jamesoliverstone
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 2,145
- Name
- James
- Edit My Images
- No
Well, I thought I would leave some honest feedback about Lencarta as I know there are a few of you that are thinking about buying their Lights.
I got in touch with Garry through this forum, and then spoke to him after calling Lencarta.
I explained what I was looking for and he gave me some good advice over the phone on the kind of things they offer and what would be good for me.
I bought the following kit from them:
1 x Safari flash generator
2 x Safari flash heads
1 x Safari spare battery
1 x Safari carrybag
2 x 70cm beauty dishes
2 x Honeycombs for 70cm beauty dishes
1 x Proglobe
1 x 120cm folding softbox
2 x Spring damped stands
1 x Safari extension lead
I was told that there would be a delay on the heads as they were out of stock.
It took around 2 to 3 weeks for the items to arrive and I had a few problems from here.
Here is a list of issues that I had when they arrived.
1. The items do not come in any form of lencarta packaging
2. There is no documentation with any of it.
3. There is no warranty documentation with any of it.
4. There isnt even any safety paperwork, ie CE mark, warning docs etc that you would expect with electrical items
5. The flash heads arrived shoved in a box with bin liners and plastic bags, no real protection at all
6. 2 of the boxes had holes punched in them and general signs of damage
7. The flash heads arrived with no clamp adjusters fitted so that when you put them on a light stand they just drooped over to face the floor (they couldt be tightneed to stay upright).
8. The case for the battery pack had a one of its clamps missing so the case didnt shut.
9. Didnt all arrive on one day, in one delivery, it was shipped as 3 seperate deliveries that turned up at different times.
10. I still to this day dont have my diffusers for the standard reflectors as these are still not in stock (been around a month now since ordering)
When you are spending a large amount of money, I guess I just expected more from the packaging and documentation side of things...
Anyway, my first port of call was to get in touch with Garry.
I will now say that I sent photos and emails of all of this to Garry and he immediately responded in a professional manner and had all missing items shipped to me the next day. Even though it was frustrating to recieve an order like this, the service was superb from Garry and he addressed each issue and immediately resolved them for me.
So, apart from the hickup at the order / delivery stage, what is the kit like?
Well, the overall quality of the stands and modifiers is very good indeed. All feels sturdy and well made and especially the light stands, they are huge and feel very solid, unlike the cheapos that I had from ebay already. The softboxes, dishes and proglobe are all excellent and come highly recommended for build quality and sturdiness.
The battery pack is very basic and only offers control over both lights at the same time (Something I wish I had known at order time as I probably wouldnt have bought them and gone for bowens instead) but hey ho, thats my fault for not checking. It feels very sturdy though but the battery pack cover feels a bit cheap and flimsy and I am not sure how it would stand up to any form of impact. The controls are extremely basic and allows you a 4 stop power range on an analogue dial, not a digital selector. The batteries feel solid enough, but they state a 4-5 hour charge time, whereas Garry said to charge for 15 hours as when the green light comes on to say its charged, apparently they are not really done and need 15 hours to get a full charge. Just be aware of that when buying...
The flash heads themselves are very basic, the only buttons on them are to turn the modelling lamp on and off. I will say now that the modelling light is utter pants compared to the bowens ones I have used before, it offers very little light whatsoever. I am not sure if it can be "upgraded" I will have to ask Garry. The heads are light and small which is perfect for the portability, the only downside to being light means they feel a bit plasticy and cheap, but they seem like they would last well in outdoor conditions.
The recycle time for the lights is OK. On full power they take about a 2 seconds to be ready to fire again. Apparently a full charge will provide around 1000 flashes, but I have yet to use them in anger like this.
Overall I am very happy with them though, as you certainly cannot knock the price! And for the money, I cant see there being anything that can touch them.
I shall try to sum up below:
Build Quality: 6/10
Its about what you would expect from the lower end of the pro flashes and I think that sacrifises have been made to offer portability, but they seem to be tough enough to do the job.
Ease of Use: 8/10
Very simple to use as there is very little to adjust and only 1 control!
Portability: 9/10
Very lightweight and packs away small even with 2 heads. You only have 2 things to carry and they dont weigh that much imo.
Value for Money: 7/10
You get a lot of bang for your buck with these. 1 light offers you a full 600w which is enough to overpower the sun outdoors, and with 2 lights you get 300w per head which is more than enough for studio / outdoor work. You get more power than others on the market, but sacrifise the ability to control each light independantly.
Customer Experience: 8/10
There are obvious things that are overlooked to drive down cost, such as packaging and manuals etc. But overall I found Garry to be an extremly helpful chap who sorted my problems without any fuss whatsoever. I must admit I have no idea how I get support if Garry is away or leaves... but overall, I found getting in touch with Lencarta for support a painless process.
Overall Score: 7/10
I have seen better made kit and I have seen lot worse too. If you are looking for a portable and powerful solution that just gets the job done, you cant go far wrong. If you are looking for absolute control over your lighting then I would suggest that you look elsewhere as the control over the lighting is very basic at best.
If this had independant digital controls, wider stop range and a much better modelling lamp this would be a winner for me, but then I would imagine the price would go up and put it in the league of some of the "bigger" brands.
If however, you just need an affordable, portable, easy to use solution with enough power to be creative... you cant go wrong with this.
I hope this is of use to some of you
I got in touch with Garry through this forum, and then spoke to him after calling Lencarta.
I explained what I was looking for and he gave me some good advice over the phone on the kind of things they offer and what would be good for me.
I bought the following kit from them:
1 x Safari flash generator
2 x Safari flash heads
1 x Safari spare battery
1 x Safari carrybag
2 x 70cm beauty dishes
2 x Honeycombs for 70cm beauty dishes
1 x Proglobe
1 x 120cm folding softbox
2 x Spring damped stands
1 x Safari extension lead
I was told that there would be a delay on the heads as they were out of stock.
It took around 2 to 3 weeks for the items to arrive and I had a few problems from here.
Here is a list of issues that I had when they arrived.
1. The items do not come in any form of lencarta packaging
2. There is no documentation with any of it.
3. There is no warranty documentation with any of it.
4. There isnt even any safety paperwork, ie CE mark, warning docs etc that you would expect with electrical items
5. The flash heads arrived shoved in a box with bin liners and plastic bags, no real protection at all
6. 2 of the boxes had holes punched in them and general signs of damage
7. The flash heads arrived with no clamp adjusters fitted so that when you put them on a light stand they just drooped over to face the floor (they couldt be tightneed to stay upright).
8. The case for the battery pack had a one of its clamps missing so the case didnt shut.
9. Didnt all arrive on one day, in one delivery, it was shipped as 3 seperate deliveries that turned up at different times.
10. I still to this day dont have my diffusers for the standard reflectors as these are still not in stock (been around a month now since ordering)
When you are spending a large amount of money, I guess I just expected more from the packaging and documentation side of things...
Anyway, my first port of call was to get in touch with Garry.
I will now say that I sent photos and emails of all of this to Garry and he immediately responded in a professional manner and had all missing items shipped to me the next day. Even though it was frustrating to recieve an order like this, the service was superb from Garry and he addressed each issue and immediately resolved them for me.
So, apart from the hickup at the order / delivery stage, what is the kit like?
Well, the overall quality of the stands and modifiers is very good indeed. All feels sturdy and well made and especially the light stands, they are huge and feel very solid, unlike the cheapos that I had from ebay already. The softboxes, dishes and proglobe are all excellent and come highly recommended for build quality and sturdiness.
The battery pack is very basic and only offers control over both lights at the same time (Something I wish I had known at order time as I probably wouldnt have bought them and gone for bowens instead) but hey ho, thats my fault for not checking. It feels very sturdy though but the battery pack cover feels a bit cheap and flimsy and I am not sure how it would stand up to any form of impact. The controls are extremely basic and allows you a 4 stop power range on an analogue dial, not a digital selector. The batteries feel solid enough, but they state a 4-5 hour charge time, whereas Garry said to charge for 15 hours as when the green light comes on to say its charged, apparently they are not really done and need 15 hours to get a full charge. Just be aware of that when buying...
The flash heads themselves are very basic, the only buttons on them are to turn the modelling lamp on and off. I will say now that the modelling light is utter pants compared to the bowens ones I have used before, it offers very little light whatsoever. I am not sure if it can be "upgraded" I will have to ask Garry. The heads are light and small which is perfect for the portability, the only downside to being light means they feel a bit plasticy and cheap, but they seem like they would last well in outdoor conditions.
The recycle time for the lights is OK. On full power they take about a 2 seconds to be ready to fire again. Apparently a full charge will provide around 1000 flashes, but I have yet to use them in anger like this.
Overall I am very happy with them though, as you certainly cannot knock the price! And for the money, I cant see there being anything that can touch them.
I shall try to sum up below:
Build Quality: 6/10
Its about what you would expect from the lower end of the pro flashes and I think that sacrifises have been made to offer portability, but they seem to be tough enough to do the job.
Ease of Use: 8/10
Very simple to use as there is very little to adjust and only 1 control!
Portability: 9/10
Very lightweight and packs away small even with 2 heads. You only have 2 things to carry and they dont weigh that much imo.
Value for Money: 7/10
You get a lot of bang for your buck with these. 1 light offers you a full 600w which is enough to overpower the sun outdoors, and with 2 lights you get 300w per head which is more than enough for studio / outdoor work. You get more power than others on the market, but sacrifise the ability to control each light independantly.
Customer Experience: 8/10
There are obvious things that are overlooked to drive down cost, such as packaging and manuals etc. But overall I found Garry to be an extremly helpful chap who sorted my problems without any fuss whatsoever. I must admit I have no idea how I get support if Garry is away or leaves... but overall, I found getting in touch with Lencarta for support a painless process.
Overall Score: 7/10
I have seen better made kit and I have seen lot worse too. If you are looking for a portable and powerful solution that just gets the job done, you cant go far wrong. If you are looking for absolute control over your lighting then I would suggest that you look elsewhere as the control over the lighting is very basic at best.
If this had independant digital controls, wider stop range and a much better modelling lamp this would be a winner for me, but then I would imagine the price would go up and put it in the league of some of the "bigger" brands.
If however, you just need an affordable, portable, easy to use solution with enough power to be creative... you cant go wrong with this.
I hope this is of use to some of you
Last edited:
