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- Verified Buyer
--UPDATED REVIEW--I changed the stars from 2 to 5 for a very simple reason: CUSTOMER SERVICE FIXED THE ISSUEI was contacted by GVM customer service after I posted my review. They asked what was wrong and offered to fix the problem. What did they do? Well...the sort of OVERCOMPENSATED, but also messed up again. Instead of sending me a replacement power cable (which would've fixed the issue and also not cost them much money) they decided to send me an entirely new light...the same as what I had ordered...to replace the bad light. Well...this was GREAT! Because these lights (when they worK) are fantastic...but then someone on their end at their warehouse messed up and the light they sent me was CLEARLY used...there was wear and tear on the light...the knobs had the paint rubbed off and there were scratches and dings...HOWEVER to be fair...it DID WORK...and is still working, I might add.So then they followed up to see if I was happy and I told them about the light. Then they offered to send me ANOTHER light. (That would mean I paid for 3, received 2 that worked, one that didn't, and then had two replacements sent to me making my total 4 working lights for the price of 3)I told them to JUST send me the replacement power cord...save the light (I do have a conscience) and I'd be happy. Well, not only did they send me the power cable with tracking numbers and shipped very quickly, but then they followed up multiple times to make sure I was happy.THIS IS WHAT MAKES LOYAL CUSTOMERS. So many businesses nowadays have TERRIBLE customer service, but not GVM. They took EXCELLENT care of me and made sure that I was taken care of. They actually went far above and beyond what was called for.And I appreciate it.My next lights will most likely be from GVM.Thank you!This is a review with two main points:#1 - How good are these lights in theory?#2 - How good are these lights in actuality?The answer to #1 is really quite simple: the lights are GREAT. They're perfect for small studio lighting, for atmosphere lighting, for accent lighting and, in the right situation, you can use them as a key light. I got the three pack and the add-on diffusers and they are fantastic. The lighting colors are wonderful to work with and really add a new dimension for YouTube shooting, small production shooting, commercials, etc. And the value is FANTASTIC. They are FAR cheaper than the big boys like Arri and, having show with the big boys, unless a studio if footing your bill, you just can't afford them in practicality. So these do a FANTASTIC job if you know how to use them. They don't get hot. They don't draw a lot of power. They light the scene. They're easy to transport, lightweight and come in a very usable soft duffle.No, you can't light up a large room with just the three, but if you're doing an intimate scene with 2 or 3 people, you can light it and if you're doing EPK's, interviews, documentary, etc., they're PERFECT and AFFORDABLE.so we get to #2: How good are they in actuality?Well, now you see why I gave it two stars. I was shipped the three pack at the height of the pandemic and had the shipment delivered to my studio in Los Angeles, however because of the pandemic I was stranded in New Jersey with all the airports shut down. So I didn't get my hands on these lights until SEPTEMBER and didn't really get to break them out and start using them on jobs until November...and that's when I discovered that one of the power cables is completely inoperative. So I effectively have one useless light unless I want to always power it from Sony Batteries. Since much of what I shoot is either in my studio or at locations with power, I almost never lug around batteries needlessly. And since the pandemic made so much time go by Amazon won't replace the lights with working ones and GVM isn't returning my correspondence. So I'm stuck with 2 lights when I paid for 3 due to either shoddy manufacturing, poor quality control or general bad luck. And the ultimate culpret is poor customer service from GVM.So you get what you pay for. You can roll the dice and you may get three wonderful lights or you could end up like me with only 2 working lights when you paid for 3. Risk it and see what the wheel deals you or pay a little more for higher quality merchandise.Of course I am open to adjusting this review with an update if GVM's customer service actually decides to make things right.
