Jinbei Discovery DC-600 review

treeman said:
But seriously, the idea that few people want to stick big modifiers on the cheaper portable lights surprises me.
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I'm not sure it should though. Adding a large, quality modifier is going to improve your lighting far more than switching to a more expensive brand.
 
JonathanRyan said:
I'm not sure it should though. Adding a large, quality modifier is going to improve your lighting far more than switching to a more expensive brand.
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Exactly! So why don't they make them suitable for big mods at manufacture? I was just quoting Garry who said most people just stick brollies and soft boxes on them, and thats what surprised me :)

Arguably I can see why Elinchrom do it, as the do have another battery option that does take big mods. However if I was Jinbie or Lencarta I'd be thinking about making a head that could take the weight.
 
Strong, light, cheap. Pick any 2 ;)

Most people aren't going to hand big beauty dishes off them (even if they think they are) and will baulk at paying for features other people want.

I keep meaning to see if I can improve the swivel by dismantling it and adding a sheet of grippy rubber.
 
treeman said:
Exactly! So why don't they make them suitable for big mods at manufacture? I was just quoting Garry who said most people just stick brollies and soft boxes on them, and thats what surprised me :)

Arguably I can see why Elinchrom do it, as the do have another battery option that does take big mods. However if I was Jinbie or Lencarta I'd be thinking about making a head that could take the weight.
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I agree with you - but the reality is that when surveyed
1. Most people said that light weight was very important to them
2. Most people said that they use them to provide quantity of light, rather than quality. Largely, they just want either enough light to take photos or enough to overpower the sun.

My own thoughts on that are unprintable, but Companies need to produce what their public wants. And of course we can see this attitude on this (and other forums) all the time, with people suggesting that other people use speedlights and umbrellas for portraits and just about everything else...

I would like the Safari Li-on to be able to take large, heavy modifiers without extra support but frankly don't know whether sales levels will be enough to pay for the tooling cost. I'm also interested in Paul's idea of using speedrings that are threaded, so can be fitted with a standard 16mm stand spigot, although of course a tilt mechanism would also need to be added.

Meanwhile, the general public have to know that they shouldn't use large, heavy mods with it. And the rest of us know that we can use them, as long as we take sensible precautions such as supporting the weight of large heavy mods and stopping them from being blown in the wind.
 
The weak point, if there is one, is the tilt-clamp on the stand (is that what Jonners is refering to?) rather than the modifier fitting. I wouldn't worry about that being plastic on the Lencarta for a moment.

And of all the problems of using a big modifier outside, it's surely the least of your worries. A simple bracket from rim-to-stand would fix it, but isn't that what VOLS are for? :D
 
Garry Edwards said:
Personally I've had the unit for quite a few months now and have used it outdoors with both a 70cm beauty dish and with a 150cm octa softbox, with no problems whatever - but I use weights and guy ropes to stop the stand from being blown over and also support the weight of the modifier itself with an extra stand.
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Garry, do you have a picture of how you support the 150 Octa? I use one on mine, it seems to take the stress, i wouldn't say its struggles to hold it though. But then i've only used it in my studio and not had to face any wind, i guess that would probably push it over the edge!

M.
 
HoppyUK said:
The weak point, if there is one, is the tilt-clamp on the stand
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Yeah that's it. The mount itself is pretty solid - it's always the tilt that slips. The temptation is to overtighten them and then they can break (by "they" I mean any plastic tilt clamp).
 
mininut said:
Garry, do you have a picture of how you support the 150 Octa? I use one on mine, it seems to take the stress, i wouldn't say its struggles to hold it though. But then i've only used it in my studio and not had to face any wind, i guess that would probably push it over the edge!

M.
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No, I tend to take photos with equipment rather than of it..
But basically I just rest the front of the softbox on one of these little stands
 
Garry Edwards said:
Well, this is the net, all sorts of things get posted on it.

The Jinbei Discovery is a good product but it is different to the Lencarta Safari Li-on, which Jinbei makes to Lencarta's spec.

The flash duration is shorter, the recycling is faster, the charger is better and Lencarta supplies it with a hard carrycase that's far, far better than the metal-looking flight case supplied with the Jinbei one.
The heads themselves are exactly the same, and that goes for the ringflash head too.

Some time ago I conducted some detailed objective tests on various makes of flash head. I invited David Selby, who runs Lighting Rumours, to come to my studio and replicate my own tests. If he had done so then he would have seen and tested both the Discovery and the Li-on side by side and wouldn't have confused the two. He would also have seen various other makes such as Profoto, Elinchrom, Bowens and Hensel, and could have tested those too.

Unfortunately my invitation was at short notice and David couldn't make it, which wasn't his fault.

I posted my own comment on his lighting rumours page yesterday, pointing out that they are not the same. I will ask David to delete his statement that the Discovery can be bought from Lencarta, as it isn't correct, but it's up to him whether he does so or not.

Claims that Lencarta are the same as Jinbei have been made before. You can either believe the people making these statements, or you can believe me, or you can ask Jinbei.
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An update on this. Apparently there is a letter from Jinbei clarifying the position, so if anyone doubts whether Lencarta products are different to Jinbei ones, just click here
 
Just to clarify, the calumet speedring that I linked above DOES indeed have tripod screw threads.
 
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