I am looking to add 2 more studio strobes to the 2 x Lencarta Smartflash 200 I already have. I can obviously just get another 2 head smartflash kit for £300 but also I have the opportunity to purchased a 2nd hand Bowens Esprit Gemini GM500 kit consisting of 2 x GM500 heads 1 x umbrella, 1 x 60x80 softbox and 2 x stands, all in pristine condition for £450. Im leaning towards the Bowens, even tho the Smartflash will have enough power for what I want, would I be silly not to take the Bowens for another £150?
Lencarta Smartflash 200 or Bowens GM500
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Garry Edwards
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That's a difficult question, you don't need the extra power of the Bowens, but it does adjust down to 1/32nd power, so won't be much more powerful than your Lencarta SmartFlash when turned down as low as it can go.
From memory the recycling time is over 50% longer than the SmartFlash, so it will slow your shooting down a bit - this may or may not be important to you.
I don't suppose you'll get a warranty with it, but the GM500 is a fairly low-stressed unit so you'd be unlucky if it went wrong.
And for the cynics, the reason why I'm not just telling you go get another SmartFlash kit has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they're on back order with a waiting list, I just say it like it is.
From memory the recycling time is over 50% longer than the SmartFlash, so it will slow your shooting down a bit - this may or may not be important to you.
I don't suppose you'll get a warranty with it, but the GM500 is a fairly low-stressed unit so you'd be unlucky if it went wrong.
And for the cynics, the reason why I'm not just telling you go get another SmartFlash kit has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they're on back order with a waiting list, I just say it like it is.
Thanks Garry, the small difference in the recycle time wouldn't really make a difference to me, there would be no warranty with the Bowens but they have great reputation for reliability so that hopefully wouldn't be a problem as they won't be getting a lot of heavy use. I suppose my reason for leaning towards the Bowens was it's reputation for build quality and reliability and the 500w may come in handy some day 
. Would the 50% longer recycling only apply on full power as to opposed to using the GM500 on reduced power at the smartflash equivalent?
. Would the 50% longer recycling only apply on full power as to opposed to using the GM500 on reduced power at the smartflash equivalent?
Garry Edwards
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I don't know for sure, but would expect the extra recycling time to be linear, which means that it will probably be about 50% longer than the SmartFlash at all settings except for the very lowest.
Ok just found out the Bowen's I was talking about have been sold. So back to Lencarta and another question then. I am now looking at the Ultra Pro and Elite Pro 300, I notice the Elite Pro has a built in radio receiver, do you know if this would be compatible with the Phottix Startos II triggers. I have also read somewhere about being able to build your own kit on the site while still maintaining a discount but unable to find any reference on the Lencarta site. I would only require the 2 heads and stands.
domino1999
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My understanding is that the UltraPro has the receiver. When I enquired a while ago, it can only be fired by a new version of the Lencarta Ultrapro Commander unit, but this has yet to be released. Not sure if things have changed, don't see the new unit on their website, but hopefully Garry can bring us up to date.
Garry Edwards
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Yes, it's the UltraPro that has the built in radio receiver and no, it (probably) won't work with any other radio trigger.
The situation with the Commander unit is that it is in stock and it controls ALL functions of the UltraPro, but it doesn't act as a trigger because it doesn't have a hotshoe. We do have a version with a hotshoe, and it works perfectly, but because of the design of the case, when fitted to the hotshoe the LCD is facing away from the photographer. Because of this we aren't selling it.
Getting a version with the display facing the photographer requires complete new tooling, which is both expensive and time consuming, and we're still waiting for the new tooling to be finished - this is embarrassing but it is also the honest answer to your question.
The situation with the Commander unit is that it is in stock and it controls ALL functions of the UltraPro, but it doesn't act as a trigger because it doesn't have a hotshoe. We do have a version with a hotshoe, and it works perfectly, but because of the design of the case, when fitted to the hotshoe the LCD is facing away from the photographer. Because of this we aren't selling it.
Getting a version with the display facing the photographer requires complete new tooling, which is both expensive and time consuming, and we're still waiting for the new tooling to be finished - this is embarrassing but it is also the honest answer to your question.
domino1999
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Thanks for the honest answer Garry. TBH it doesn't bother me that much, my RF603s do the job just fine for me, although it's a shame the Ultrapro has a somewhat redundant feature (at the moment).
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What actually happened is that it was designed to be as small as possible, with the result that the only place that the hotshoe could be positioned was at the end that doesn't have the battery cover - which is the wrong end.
It's what sometimes happens when engineers try their hand at being designers
saracenhouse
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I appreciate it's academic to the OP now, but as a long-time Bowens user (we have ten 500R and 500 PRO units here in the studio) I would personally say that the pack was a tad overpriced for the Geminis.
We previously had the Bowens Esprit II 500w/s heads - they were pretty bomb proof and went on (and are still going on now) for years without any major servicing - must have been millions upon millions of flashes over the years.
But I was never as impressed with the Gemini GM500s - quite a few people I knew that bought them had issues with unreliability. Bowens' service however is always excellent and will repair fairly inexpensively.
The never Gemini Classics, R's & Pros however are excellent, despite a couple of little niggly issues on the earlier models.
I haven't ever used a Lencarta light, so couldn't comment on those.
We previously had the Bowens Esprit II 500w/s heads - they were pretty bomb proof and went on (and are still going on now) for years without any major servicing - must have been millions upon millions of flashes over the years.
But I was never as impressed with the Gemini GM500s - quite a few people I knew that bought them had issues with unreliability. Bowens' service however is always excellent and will repair fairly inexpensively.
The never Gemini Classics, R's & Pros however are excellent, despite a couple of little niggly issues on the earlier models.
I haven't ever used a Lencarta light, so couldn't comment on those.
Ending up getting the same set only with 2 x 500 Gemini Classics brand new for £550 with warranty so pretty happy with that.
PerfectSpeed
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Interested, where was that from, have you got a link?
Hi, sorry probably should have said I got a 6 month old kit on ebay but completely unused so has still 18 months warranty left. The kit arrived yesterday and it was as stated in the auction, completely unused.