Lencarta Safari ringflash or wait for Discovery system

antc

antc

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Hi all,

I have the above dilema at the moment. I have just recently had the chance to use a safari ringflash and I found it to be very good (using it for some glamour shots) but i see from the Lencarta website that the new discovery system is coming out which holds a couple of potentially useful features over the safari in that the powerpack can be turned down to 1/16 instead of 1/8 on the safari and also the new discovery lights come with a very bright LED modelling light.

What are peoples thoughts on these two systems and if you were looking to buy now what would you go for?

Love to know peoples opinions!

Thanks

Ant
 
Depends how portable you want the system and how intensive each shoot is going to be as both systems deliver different quanittys of pops the Safari which is slightly bigger, same power but will give you around 1100 pops per charge compared to the Discovery which is about half i think but is alot lighter and smaller.

Other thing is that the heads on the safari if you do choose to add additional heads are alot stronger then the all plastic Discovery heads as I'm led to believe.

The one thing that does stand out with the discovery over the safari is that you can dial down the ring flash further without adding an ND filter.

I have owned a safari ring and can't fault it really it was chunky but not that bad and easily fitted in a rucksack and infact the top of my Camera bag :), only gripe I had and I think i might of been the only one was the plastic thumb screws used to fix the bracket together.

If I was to buy again & both systems where available and in stock?
I think I would go for the Discovery, why? Its slightly smaller & lighter then the Safari which after carrying the safari round london once (was a long day) I would kill for some weight lose.
My style of shooting also I don't really need or ever used all 1100 flashes even on a group shoot day when I let everyone else use the ringflash as well I still don't think I saped the battery plus the size of the batterys for the discovery I'm sure you could pop another in your camera bag & lastely the extra power adjustments you get.

I'm waiting for the Didscovery to hit the shelfs so I can see what people think of it though then I'll buy one :).
 
I think that Morgan has summed it up pretty well.

I got the first Lencarta Discovery literally just before Focus and was told that the first real delivery would arrive in 3 weeks.

Unfortunately that didn't happen because of air transport regulations that prevented the Lithium batteries from being sent by air, attempts were made to find a workaround but there isn't one, or at least not at a sensible cost, so they had to be sent by sea.

For some reason they literally missed the boat, and finally got on the next boat, which will arrive here in about 3 weeks, so they should be available mid - late June.

At the moment, the battery life isn't all that much better than some of the competition but, at some point in the future, bigger batteries will become available. The battery simply clips onto the bottom of the unit, so there is no real limit to the potential capacity.
 
Big thanks Morgan for taking the time to write all that down. A very good insight especially from someone who uses the safari kit already! I have to say when I used the Safari ringflash I wasnt really carrying it around and had the batter pack placed on the floor so didnt notice the weight apart from when I picked it up to move it and I actually thought it was pretty light. However, I can imagine if I had to carry it round for a whole day it maybe a different story.

Gary, thanks so much for your reply. I must confess it was me you spoke to on the phone last night around 5pm with my 20 questions about the safari and discovery and which one you thought was best. You also gave me good and clear information so thanks very much for that.

I would be very interesting to see these systems side by side and perhaps some test shots from each to make a really informed decision. Do you have both systems in stock at the moment Gary? (I am guessing you may have a demo unit of the discovery?) or could you provide some shots of the same subject taken with each kit at all? (if you have been able to do some side by side comparisons?)

I like the sound of the Safari being stronger built, metal heads and so on, but I like the sound also of the discovery being lighter weight. Im not sure I would need over 1000 flashes to be fair as its not my style either to shoot that many in one go. Mmmmm...........
 
No Anthony, unfortunately I don't now have the Discovery, I only had it for test purposes for a few hours the night before I left for Focus, I took some pics of it and tested the colour temperature and flash duration figures.
It then went off to a magazine for review, obviously there's an embargo on the review until the stuff is actually in stock.

The Discovery should, I think, be viewed as a direct competitor to the Quadra but at a much more attractive price and with S-fit accessories, so what I'm hoping for is that someone will do head-to-head tests against the Quadra - and it can't be me because of course I'll be seen by some to be biased:)

I am in fact planning to take it out into the woods or somewhere similar (I have my own land and also have access to quite a lot of land that I shoot on) on a fashion style shoot and it will make sense to take the Safari as well, so it will be possible to make direct comparisons under the same shooting conditions. In fact, when it happens it might be a good idea to ask members of TP if they want to come along too, they can be unpaid assistants:) and can see for themselves how I go about an outdoor fashion shoot, which might be interesting - but it will have to be limited to a small number, as I can only take 4 passengers in my 4WD (it's a 7 seater but to save on insurance it's only insured to take 5 people) and a 4WD will be needed, unless of course someone with a decent off roader wants to join in, which would allow more people to join in if they want to...
 
Garry Edwards said:
No Anthony, unfortunately I don't now have the Discovery, I only had it for test purposes for a few hours the night before I left for Focus, I took some pics of it and tested the colour temperature and flash duration figures.
It then went off to a magazine for review, obviously there's an embargo on the review until the stuff is actually in stock.

The Discovery should, I think, be viewed as a direct competitor to the Quadra but at a much more attractive price and with S-fit accessories, so what I'm hoping for is that someone will do head-to-head tests against the Quadra - and it can't be me because of course I'll be seen by some to be biased:)

I am in fact planning to take it out into the woods or somewhere similar (I have my own land and also have access to quite a lot of land that I shoot on) on a fashion style shoot and it will make sense to take the Safari as well, so it will be possible to make direct comparisons under the same shooting conditions. In fact, when it happens it might be a good idea to ask members of TP if they want to come along too, they can be unpaid assistants:) and can see for themselves how I go about an outdoor fashion shoot, which might be interesting - but it will have to be limited to a small number, as I can only take 4 passengers in my 4WD (it's a 7 seater but to save on insurance it's only insured to take 5 people) and a 4WD will be needed, unless of course someone with a decent off roader wants to join in, which would allow more people to join in if they want to...
Click to expand...

Dependent upon the date Gary, Can I be put on the list for your outdoor shoot.
 
Tugster said:
Dependent upon the date Gary, Can I be put on the list for your outdoor shoot.
Click to expand...
I'm Welsh, so if you spell my name like a Yank then that's a no:lol:

When it happens, I'll post on here with the date and people can then volunteer
 
Garry Edwards said:
Unfortunately that didn't happen because of air transport regulations that prevented the Lithium batteries from being sent by air
Click to expand...

Just out of curiosity, I don't fly, so don't know anything about airport regulations etc.

Does the above statement mean that you can't take the system on holiday?
 
18%grey said:
Just out of curiosity, I don't fly, so don't know anything about airport regulations etc.

Does the above statement mean that you can't take the system on holiday?
Click to expand...
No, it means that they can't be sent in commercial quantities - and sending them one at a time wasn't on...
 
Your welcome :), believe me its not heavy but I can't drive so I have to go everywhere on the train and its a darn sight lighter then what I took to a shoot in Birmingham last week (50+kgs in a peli case 4.5hours on a train).

If you can drive i think the safari would be fine on short trips like if you was off too the woods thats fine, either that or I'm a wimp but after walking around shooting in london (which can result in some random looks when you have a ringflash strapped to a gripped 5DII round your shoulder) it did feel very heavy at the end of the day I did think though If you could get a good qualty roller case (pelican) it would be fine :).

Atleast we have another rough Idea for the discovery If my itchy Impulse buying trigger fingers can hold off for 4 weeks I'll get the Discovery (if not safari again lol)



antc said:
Big thanks Morgan for taking the time to write all that down. A very good insight especially from someone who uses the safari kit already! I have to say when I used the Safari ringflash I wasnt really carrying it around and had the batter pack placed on the floor so didnt notice the weight apart from when I picked it up to move it and I actually thought it was pretty light. However, I can imagine if I had to carry it round for a whole day it maybe a different story.

Gary, thanks so much for your reply. I must confess it was me you spoke to on the phone last night around 5pm with my 20 questions about the safari and discovery and which one you thought was best. You also gave me good and clear information so thanks very much for that.

I would be very interesting to see these systems side by side and perhaps some test shots from each to make a really informed decision. Do you have both systems in stock at the moment Gary? (I am guessing you may have a demo unit of the discovery?) or could you provide some shots of the same subject taken with each kit at all? (if you have been able to do some side by side comparisons?)

I like the sound of the Safari being stronger built, metal heads and so on, but I like the sound also of the discovery being lighter weight. Im not sure I would need over 1000 flashes to be fair as its not my style either to shoot that many in one go. Mmmmm...........
Click to expand...
 
Garry Edwards said:
I'm Welsh, so if you spell my name like a Yank then that's a no:lol:

When it happens, I'll post on here with the date and people can then volunteer
Click to expand...

Ooops ! I see my deliberate mistake caught your attention straight away ! lol
 
Hi Garry,

Since I popped over to your studio a few weeks ago I haven't had chance to buy another set of lights and now might wait for the Discovery to arrive.
Can you put me down on your list of 'unpaid assistants' please?

Cheers, Tracey
 
Wilko58 said:
Hi Garry,

Since I popped over to your studio a few weeks ago I haven't had chance to buy another set of lights and now might wait for the Discovery to arrive.
Can you put me down on your list of 'unpaid assistants' please?

Cheers, Tracey
Click to expand...
Tracey,

I'll 'advertise' that 'vacancy' on here when it's ready to happen. You'll probably get the 'job' because I doubt whether there will be many other people who want to work for nothing, put up with me for a few hours and end up feeling jealous that I've got equipment that they haven't got...:lol:
 
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