Cool-Lights in Canada?

[Etienne Didelot-Pothier]

Hi, I'm about to order a few fixtures from Cool-Lights. I live in Montreal, Quebec, anyone ever ordered something from Canada? How much shipping did it cost you, and what happened with customs?

I was looking at 2x "CL-455P Cool Lights Portable 4 x 55 watt Softlight" for key-light AND fill-light depending on the situation. And, for the hair light, I will order 1x "CL-255P Cool Lights Portable 2 x 55 watt Softlight".

It will be mainly used for shooting castings auditions with a Canon XH A1 but also to do some photography.

Is it a good setup? Even if these fixtures are not dimmable, is it still easy to control the output?

Also, what's the best way to mount them on tripods? What tripod (or quality) should I use?

Thanks :)

[Richard Andrewski]

Thanks for your interest. I don't recall anyone ever telling me how much the duties and taxes were in Canada, but they also didn't complain either of it being terribly high. Perhaps someone will chime in as we do have a lot of customers in Canada.

As far as shipping goes, you can get quotes from us and that's the best way to do it as its the most current quote.

You can mount the portable Cool Lights fluorescent fixtures on any good baby 5/8" stand using either the CL-MPSA1 stand adapter or a grip head. The studio model fixtures would use a CL-B2Y1 or similar type baby yoke to stand adapter.

Use a stand with a wide leg base to keep it from tipping over. Like a CL-LS2A or a C-Stand type.

As far as hairlights go, I personally prefer a hard light to a soft light. It gives more definition. Something like a small LED spot or HMI/tungsten fresnel really is less subtle than a softlight for rim or hair lighting.

[Raimo Repo]

I have ordered many times from B&H to Ontario insisting on US Postal service delivery to avoid the unnecessarily high brokerage fees charged by courier services. You will have to pay GST and provincial taxes at time of delivery. I, too, plan purchases from Richard shortly and he informed me that he can deliver items using US postal service.

[Etienne Didelot-Pothier]

Alright, I see, thanks for the info :)

I hope to hear from a Canadian customer pretty soon to see how bad are the custom charges.

[Raimo Repo]

I have never had to pay any duties on my orders- even cameras made in Japan when ordering from B&H- only GST and Provincial taxes and a small Canadian postal brokerage charge which I think was $5.00 or thereabouts.

[Chris Ficek]

There are no custom charges when ordering items from the USA. Good 'ol free trade act has some benifits. You will have to pay a brokerage fee plus PST and GST or HST depending on your province (I think QC has the HST). As others have stated the use of the US post office has good brokerage rates, but believe it of not I have had good rates from FedEx.

Make your life simple and have Richard ship to you via USPS, you really wont find a better deal except for a penny here or there.

[Richard Andrewski]

We do mostly use USPS Express now to Canada and most parts of the world. Fedex is really getting costly for outside of the USA use and they do have some issues with brokerage and all that. Fine for within the US and sometimes use it to Canada but only if the customer specifically requests it.

[Etienne Didelot-Pothier]

Well that's some good news!

Mr. from Cool-Lights, could you contact me via PM please? I would like to know how much it would cost me to order what I've mentioned before..

thanks!

[Etienne Didelot-Pothier]

I had some answers, but I'm still asking feedback from you guys : any of you had problem when ordering some of these units from Canada? Any customs fee/problem?

Also, I'm looking at a 3x 1000w tungsten kit with softboxes, what would be (except the heat that it creates) the pros and cons vs a 3 fluo kit?

Thanks :)

[Mike Watson]

Also, I'm looking at a 3x 1000w tungsten kit with softboxes, what would be (except the heat that it creates) the pros and cons vs a 3 fluo kit?

A 15 amp circuit (common in both residential and commercial) can handle 1800 watts max (theoretically), but should be limited to 80% of max load, which is 1440 watts. This means that you'd need three separate circuits to run three 1k lights. You can typically get away with running two 1k's on a single circuit, although it can be dangerous, and the breaker will eventually trip - typically during the best part of the shoot. However, you are never the only one using these circuits - there are always PCs, monitors, toasters, etcetera... and these will push you further over the limit. This is, IMHO, a large part of why fluorescent is such a godsend.

[Etienne Didelot-Pothier]

Yeah, had this in the back of my head, true.

[Etienne Didelot-Pothier]

Bump : I'd realy need the advice of someone who ordered gear from outside Canada. Have you paid fees and taxes? How much did it cost you total?

thanks

[Jean-Philippe Archibald]

You already got answers. There is no duty when importing from USA. But you will have to pay GST and PST, plus with certain services, brokerage fees. USPS charges almost nothing for brokerage. With UPS, the brokerage fee is included within all their services, except ground. I always use UPS expedited when ordering from B&H and only have to pay taxes. But if you choose ground, the brokerage fee varie based on the value of the goods. It can be from 20$ to way higher. It's the same with FEDEX.

[Etienne Didelot-Pothier]

Merci beaucoup mec :)