Lencarta Safari Li-on / Classic. Real world experience, anyone?

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So.. I've got the chance to buy a pair (as in two generators, 4 heads) of these for relatively little cash.
Do they really show their age compared to the Safari 2?

I'm slightly concerned by this line in the manual:

you should not fit heavy accessories such as large beauty dishes or very large softboxes, because the plastic construction of the flash head is not designed to cope with the strain of heavy accessories.
​
What is large? 30x140cm strip box? 70 cm beauty dish?

I'm told one of the chargers doesn't work terribly well. What's that likely to mean in practice?

All experience gratefully received.
 
Those lightweight plastic heads on the Li-on weren't designed to hold heavy accessories, so we covered ourselves by telling people not to do it.
But I've used them with 150cm octa softboxes and with 70cm beauty dishes, outside in the wind, many times. The point is that when I do it I have the common sense to tie them down properly, unfortunately common sense isn't all that common, hence the disclaimer:)

In terms of spec, performance etc., each generation of the Safari is a substantial improvement on the previous one, but even the orginal Safari Classic (which is also pretty bombproof) is very capable.
Chargers tend to either work or not, so if there is a problem it's likely to be with the battery, not the charger.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Those lightweight plastic heads on the Li-on weren't designed to hold heavy accessories, so we covered ourselves by telling people not to do it.
But I've used them with 150cm octa softboxes and with 70cm beauty dishes, outside in the wind, many times. The point is that when I do it I have the common sense to tie them down properly, unfortunately common sense isn't all that common, hence the disclaimer:)

In terms of spec, performance etc., each generation of the Safari is a substantial improvement on the previous one, but even the orginal Safari Classic (which is also pretty bombproof) is very capable.
Chargers tend to either work or not, so if there is a problem it's likely to be with the battery, not the charger.
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Garry, thank you, I hadn't realised there were three generations.. I'd assumed that the Classic and Li-on were the same thing.
 
Simon another consideration is the availability for replacement parts/spares for the older Lencarta products.
 
juggler said:
thanks; at the price I've been quoted I can afford to take a punt on being unable to find or afford replacement parts.
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I don't forsee any problems with replacement parts for a very long time.
Apart from The Flash Centre, AFAIK we're the only manufacturer who actually has our own repair workshop, we're still repairing our very first flash heads, dating back about 12 years:)
 
Garry Edwards said:
I don't forsee any problems with replacement parts for a very long time.
Apart from The Flash Centre, AFAIK we're the only manufacturer who actually has our own repair workshop, we're still repairing our very first flash heads, dating back about 12 years:)
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So you have replacement batteries in stock Gary?
 
I'm very keen to know when replacement batteries are coming back in stock. I managed to fry my Safari Battery by leaving it plugged in and I now have a very expensive door stop until I can get hold of another battery.

Any news yet Garry?
 
ShawWellPete said:
I'm very keen to know when replacement batteries are coming back in stock. I managed to fry my Safari Battery by leaving it plugged in and I now have a very expensive door stop until I can get hold of another battery.

Any news yet Garry?
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If you're happy to DIY it, I'm sure the actual batteries are probably readily available.
 
Phil V said:
It's a fairly common English euphemism ;)
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•

…thanks, still learning and little things
like that make is less painful!
 
DG Phototraining said:
Good God man - still trying to repair them after 12 years !!!

Just give up & bin 'em :D

Dave
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It's called customer service - and AFAIK the only other maker of reasonably priced gear that has our attitude is Elinchrom - but that's probably because they are the only other supplier who is genuinely able to carry out repairs
 
ShawWellPete said:
I had a friend whose company makes battery packs for radio controlled cars and he very kindly offered to dismantle it and see if he could replace the cells. Unfortunately he couldn't.
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Well, there are certainly firms that can do that. But not to worry, we have another batch due to arrive in a few days
 
Garry Edwards said:
It's called customer service - and AFAIK the only other maker of reasonably priced gear that has our attitude is Elinchrom - but that's probably because they are the only other supplier who is genuinely able to carry out repairs
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Any other suggestions Garry? I'd be tempted to upgrade if the heads were compatible but obviously they're not.
 
juggler said:
So.. I've got the chance to buy a pair (as in two generators, 4 heads) of these for relatively little cash.
Do they really show their age compared to the Safari 2?

I'm slightly concerned by this line in the manual:

you should not fit heavy accessories such as large beauty dishes or very large softboxes, because the plastic construction of the flash head is not designed to cope with the strain of heavy accessories.
​
What is large? 30x140cm strip box? 70 cm beauty dish?

I'm told one of the chargers doesn't work terribly well. What's that likely to mean in practice?

All experience gratefully received.
Click to expand...

I did a Wedding brochure shoot for one of the Marriott hotels with a 150cm Octa on a Safari Li-on without a problem. As Garry said, common sense plays a major part in this sort of thing.
In fact, I never paid any attention to the "large Modifier" warning, and paid more attention to how I secured the stands and modifiers.
 
ShawWellPete said:
Any other suggestions Garry? I'd be tempted to upgrade if the heads were compatible but obviously they're not.
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mike weeks said:
You can always buy one of these http://www.photospecialist.co.uk/ji...2MPvBG8GzV01tTU1Ba6Qw2UkSv3iZdAPZtRoCOnnw_wcB

Mike
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Not a problem, and not needed.
DG Phototraining said:
12 years to repair one set of lights is NOT customer service !!!

Maybe you didn't see the joke in my post based on what you'd written :D

Dave
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That joke was a bit too subtle from me, I'm not very bright... got it in the end though.
 
ShawWellPete said:
Sorry Garry, I slightly hijacked and revived this thread, any ideas about the battery replacements yet?
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I have enquired two or three times, they are always on there way and not been confirmed as in stock ;-)
 
alsos said:
I have enquired two or three times, they are always on there way and not been confirmed as in stock ;-)
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It's been so unbelievably difficult to
a. get these made
b. get them transported from China

That I'm not going to say anything else on the subject until they actually get to our warehouse. Watch this space, because they may have already landed.

The regulations on transporting lithium batteries (by sea as well as by air) have been tightened very considerably, and this has caused endless problems.
Expect supply problems with all products that need lithium batteries in the future, because right now all legitimate businesses are affected. Of course, there are plenty of dodgy businesses, including Ebay/Amazon sellers, who so far have got away with making false customs declarations and who clearly don't care about public safety, but even that will change soon.
 
Garry Edwards said:
It's been so unbelievably difficult to
a. get these made
b. get them transported from China

That I'm not going to say anything else on the subject until they actually get to our warehouse. Watch this space, because they may have already landed.

The regulations on transporting lithium batteries (by sea as well as by air) have been tightened very considerably, and this has caused endless problems.
Expect supply problems with all products that need lithium batteries in the future, because right now all legitimate businesses are affected. Of course, there are plenty of dodgy businesses, including Ebay/Amazon sellers, who so far have got away with making false customs declarations and who clearly don't care about public safety, but even that will change soon.
Click to expand...
I have no knowledge on shipping or transporting lithium batteries, sounds like there will be interesting times ahead seeing as more and more battery powered devices are lithium powered.
 
alsos said:
I have no knowledge on shipping or transporting lithium batteries, sounds like there will be interesting times ahead seeing as more and more battery powered devices are lithium powered.
Click to expand...
OK - what happened here was that there was a fire, followed by a number of explosions, at a port in China on 17/8/15. According to the Chinese, more than 100 people died and more than 700 were taken to hospital, but nobody believes that the actual figures are that "low".
This had nothing whatever to do with Lithium batteries, but as a direct result of this tragedy, China introduced tough new regulations that included lithium batteries. So, factories have been sending lithium batteries (and other dangerous goods) by road to Hong Kong, where things were shall we say a bit more lax than mainland China, but where the regulations still apply.
According to my contacts, these regulations have been largely ignored up to now, with shippers mis-describing the goods they are sending out, plus of course "gifts" to officials have always been the solution to everything, but suddenly nobody is accepting bribes and the regulations are being enforced.
The shippers are at fault because they haven't reacted to the changes quickly enough.They will of course get their act together eventually, but costs will go up.
So far though, the dodgy online sellers are still getting away with it, by sending dangerous goods worth large amounts of money and declaring that they are children's clothing or similar, to evade not only the safety regulations but also to evade import duty and VAT. Obviously, as a legitimate business that pays its taxes, we welcome any changes that will affect unfair competition.
 
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