I have heard of several problems with the Genesis 250 heads and them going bang etc.. Or just failing, having looked at the Lencarta it is an excellent choice. Infact there is a post similar to yours, so have a look though the talk lighting section of TP. The build quality is excellent and at a very good price too..
I would personally avoid things like the Interfit kits sold in jessops, they are pretty poor...
I would like to apologise in advance for the following reply. Whilst I do not get involved in forums as a matter of policy, statements like the above require dealing with properly. I would welcome the opportunity to see the evidence of the above should the author wish to get in touch.
Firstly, you will not find a bad review of our lights anywhere on the internet, save for the unnecessary smears made by representatives of Lencarta. For their troubles they have received letters from our solicitors which will ultimately result in legal action should this behaviour continue.
There have not been reports of our lights going "bang" unless the people purchasing them have so much money that they felt the need not to inform us of this issue. Warranties exist for a reason and we have a fantastic reputation for customer service, particularly in the light of complaints or issues, which are rare. Our M Series 300Ws sold over 6000 units, with a total return of 9, in 3 years. To date, we have only had a single 600Ws head returned, and zero 1000Ws heads.
The MK1 Genesis was upgraded after a 5 star comparison review in Digital Photo Magazine. Since we have the capability and engineering skills to change components and lights, it seemed churlish not to re-engineer the lights to a higher spec after comments made by the magazine. 18 months ago, in another comparison review we were criticised for the handle of our M Series, but rather than airing our grievance here, as Lencarta did (threads now removed due to libellous content), we redesigned the rear panel and handle. The Genesis MKII are now the same specification as our original flagship range, the M Series, save for the power outputs and mounting brackets, so you've got our previous top end professional range competing against everyone else' budget range. The M Series vs Smartflash - hardly comparative. Fan cooled, available in two power outputs (250Ws and 400Ws) and faster than the Lencarta Elite Pro -
their flagship range.
I would also like to address a comment made recently about Lencarta's customer service capabilities versus our own on another thread in this forum:
1: We don't miss phone calls, or use a voicemail service during office hours. I particularly enjoy the voicemail at Lencarta; "Sometimes it is not possible for me to answer the phone, for example if I am driving my car, or in the studio"... Very professional. We've recently added another two lines to our incoming system, to enable us to deal with a greater volume of calls.
2: We have five full time staff on site (and two part time), four of which are working commercial photographers. They are here to give real time practical advice on studio photography. Lencarta has no staff, except Mr. Edwards of course, who claims he doesn't actually work for them (based purely on several posts on this site where he denies any official affiliation).
3: We have a full engineering team seconded to us directly from UCMK to deal with servicing and repairs. Since our engineering team designs the electronics systems, we don't have to rely on third party manufacturers to repair or service our products.
4: We have a warehouse on site at our Bedfordshire complex. Lencarta's products are handled off site (based on several posts where Mr. Edwards has "telephoned the warehouse manager to complain about products not being dispatched") probably by a third party pick and pack facility.
5: We don't hijack forum threads who are asking about other products. In fact, we don't, as a matter of policy, involve ourselves in forums at all. Your opinion of our lights is entirely down to you, though we do not accept the opinions of pro-Lencarta lobbyists who declare fictional statements about our products without ever having handled them. We have a full range of Lencarta's products on site, should you wish to do comparisons. I can assure you, we immensely enjoy showing off their products.
6: We have a showroom and commercial studio in our offices. No appointment is necessary (unlike at Lencarta's "studio"). Just turn up, any time, from Monday to Saturday between 9.30am and 5pm.
Quite frankly we are bored of comparisons with Lencarta. Whilst historically we have provided a number of OEM products to the UK market, we have taken great pains (and cost) to begin our own R&D and engineering programs (widely publicised in the press), meaning that most (not all - we still have a number of OEM products, which we are more than happy to admit to) of the products you buy from us, are ours, unlike Lencarta products (however much they say otherwise) which are made by Jinbei Goldenshell, a reputable manufacturer in China. Yes, we've heard the whole "we use their cases and PCBs, back panel and front end, but really we insist on changing the flash tube (which is user changeable anyway) and use japanese capacitors" arguments - they are a work of fiction that JK Rowling would be proud of -
"Harry Potter and the pre-existing components". A quick email to Jinbei will reveal that they use these components anyway.
We can remould a casing for around $2000, so it is hardly expensive. CAD designs and re-tooling for rear panels is significantly more expensive, but surely if they've got the money to make Jinbei re-tool for custom capacitors with different electronic values (in order to improve performance - otherwise why bother?) which would require an entire electronic redesign, again, very expensive, why not change something as simple and obviously identifiable as the casing? I suggest a little "Occam's Razer" ought to be applied here - "If it looks like a Jinbei product, and the specifications are the same..."
For those of you that are interested, Jinbei list a number of markets which are available to distributors here:
http://www.goldenshell.com.cn/en/marketing.asp
The UK is missing, of course, because Lencarta have that particular exclusivity, unless someone can point us to another UK distributor of Jinbei products.
The only difference between Jinbei and Lencarta is that Jinbei don't feel the need to pretend their products are different, or to deceive their customers into thinking otherwise. The new Lencarta continuous lights, for example, are identical to lights we discontinued 3 years ago, and bear a striking resemblance to our previous G Series...
Whilst I do not wish to be personal, in the interests of full disclosure, we should really address the impartiality of Mr. Edwards. Mr. Edwards alludes to be an objective provider of information on studio lighting, and on that subject I have no doubt he is an authority, but in reality he is a 3% shareholder of Blue Dimension International Limited, the parent company that owns the "brand" Lencarta. The PDF proof downloaded from companies house is available for all to see, as is the annual return for Lencarta, which entirely refutes their financial capability to design their own products.
If you look online you'll find that we post all of our trade reviews, irrespective of the outcome directly on our website for everyone to read. Lencarta seem to have missed a couple of reviews in the last year where they were found wanting, compared to our products. Also, it is entirely ridiculous that Mr. Edwards has reviewed the products himself on the Lencarta website! How credible can such an endorsement be from a man who earns money from the sale of the products?
Ironically Mr. Edwards has, in the past year, on more than one occasion, suggested that the reviews of our brand have been corrupt, or in some way "interfered" with, and yet on both occasions Mr. Edwards has immediately written to the editors (emails posted willingly on this forum) and refuted the outcome,
and, most recently, gone on to "disprove" the outcome of a review by shooting a tin spill kill and half of a plastic case, whilst suggesting that representatives of Bauer Media are corrupt in their review process. Lencarta consistently advertise in Bauer publications. We have NEVER advertised in their magazines. It would be in Bauer Media's best interest to keep their advertisers happy, which means our products would have to have performed significantly better to achieve the Gold Award and Best Buy Awards.
We, on the other hand, merely hand the products over and let them get on with it. Our products are excellent, therefore the reviews are excellent. Where we have had criticism, we have overcome it with positive engineering.
Unlike Lencarta, we are glad that they exist in the market place. Without choice the market place would lose innovation. Without comparisons we would lose the opportunity to excel. Whilst we are miles shy of achieving a status like that of Bowens, Elinchrom, Broncolor etc, we are growing rapidly and producing fine products for an expanding market.
You are all more than welcome to visit our facilities and see for yourself. That includes the author of the above quote - we would welcome the opportunity to discuss any issues you may have with our product line. I would even welcome representatives of Lencarta, should they wish to see their own products performing against ours. We make excellent coffee and are gracious hosts.
Daniel Lenihan
CEO
The Elemental Group
I wish I wish for a TP member discount code... 
