Portable Ring Flash

kiteninja

kiteninja

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Morgan Lee
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What do people think of this Ring Flash & are they available in the UK looks like a cheaper version of the Lencarter safari, im sure its not as good but it is £500 :S.

I'm sure this has been discussed to death in other threads so sorry if its been covered before.


Also with the battery pack can you just sling it in a rucksack and go fully protable ? or would it be better with a speedlight attachment?
 
I would not trust any studio flash, especially for that kind of money, that doesn't have a brand name at least 5 people have heard of. :)
 
they do acept returns so you could buy it test it and send it back if ****?

generaly its a shoulder strap on the power pack and bolting the camera to the ring flash for proper portable. Seen ring on a lightstand with cam held to it for more set up shots with other lights
 
david1701 said:
they do acept returns so you could buy it test it and send it back if ****?

generaly its a shoulder strap on the power pack and bolting the camera to the ring flash for proper portable. Seen ring on a lightstand with cam held to it for more set up shots with other lights
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I've emailed them asking about the quality of the battery etc.. & offered them a price Shipped to the UK.

See what they say, just sifting through the various RayFlash Nock offs as well.
 
They may accept returns, but you're shipping it back to Poland, which means you'll likely end up better off just having bought a named brand in the first place.

Aside from any potential battery issues (which wasn't what I was thinking about), but colour temperature consistency, power output consistency, availability and cost of replacement tubes, etc in the UK.
 
It does look alot like the Lencarta Safari, same badge on the battery pack, same specs. Very strange:thinking:
 
Dino f said:
It does look alot like the Lencarta Safari, same badge on the battery pack, same specs. Very strange:thinking:
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Same case as the Lencarta, but with different internals.
 
The Lencarta Safari is based on the Jinbei RD-600 shown here, not the other way around. Jinbei is the biggest photographic lighting manufacturer in China. They make most of the Lencarta products (or components thereof).

Some people claim that Lencarta lights are merely rebadged Jinbei ones. Is this true?

This is a silly rumour, started by someone who sells rebadged lighting gear and who is trying to ‘prove’ that Lencarta is no better than his own offerings, and now taken up by various other people on flikr etc and quoted as ‘fact’. Basically, this person turned up at the Shanghai Photo Fair, decided that he wanted to buy their DP model and got a bit ****ed off when they turned him down because he couldn’t make their minimum order AND thought that he should get credit…

The fact of the matter is that Jinbei produces for a number of established brands. They do not allow rebadging, they insist that anything that is straight off the production line is sold under their own name because they want to promote their own name – apparently this is working for them, as they pretty much doubled their turnover last year. Feel free to check that yourself with their M.D., Mr. Ye.

Do Jinbei supply anything more than the cases for Lencarta products?

Lencarta uses Cases, including the rear control panel and the rear pcb (attached to the rear control panel) and also uses the fan from Jinbei. The German PerkinElmer flash tubes and the Japanese Rubicon capacitors are supplied by Lencarta to Jinbei for exclusive use in our products, so are various other technical components that frankly I don’t understand, but which are required to work with the larger number of capacitors and higher rated, 85 degree capacitors that Lencarta uses.

But aren’t the specifications of Lencarta’s lights similar to those of Jinbei’s?

I agree that the specs published by Jinbei are basically similar to the Lencarta ones, but are not the same, which is not surprising. For example, I believe that their QQ model has 4 capacitors totalling 150 joules, our SmartFlash has 9 capacitors totally 200 joules.

When it comes to the Safari, the Jinbei version has less capacitors, slower recycling and less flashes even though it uses the same battery. There is some empty space in their case, unfortunately the same case is full with the Safari, which is stopping further development at the moment.
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Yeh its not strange that the company in China is manufacturing for other people also.
Most of your Big Brand White goods are manufactured unbranded at factories and branded once the company gets them.
People really need to Stop with the "Brand Name" rubbish. There is no such thing now, everything is made in bulk, sold in bulk and branded by whoever buys it.
 
CraigF said:
People really need to Stop with the "Brand Name" rubbish. There is no such thing now, everything is made in bulk, sold in bulk and branded by whoever buys it.
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But you have a company with a reputation and a solid warranty backing up the products when you go with somebody like Elinchrom, Bowens, Lencarta, Profoto, etc.

You can't say that with the majority of "shipped from Hong Kong" suppliers on eBay, and even if you can, shipping that kinda weight and size back in the event of a warranty claim is going to cost far more than the difference between what you bought from HK and buying proper gear in the UK.
 
I have just bought a twin light Safari kit and will be buying the ring light to go with it on pay day :) The quality of the components and feel of the products is very very good and I have no complaints with the light.

I would like to see a replacement charger PSU which looks a bit cheap with maybe a meter showing how much charge is left and how long left to charge. I would also like a Lencarta MAINS power box which would plug into the mains and run the same battery lights directly from the mains rather than the battery.
 
Kaouthia said:
But you have a company with a reputation and a solid warranty backing up the products when you go with somebody like Elinchrom, Bowens, Lencarta, Profoto, etc.

You can't say that with the majority of "shipped from Hong Kong" suppliers on eBay, and even if you can, shipping that kinda weight and size back in the event of a warranty claim is going to cost far more than the difference between what you bought from HK and buying proper gear in the UK.
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Where exactly do you think all those companies you referred to manufacture their goods?
The so called "Proper Gear" you refer to is the same gear as you get from HK.
The companies you mention could not afford to manufacture in the UK.
 
So go buy the cheap unbranded stuff. I'll stick to UK suppliers with full support and warranty.

To me, it's worth the cost. To you, it's obviously not.
 
You have to use your judgement on these things.

It is true that a lot of goods on sale in the UK are cheaply manufactured in China and sold massively marked up because they have a badge printed on them.

e.g. Domke bags. They are worth about £15, but sell for £130. They are available (from the same factory) with other brand labels on. Unfortunately nobody is importing them to the UK in bulk yet.

However with some kit it is best to buy from the UK, as sometimes manufacturers will carefully select the best factories in China/Taiwan/HK to buy their stuff from, and if you go direct you may end up buying from the worst factories.

On the whole though, don't be fooled, especially when it comes to simple accessories and things that don't do much. A badge is a badge.
 
Jinbei is the largest, most successful and fastest growing lighting manufacturer in China, operating from a state of the art factory in Shanghai. I know, because I’ve been there and have been round their factory, which is more like a lab than a factory.
They assemble many of the Lencarta products, and the Lencarta products use the casings developed by Jinbei, for purely commercial reasons – it’s much cheaper to use an existing ‘box’ than to pay for the tooling cost of making another box that won’t do the job any better.

For the same commercial reasons, other common parts are also used, because there’s no point, for example, in paying for basic components such as a PCB or the control panel it’s fixed to be made specially when they will do exactly the same job as the ones used in the Jinbei products.

Where Lencarta products are different from the similar looking Jinbei products is therefore not the appearance but the technical components such as capacitors, flash tubes and the like. That’s what gives them the improved performance, so the people who think that Jinbei and Lencarta products are the same, or that Lencarta is just a rebadge of Jinbei, are ignoring the facts.

Lencarta has simply made a commercial decision to save money by using these common parts. This keeps prices down but has the disadvantage that there are always going to be some people who can’t or won’t see the difference between Jinbei and Lencarta and so they assume that they’re the same, even though the differences are obvious.

Other (very) well known names in studio lighting have their products assembled at the Jinbei plant too. But, being bigger and richer, they use their own cases so nobody knows that Jinbei assembles them, so nobody spreads stories about them being rebadged Jinbei products:)

Of course, although a lot of re-badging does go on (various flash heads, computers, washing machines, fridges etc), saving money by simply using the same body shell but with different vital components applies to a lot of other products too. I used to have an Alfa Romeo that used exactly the same body as a Renault – but it was still an Alfa because it had an Alfa engine, suspension and brakes. I believe that Renault and Citroen also use the same body shells, but each make has its own unique features and different performance.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Jinbei is the largest, most successful and fastest growing lighting manufacturer in China, operating from a state of the art factory in Shanghai. I know, because I’ve been there and have been round their factory, which is more like a lab than a factory.
They assemble many of the Lencarta products, and the Lencarta products use the casings developed by Jinbei, for purely commercial reasons – it’s much cheaper to use an existing ‘box’ than to pay for the tooling cost of making another box that won’t do the job any better.

For the same commercial reasons, other common parts are also used, because there’s no point, for example, in paying for basic components such as a PCB or the control panel it’s fixed to be made specially when they will do exactly the same job as the ones used in the Jinbei products.

Where Lencarta products are different from the similar looking Jinbei products is therefore not the appearance but the technical components such as capacitors, flash tubes and the like. That’s what gives them the improved performance, so the people who think that Jinbei and Lencarta products are the same, or that Lencarta is just a rebadge of Jinbei, are ignoring the facts.

Lencarta has simply made a commercial decision to save money by using these common parts. This keeps prices down but has the disadvantage that there are always going to be some people who can’t or won’t see the difference between Jinbei and Lencarta and so they assume that they’re the same, even though the differences are obvious.

Other (very) well known names in studio lighting have their products assembled at the Jinbei plant too. But, being bigger and richer, they use their own cases so nobody knows that Jinbei assembles them, so nobody spreads stories about them being rebadged Jinbei products:)

Of course, although a lot of re-badging does go on (various flash heads, computers, washing machines, fridges etc), saving money by simply using the same body shell but with different vital components applies to a lot of other products too. I used to have an Alfa Romeo that used exactly the same body as a Renault – but it was still an Alfa because it had an Alfa engine, suspension and brakes. I believe that Renault and Citroen also use the same body shells, but each make has its own unique features and different performance.
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Seems stupid but is that on the Lencarta site or maybe a link to that so others don't get fooled.

I've put the money i was going to put into that flash into a pot and will save a few more pennies for the Lencarta :).

Thanks everyone :).
 
kiteninja said:
Seems stupid but is that on the Lencarta site or maybe a link to that so others don't get fooled.

I've put the money i was going to put into that flash into a pot and will save a few more pennies for the Lencarta :).

Thanks everyone :).
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The website says this here
"All of the performance-critical internal components (for example our flash tubes and capacitors) are uniquely made for Lencarta in Germany and Japan. Some Lencarta products also incorporate standard exterior parts supplied by our assembly plant, items such as control panels and body casings, because these standard parts enable Lencarta to save on tooling costs and thus pass on greater savings to our customers. As a result however, there are flash products available that have a basically similar appearance - but they do not benefit from Lencarta's electronic design and therefore do not perform like genuine Lencarta products in terms of spec and reliability. It's what is inside the case that matters!"

Personally, I'd like to say it more strongly but it isn't my decision - and anyway, whenever I point out that some other sellers supply rebadged products and that Lencarta are different, there's a torrent of abuse, accusations and complaints from one particular seller who (wrongly) seems to feel that either I or Lencarta is having a go at him.
 
While you are blatantly referring to Elemental, some of their products are more than mere rebrands now. The Trinity (Pro) monolights are an example, and I'm pretty sure the Genesis MkII and FUGL-E have reworked internals also. They are also working on a "Scorpion" light for next year.

How about a Safari vs RD-600 test?
 
Selbosh said:
While you are blatantly referring to Elemental, some of their products are more than mere rebrands now. The Trinity (Pro) monolights are an example, and I'm pretty sure the Genesis MkII and FUGL-E have reworked internals also. They are also working on a "Scorpion" light for next year.

How about a Safari vs RD-600 test?
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im a little confused Selbosh, you link to an article on your (profit making?) blog which touches on the lencarta/jenbei connection, you have a quote from Garry that covers it quite well. Garry has not mentioned any brands in that article or on this site, so why did you?
 
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