became known as a monobloc
Monobloc
Monobloc may refer to:*Monobloc engine: an internal combustion engine with the cylinder head and block formed as one unit.*Monobloc : a type of light-weight chair made of one-piece plastic.*Monobloc *Monobloc LNB...
(sometimes monolight) which is now an industry standard tool.
Following this invention the company dedicated itself to the design and production of studio flash equipment, Bowens Sales & Service grew out of the Bowens Camera service company and in 1966 they made their first appearance at Photokina
Photokina
The photokina is the world's largest trade fair for the photographic and imaging industries. The first photokina was held in Cologne, Germany, in 1950, and it is now held biannually in September at the koelnmesse Trade Fair and Exhibition Centre...
showing their products to the worldwide photography community and taking their first steps towards global distribution.
In 1968 they produced an update to the Monobloc, The Monolite 400 and later products such as Quad, Prolite and Esprit have also proved popular amongst photographic professionals.
Today, the company continues to produce studio flash systems and photographic accessories from its factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
in Clacton on Sea, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. With distribution in more than 70 countries Bowens lighting equipment is the most used flash product in the world.
The main competitors of Bowens International include Broncolor
Bron Elektronik
Bron Elektronik is a manufacturer of flash equipment for photography. It is located in Allschwil in Switzerland. Bron manufactures the Broncolor and Visatec lines of strobes. The Broncolor line includes studio systems with separate power packs and heads, as well as monolights; Visatec concentrates...
, Profoto
Profoto
Profoto is a photographic equipment maker that produces studio lighting systems mainly for photography purposes. In 2010, the company expanded its business into the movie/video lighting industry. Profoto was founded in 1968 by Eckhard Heine and Conny Dufgran...
, Elinchrom
Elinchrom
Elinca S.A. is a company based in Renens, Switzerland, which manufactures studio lighting systems under the brand name Elinchrom. Competitors include Bowens and Interfit.-Range:...
, Multiblitz
Multiblitz
Multiblitz is a German manufacturer of professional studio flashes and lighting accessories. The company was founded in 1948 in Cologne, Germany by inventor and entrepreneur Dr. D.A. Mannesmann and is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of state-of-the-art studio lighting.-Company Overview &...
, Visatec and White Lightning.
Bowens International is a corporate patron of the Royal Photographic Society
Royal Photographic Society
The Royal Photographic Society is the world's oldest national photographic society. It was founded in London, United Kingdom in 1853 as The Photographic Society of London with the objective of promoting the Art and Science of Photography...
and a Company Affiliate of the Association of Photographers
Association of Photographers
The Association of Photographers , often referred to colloquially as the AOP, is a trade association for British photographers.-History:...
as well as a Corporate Affiliate of the British Institute of Professional Photography
British Institute of Professional Photography
The British Institute Professional Photography is a not-for-profit organisation, which fills the role of qualifying body for professional photographers in the United Kingdom...
.
Products
Bowens currently offer many products, ranging from their compact flash units, to their softboxes and accessories.Compact flash
The compact flash was first introduced by Bowens in the 1960s. The new range called 'Gemini' include the Standard Gemini, The Gemini R and finally the Gemini Pro. The powers range from 200w in the standard Gemini to 1500w in the Gemini Pro. The Gemini flashes can be used with a wide range of reflectors and softboxes.Generators
Bowens' current range of generators include the QUADX, QUAD2400 and Explorer 1500. They power up to 4 channels at any one time, with a power range of between 31w and 3000w for one head. Power can be adjusted to within 1/10 - stop.Continuous light
Bowens has 3 continuous light products. These are called Studiolite, Unilite and Trilite. These products allow continuous lighting to be shone onto the subject that is being photographed. They run cool, allowing the lights to be run for a long time without heating up the subject if it is in close proximity.Reflectors
Bowens manufacture a huge range of reflectors for their lighting systems. They provide both Portrait and Effects reflectors, which are used for different effects when photographing a subject.Accessories
Bowens offer many accessories for their products, ranging from the radio triggers offered earlier, to lighting supports and special effect machines.Litebook
In July 2008 Bowens published the first issue of litebookLitebook (magazine)
litebook - the creative lighting magazine is a free English-language photography magazine founded in 2008 by Robert Cook and David Hollingsworth and published by the Bowens International...
, a quarterly magazine devoted to profiling photographers and photographic studios working with Bowens lighting products.