Lencarta SmartFlash 200 Compact Flash Head

ianbarber

ianbarber

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I have just ordered a Lencarta SmartFlash 200 Compact Flash Head which hopefully will be here tomorrow although I haven't received a shipping email as yet.

I want to use this with my Wescott Apollo Soft Box but as I am looking at, I am not sure if its going to fit.

Has anyone any experience with this combination.
 
ianbarber said:
I have just ordered a Lencarta SmartFlash 200 Compact Flash Head which hopefully will be here tomorrow although I haven't received a shipping email as yet.
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Depends if you ordered it before the cut off time, which is generally 1500hrs. Occasionally the courier may pick up early.

ianbarber said:
I want to use this with my Wescott Apollo Soft Box but as I am looking at, I am not sure if its going to fit.

Has anyone any experience with this combination.
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Fits inside mine perfectly, but mine's a rather old model that's over a 1m x 1xm
 
Michael Sewell said:
Depends if you ordered it before the cut off time, which is generally 1500hrs. Occasionally the courier may pick up early.

I ordered it at 12.30pm so fingers crossed

Fits inside mine perfectly, but mine's a rather old model that's over a 1m x 1xm
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I think mine is an Apollo 80 so again fingers crossed
 
Michael Sewell said:
Not necessarily the best type of softbox setup to get the best from the head, but it will certainly get you started.

Did you also order a standard reflector, which would allow you to use a brolly with it?
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Yes I ordered the standard reflector for it. Do you think I am going to struggle with the Apollo 80 and the head.
 
Unfortunately the shipping email bit doesn't work:'(
But it did go today, for delivery tomorrow:)
 
Michael Sewell said:
I feel you may find the tube is too close to the rear of the box, causing the head itself to cast a shadow on the front diffusion panel.
However, give it a try and see what you get :)
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If this is the case, I will have to sell the soft box.

I know I am probably going to get slated for this question but i don't care because I am a Yorkshire Man with thick skin ;)

For the past 18 months, i have been working out of my semi-converted loft to take small still life ( cups, flowers etc... ) photos and I have been trying to use a speed-light which I have found very hard dues to the fact I am unable to see the results without taking a shot.

The width of the room is 7 feet and the length is 10 feet. With this small area, do you thing the power from this unit is going to be too much for the size of the room.

Some shots I want to mimic window light, hence buying the apollo and some shots I want a dark moody effect especially for some old carpenters tools I want to photograph.
 
Anything is achievable with patience, practice and improvisation :)
The softbox would provide a good rendition of window light. A reflective umbrella will give you a harder light, although not quite as controllable.
Speedlights are great for small stuff, because there is so much control available, and you can make an awful lot of mods very cheaply. But yes, if it's still quite a new discipline for you, the lack of a modelling light can be a bit of a handicap.
As you gain experience, and see how your light is falling, try the speedlights once again. I think you will find it easier than you do now.
 
Didn't we have this conversation just a few hours ago?
I did say that there may be a problem with uneven light from the softbox.You'll just have to wait and see whether I'm right or not and if I am, whether the results are acceptable to you or not.

You were asking whether the SmartFlash will have enough power, now you're asking if it will have too much...

As I said to you, in the unlikely event that you don't have enough power you can always up the ISO a bit. There will be absolutely no problem with your camera.
If you have too much power, use either a neutral density gel on the light or a neutral density filter on the lens. I've found that 0.9 (3 stops) is usually the best.
'Moody effect' isn't necessarily about the quantity of light, so much as the direction of light. I'm not trying to discourage you from asking questions, but you'll get more useful information just by experimenting. Experimentation produces hard data, forum questions mainly produce opinions.
 
Ian, the Interlink website says that the estimated time of arrival is between 11:09 - 12:09. It will be within those times.
 
ianbarber said:
Some shots I want to mimic window light, hence buying the apollo and some shots I want a dark moody effect especially for some old carpenters tools I want to photograph.
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If you mean soft window light then a cheap way to mimic this in a small room is to get a large piece of white stuff (polyboard say) and position it where you want your "window" to be. Point your flash at it and fire it with dish reflector but no softbox. Moving the flash around will alter the angle of the "sun" - just put your flash 10 degrees away from where you imagine the sun to be.

Moddy window light - you're better off with softbox and a decent grid.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Ian, the Interlink website says that the estimated time of arrival is between 11:09 - 12:09. It will be within those times.
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Product arrived safely. Just going to grab a sandwich then will open it.

Cheers Gary, Excellent service and customer support I have to say 5 *
 
JonathanRyan said:
If you mean soft window light then a cheap way to mimic this in a small room is to get a large piece of white stuff (polyboard say) and position it where you want your "window" to be. Point your flash at it and fire it with dish reflector but no softbox. Moving the flash around will alter the angle of the "sun" - just put your flash 10 degrees away from where you imagine the sun to be.

Moddy window light - you're better off with softbox and a decent grid.
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Thanks for the advice, this is going to be helpful. I was looking at grids last night. As a starting point, would you think a 10 degree grid for the reflector would be a good choice
 
ianbarber said:
Thanks for the advice, this is going to be helpful. I was looking at grids last night. As a starting point, would you think a 10 degree grid for the reflector would be a good choice
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No.

I was meaning grids for softboxes (aka egg crates).

If you want a grid for a reflector then unless you have a really good reason for using a 10 then 20 or 30 is going to be easier to use.

Additionally a 10 with a 200 watt light isn't going to give you a lot of light. Garry could give you numbers on drop off but my guess is it will eat at least 2 and probably 3 stops. Plus you'll need to turn the modelling light off or the Smartflash will overheat.
 
JonathanRyan said:
No.

I was meaning grids for softboxes (aka egg crates).

If you want a grid for a reflector then unless you have a really good reason for using a 10 then 20 or 30 is going to be easier to use.

Additionally a 10 with a 200 watt light isn't going to give you a lot of light. Garry could give you numbers on drop off but my guess is it will eat at least 2 and probably 3 stops. Plus you'll need to turn the modelling light off or the Smartflash will overheat.
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I take the opposite view.

Jonathan is right about a 20 deg honeycomb being the most useful if it's being used, say, as a hairlight, but for the still life photography you're talking about, the tighter it is, the better in most situations. 10 degree honeycombs are probably the most useful by far. Personally I use a 5 degree one a lot, but they are incredibly expensive and hard to get.

Light fall off isn't a problem, they are normally used extremely close to the subject.

You will need to turn the modelling lamp off with ANY flashhead when using a tight honeycomb, no flash head can dissipate the heat build up, fans are inside the heads, not inside the reflectors. But it isn't a problem, just turn the modelling lamp off as soon as you're happy with the position of the light.

As I said earlier, once you start using your new toys you'll work out how to get creative effects, it's 50% perspiration, 30% inspiration and 20% equipment:)
 
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