bowens - elinchrom

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Ershin

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im looking into getting a couple of lower end monoblocs, so, either the gemini or the d-lite-it, in either 200 or 400 W/s

id like to hear from anyone owning either of the two, regarding subjective opinions after having used them, since while i have the specs, there are always going to be little design choices that dont make it to the marketing sheet which either annoy or help.

also interested in hearing a more general 200 vs 400W/s (bearing in mind im used to using sb-28 areas of power output)

i understand how having a lower minimum setting can be beneficial, but i do bear in mind that the people i hear saying that 200W/s is plenty, or whatever, for all i know they stick to an iso of 400-800, as opposed to 100

on that note, the price difference between the 200's and the 400's isent an issue in the slightest, so its very firmly a matter of which range is overall more useful than a given value is fine to 'make do with' e.t.c.
 
You should add Lencarta to the list with Bowens and Elinchrom. I don't think there are any hidden deal breakers that aren't in the specs, though if freezing movement is important you need to multiply the t.5 time roughly by three to get the t.1 time which is much closer to the 'action stopping potential' in terms of shutter speeds, ie 1/1000th quoted duration is more like what you would get at 1/350sec.

200ws will give you roughly f/16 at ISO100 with a typical 100cm softbox at 1m. You don't say what you want them for, but that's plenty for portraits, not enough if you want to fill large interiors, and they sometimes won't go low enough if you want very shallow DoF at f/1.4 without using an ND filter. Getting heads of different power is quite a nice combo.

I would allow a large part of the total budget for some nice quick-folding softboxes that will make more difference to your results and the whole general experience than the different brand names.

Maybe post in the lighting section for more replies.
 
As Richard says, the modifiers/light shapers will have much more effect on what you can achieve than the make of lights - as long as you avoid the no-name brands on fleabay and a lot of non-specialist photography equipment websites.

Back to your question - Bowens IMO have much better build quality than Elinchrom, which may or may not be important to you.
Elinchrom IMO produce a better and more consistent quality of light than Bowens, plus shorter flash durations.
The lower end Bowens flashes have heatsinks instead of cooling fans, some people say that it doesn't matter, but I say that it does, and so does a repairer I was speaking to the other day.
Bowens have the very simple and positive S-fit accessory fitting, personally I think it's much better than Elinchrom, others may disagree.

Power? I really don't think it rally matters any more if you're using a modern digital camera. I'm one of those people who always used the finest grain film I could get away with and now use the lowest ISO setting I can get away with, but even I have to admit that most modern digicams are so good that it's really hard to tell the difference between the quality at 100 and 200 ISO - and some cameras don't even have the 100 ISO option. And going from 100 ISO (the benchmark testing setting for guide numbers) to 200 ISO effectively doubles the power of a 200 Ws flash to 400Ws.

So which make should you go for? You won't go wrong with either, but take a look at Lencarta too, because IMO you get the best of both worlds. You'll see from my signature though that I'm involved with Lencarta
 
Another vote for adding Lencarta to the list. I recently bought 2 ElitePro's following loads of help and non-pushy advice from Garry.

Also, be warned that if you are new to lights, you may want to think about all the extra bits like boom arms, low stands and more modifiers than you expected.
 
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It was between the Elinchrom D-Lites 4 & Bowens 400/400 kit for me a couple of weeks back.I went for the Bowens as Calumet had a 20% sale on them which was to good to resist.

Still not had time to play with them yet but from what I have done the kit seems like a good choice for me.Lights feel really solid and well put together but the stands feel a little cheap,so they will be getting replaced at some point I think.The kit came with 2 Silver/White Umbrella but am gonna get a softbox as well soon.I'm glad I went for the 400 just incase I do need that extra power and would have just ended up getting rid of the 200 if I thought that it was holding me back for certain stuff.

All in all I'm very happy with the choice of the Bowens kit and I'm sure which ever one you pick you will be more than happy with.
 
I bought some s/h Bowens 750 pros and although I probably never need that power they are adjustable down to <20ws. They also have very short flash durations, someting that will be useful for some action stuff I have planned.

The build quality looks great! I just need to buy some good folding modifiers now.

Dunc
 
Quite simply, you won't go wrong with either they are both very well respected manufacturers. The Eli advantage is the built in skyport, the bowens is the compatibility with the travelpak.
 
Love my Bowens tbh, never had an issue with overheating even with all day usage, Bowens can also use the pulsar trigger system by adding a small card and aerial to the head, the battery system expands the functionality even further but you don't get that many flashes if you're using 2 heads. Getting it set up right quickly is the name of the game on locations away from power.
 
I agree with Brian,:agree: My Bowens 500r's have been in use for hours on end with modeling lights on full power & I have never had any problems with overheating or any other problems for that matter, :thumbs:They are not fan cooled units. I just love the built in pulsar function & the fact that they are remote controlled,:thumbs: even in a confined space it's just so easy to change the backlight or hairlight power without having to rearange the sitter or overreaching when they are high up on a boom arm, and at the end of the day you get what you pay for:thumbs:

Toonie
 
Firstly you won't go wrong with either make, though I do think the Eli mount system is far more secure.

However, slightly off topic, but, Danny did someone actually sat that?

Taking a great picture with a **** camera makes you good in my books, taking a good picture with £10k of equipment makes you average
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treeman said:
Firstly you won't go wrong with either make, though I do think the Eli mount system is far more secure.

However, slightly off topic, but, Danny did someone actually sat that?
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Off topic but yes, though not about me lol. It made me laugh, inappropriate, probably, but hey :D
 
I used elinchrome lights in anger for the first time today and I'm totally underwhelmed :(

The bx 500 lights are very lightweight and their mounts are no way near as rugged as the bowens, the cooling fan came on after a few shots and boy are those fans noisy !

The mounting is very small and fiddly when trying to engage the locating pins.... I did like the locking collar. The bowens s fit is much easier to use the 3 lugs, but the sliding lock pin can be a pain especially if the modifier is hot

All in all, I was very happy I bought into bowens and the s type fixing system especially
 
Were you attaching the modifiers whilst having them face down on the floor and putting the light down onto them? Regardless of which system, that's by far the easiest way. I've honestly never had an issue with the mount
 
I always lie the modifiers on the floor and mount the head, it's the safest way to protect the bulbs. With the Bowens system you can see where the lugs are when engaging the head, on the Ele's the dowel pins are within the head and are tiny in comparison.

Horses for courses I suppose, I did rather like the rotational locking collar though.
 
sorry its taken me so long to reply - i got sidetracked and then i sort of forgot

the task of writing individual replies to everyone is a little daunting though, so il just say thanks very much to everyone, youve all been very helpful :)

unfortunately its still either way since they both seem to have an equal number and weight of positives O_o

anyone have any objective data on how much better the color consistency is with the elinchroms? thats ultimatly more important than build quality, to a point, since it is a part of their function. that said, i am a sucker for tank-like design, but its sorta balanced out by the increase in weight, since i consider myself very gentle with equipment
 
Ershin said:
sorry its taken me so long to reply - i got sidetracked and then i sort of forgot

the task of writing individual replies to everyone is a little daunting though, so il just say thanks very much to everyone, youve all been very helpful :)

unfortunately its still either way since they both seem to have an equal number and weight of positives O_o

anyone have any objective data on how much better the color consistency is with the elinchroms? thats ultimatly more important than build quality, to a point, since it is a part of their function. that said, i am a sucker for tank-like design, but its sorta balanced out by the increase in weight, since i consider myself very gentle with equipment
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Yes, I have objective data but I'm not going to publish it - I think that that's something that the individual manufacturers should do, not an individual, and certainly not an individual who may be perceived to be biased in favour of a third manufacturer (which does publish its figures).

If you want that info, why not ask the two manufacturers who you're considering giving your money to?
 
Er...am I missing something here? I don't really know much about artificial lighting but colour temperature info doesn't seem like something that should be kept a secret to me... why shouldn't individuals give information about it? Sorry if it's obvious.
 
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Ava said:
Er...am I missing something here? I don't really know much about artificial lighting but colour temperature info doesn't seem like something that should be kept a secret to me... why shouldn't individuals give information about it? Sorry if it's obvious.
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Because Garry is tech support for Lencarta lighting. Not really the done thing to publish figures for your competitors products - whether good or bad.

Also, unless you have a number of heads (to ensure consistency of results) and reference quality measuring equipment (so you have a known baseline), the numbers are indicative at best.
 
arad85 said:
Because Garry is tech support for Lencarta lighting. Not really the done thing to publish figures for your competitors products - whether good or bad.

Also, unless you have a number of heads (to ensure consistency of results) and reference quality measuring equipment (so you have a known baseline), the numbers are indicative at best.
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There is a comparison test of studio heads in the next edition of Advanced Photographer magazine, published in a couple of weeks. It includes the D-Lites and also Interfit, Lastolite, Strobelite and Proline, with objective test data for power output, flash-to-flash consistency, colour and flash durations.

In the edition after that, the same things for Lencarta, Bowens, Elinchrom BX-Ri, Broncolor and Profoto.
 
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