Lencarta smartflash owners

scottduffy

scottduffy

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Hi folks/Garry,

I was just having a go at setting up my new smartflash umbrella kit and straight away I'm struggling without instructions.

First thing is the umbrella position. I tracked down an older instruction manual and it says pass the umbrella through the standard reflector slot into the umbrella hole on the underside of the light.

Problem I have is the slot on the reflector is to the side no matter how many times I rotate it so obviously can't go from there to under the light.

Second thing is where does the wireless trigger fit into the smartflash? I've not really studied this so far but I can't see anywhere that looks like the usb fitting.

Probably obvious but sometimes can't see the woods for the trees.
 
Right I've found the usb fitting and the instructions on the lencarta website but the standard reflector is p*ssing me right off. I can't get it even within an inch or two of the bottom.
 
I had that was a tooling error on some of their reflectors sure Garry will jump in here but I emailed them through the site and they dealt with it amazingly quickly. In meantime you can usually just slide the umbrella under the reflector for a play.
 
CraigDHD said:
I had that was a tooling error on some of their reflectors sure Garry will jump in here but I emailed them through the site and they dealt with it amazingly quickly. In meantime you can usually just slide the umbrella under the reflector for a play.
Click to expand...
or just remove the reflector
 
Cheers mate. I thought I was being a dumb ass which wouldn't be unusual. I tried the other reflector in case it was one made for each light !!! Silly I know.

Another thing which might just be my camera but I took a few shots and they looked fine then all of a sudden the next few were very underexposed. Sure enough I checked the top lcd and the exposure compensation is -2. I've changed it back to 0 then when I take a photo it's back at -2 again. Something I'll need to read up on as I've not come across this before. I take it its nothing to do with the lights or triggers?
 
I'll check mate thanks.

Phil I removed it to have a play and obviously it worked fine. Just wasn't sure if the fault was me or the reflector. Thanks guys I'll give lencarta a wee call tomorrow.
 
Let us know how you get on, mine are the same I just hadn't tried them with an umbrella :(
 
Anyone who has a problem, just ring me please, or email support (at) lencarta.com
We've discovered that a batch of reflectors has been made with the umbrella slot badly positioned, and we will replace any reflectors that have this problem.
 
N
Garry Edwards said:
Anyone who has a problem, just ring me please, or email support (at) lencarta.com
We've discovered that a batch of reflectors has been made with the umbrella slot badly positioned, and we will replace any reflectors that have this problem.
Click to expand...
nice one Garry
 
Garry Edwards said:
Anyone who has a problem, just ring me please, or email support (at) lencarta.com
We've discovered that a batch of reflectors has been made with the umbrella slot badly positioned, and we will replace any reflectors that have this problem.
Click to expand...
Thanks Garry,

I've been busy but will get back to you guys ASAP.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Anyone who has a problem, just ring me please, or email support (at) lencarta.com
We've discovered that a batch of reflectors has been made with the umbrella slot badly positioned, and we will replace any reflectors that have this problem.
Click to expand...

I've emailed you about this too Garry, the one I had delivered today the hole is way off and also I cannot fit a honeycomb grid unless I remove the modelling lamp every time I want to use a grid! not very good at all.
 
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After speaking to Garry I now know I have to remove the modelling lamp when using the grid. I understand why as people tend to damage the heads with all that trapped heat..but its still a fiddle to remove it each time.
 
quango2k said:
After speaking to Garry I now know I have to remove the modelling lamp when using the grid. I understand why as people tend to damage the heads with all that trapped heat..but its still a fiddle to remove it each time.
Click to expand...

That seems kinda strange, what's the point of the fan if it can't handle a reflector and grid?
 
simonbarker said:
That seems kinda strange, what's the point of the fan if it can't handle a reflector and grid?
Click to expand...
No fan can cope with the heat generated by a tight honeycomb, the fan deals with heat generated within the flash head, not outside it.
A crude solution is to have large slots cut into the reflector to help to dissipate the heat, and this was very common with early flash heads and with halogen powered continuous lighting, both on reflectors and softboxes, but this of course creates light spill, which is a very bad idea.
A reasonable compromise would be to design a reflector that has baffles that allow heat to escape but not light, and we're working on that.

At the end of the day, all that's needed is to have a standard reflector without ventilation slots and for photographers to read the instructions and to only switch the modelling lamp on for a few seconds while setting up the shot, but that's asking too much of some people... I once worked with a guy who blew up a brand new flash head by leaving the modelling lamp on, there was a very loud bang, the poor model was terrified and the clouds of black smoke set off the smoke detectors, which called out the fire brigade... Great fun NOT:)
And, he blamed the manufacturer for it and got a new flash head out of them, which happens to us too.
 
I'm not sure if the smartflash are the same as the elitepro but the umbrella hole aligns to about 11-o'clock (looking at it front on) and there is a channel going through the entire length of the flash that looks a bit like a screw-hole to start with. There is also a secondary umbrella holder underneath but as Gary mentions you will need a smaller reflector to do this. The only issue with the bottom umbrella holder is there is not much room for adjusting the distance.

I found that the 7" honeycomb has a lot of play around the edges in the lencarta reflector and it's possible to get some light spill around the edges unless you position the tab at the top (don't ask why).
 
Garry Edwards said:
Anyone who has a problem, just ring me please, or email support (at) lencarta.com
We've discovered that a batch of reflectors has been made with the umbrella slot badly positioned, and we will replace any reflectors that have this problem.
Click to expand...
Oh that's where I've been going wrong when I've used the umbrella I just assumed you don't use the reflector!! Haven't looked at the for a while so I'll take another look
 
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