Recent content by Flashtec

Thanks everybody --- yes it has been more than a little busy, and apologies for the delay. The Elinchrom sync connector is indeed 3.5mm --- and many thanks to WEX for the information that they have obtained from Panasonic that has enabled us to resolve this. As for a potential Hot Shoe adapter...

I've just seen this and don't know if we can help. It may be some compatibility issue, but I would be surprised if it was. Would it be possible to bring the camera with transmitter into one of The flash Centre shops for us to try all the options ? Obviously I should declare an interest in...

It depends upon the Vinyl background --- I believe the most robust to be the one that LuxS have. But you will need fairy heavy duty stands to carry the weight ...

If you don't plan to use them often, why not rent the various options and see which works best for you ? Elinchrom have a dinky new unit out which with Skyport, offers certain leatrning lighting and image set-up exchange options between flashers with similar interests --- there is a lot...

And it's worth mentioning that Speedlites that melt, are not covered by their warranty.

There is information in the ether to help you with this --- PhotoTraining4You (PT4U) --- Scott Kelby, and there are also some ancient illustrated lighting guides --- I believe there is one downloadable on The Flash Centre site ? These only provide safe starting points --- ultimately you will...

Manfrotto make a stand called the Master stand. Unsurprisingly this has been copied by the Chinese many times, and they aren't expensive. Why not do an eBay search under this term ? I am guessing secondhand that a Chinese one could be had for £20 and an Italian Manfrotto for around £40 ?

There is also another side to this. The accessory that you put on the front of the light. You mention Elinchrom so please excuse me for doing the same. There are thousands of photographers achieving amazing results with relatively low power. They do so by making full use of the...

So, if a softbox is flat it isn't any good ? Sorry, I can't agree with that. This is like saying that umbrellas are no good --- without taking any account of the environment in which they are going to be used and the way in which that environment will reflect light back into the shot ... It...

I thought you were suggesting that buying all the accessories was expensive. I was therefore mentioning that some systems are so integrated that something as obvious as an octagonal Softbox can be many other things besides. In this case, from a fold up beauty dish (novel), to a full soft...

By seamlessly, I don't mean that you need to buy all the accessories --- I mean that there are inexpensive accessories for softboxes that will enable some systems to run through from a beauty dish look, to a full blown softbox. For example, if you were to choose an octagonal shaped softbox...

You may find that the on-camera flash is triggering the optical slaves of your studio flash, which is fine. But if you want to reduce the effect of your on-camera flash, why not try blu-tac'ing a black paper mask in front of the on-camera flash --- not so much that it stops triggering your...

In general, softboxes are much more directional than umbrellas. In a wide open space umbrellas are great, but in a confined environment unwanted light spill can de-saturate sadows and carry with it unwanted colour casts. The character of a softbox can with some systems run seamlessly from...

I'd always suggest trying equipment such as this before you buy it. Practical portability and other features such as radio triggering and remote control are far better answered with a good read of the instruction manual and some hands-on use. I can't speak for others ...

The Elinchrom guarantee is two years --- best way to check if a flash tube is going off is to try it at minimum power, cold with the modelling lamp off. If it mis-fires, it needs checking out. Thussauds were shooting 2 million portraits per year in groups of on average four, and reckoned that...