The Westcott's are just rebranded Jinbei flashes.
That is the rumor but in actual fact they're a little different. Whether Jinbei has decided to take what they made with Westcott and "rebrand" it under their own or other brands is probably either a typical China thing or a part of the agreement that Westcott has with Jinbei regarding these flashes.
Take a look at the following from a post made by a Westcott rep on diyphotography.net:
Hey, John! Here’s a little more information to clarify the differences between the FJ400 and Jinbei’s HD400. The FJ400 has a similar body, with very updated features. We worked tirelessly for months with an established engineering team to fine-tune the internal elements so we could offer a flash unit that was up to our standards.
• The FJ400 has more flashes per charge (480+ compared to Jinbei’s 400).
• The FJ400 can be charged while using (AC/DC capabilities) with no additional adapters needed.
• The FJ400 has a faster recycling time (0.9 seconds at full power compared to Jinbei’s 1.6 seconds).
• The FJ400 has a daylight-balanced 20w LED modeling lamp (compared to Jinbei’s15w 3000k lamp).
• The FJ400 has optimized flash tube positioning (the tube placement is customized to output an even spread of light in modifiers).
• The FJ400 offers ± 150k in color consistency over the entire power range (levels 1-9). Jinbei market’s over “normal range” which appears to be 1/1-1/32 power (levels 4-9).
• The FJ400 features an umbrella tensioner/screw mechanism for quick yet solid mounting of umbrellas and umbrella-style modifiers (including the Westcott 7’ umbrellas).
• The FJ400 receives strict Westcott Quality Control.
• The FJ400 is backed by Westcott’s USA-based service and support.
We noticed some incorrect information in your specs sheet here that we'd also like to clarify...
• The FJ400’s lithium polymer battery provides has 480+ full power flashes on a single charge (not 400).
• The is an audible and adjustable Flash Ready Beep Indicator as well as a visual indicator on the test button.
BTW, this isn't the first time in history that electronics have shared the same internals. I was looking into lenses from ARRI recently to see how special they really are, fact is they're made with glass from Japan or Germany. End of the day a lens is only as good as it's glass so maybe you're better off buying a Canon lens and saving $40,000. And yet people still buy ARRI, why? Because it is just a little bit better.
Hope that makes sense?
Upvote
0