Purchased - Lencarta studio kit

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steveinhants

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Steve
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As the title suggests, I have taken the next step and bought myself the Lencarta ElitePro 300 studio flash kit.
Whilst I'm not ready to review it comprehensively as I haven't had a good chance to explore it yet (much to my frustration!!) I will give you my initial thoughts.

I had been following the numerous threads on here re 'what lights etc etc' for some time and I finally decided on the Lencarta products after reading many a positive word.

The first thing I will touch on is the support and advice I received from Garry Edwards prior to confirming the order. I had a good chat with him re my needs and ambitions for my work and found him to be a great guy. As I'm not that far away from Basingstoke (where the warehouse is), and because I'm impatient when it comes to new toys, he kindly arranged for me to collect the order once it was received and processed.
I also called him several times throughout the day seeking advice on the kit. Each time I spoke to him he was very friendly and was glad to help. So, thanks Garry - I look forward to speaking again sometime. :thumbs:

Next, the build quality. This was my biggest worry as I have read some mixed reviews on this recently. Now, in all honesty, I can't compare these lights to any others, as I've not had experience with other brands so I will rely on my common sense and instincts to evaluate. I found the lights to be very sturdy and well made and I have no complaints at all. Their functionality is extremely user friendly and easy to operate. I did shoot for a few minutes with them and I thought the quality was amazing.

The softbox (120 cm Octa Box) took me a while to assemble and I think Lencarta would do well to update their instructional video. Having said that, now I've done it once I think I could do it again in half the time. The softbox feels very sturdy.

I will (in the future) review the kit more thoroughly and provide you all with some images, but if anyone reading this is in the same boat as I was for the last few months, i.e. shall I shan't I?, my advice is simple: go for it.
 
great stuff mate :thumbs:
I also got Kit from Lencarta. elitepro 300 and 3xsmartFlash. Very happy with them. Contacted Garry via email about some advice twice. both time had a reply in this same day. well done Lencarta.
 
I do take your point about the instructional videos, that particular one IS out of date.

Problem is, I'm constantly advising the Company to add to and improve the various product ranges and as a result there are now no less than 25 different softboxes (different sizes, different shapes, folding and non folding) not counting 7 different softbox honeycombs and 8 different speedring adapters. There are a lot of other new products too, and it takes a lot of time to make these instructional videos.

Feel free to ring me about anything you're not sure of - and that goes for anyone else too, you don't need to buy Lencarta to ask for advice about lighting.
 
Garry Edwards said:
softboxes (different sizes, different shapes, folding and non folding)
Click to expand...

I've been very tempted to go for a folding softbox or two as the non-folding ones really are a pain in a**e to transport. Are they easy enough to fold and unfold?


Congrats on the purchase Steve, know what you mean about putting softboxes together - my first time almost ended up with the softbox going out the window! lol I've been having great fun with studio lighting, endless possibilities and you only get better and better each time! :D
 
gman said:
I've been very tempted to go for a folding softbox or two as the non-folding ones really are a pain in a**e to transport. Are they easy enough to fold and unfold?


Congrats on the purchase Steve, know what you mean about putting softboxes together - my first time almost ended up with the softbox going out the window! lol I've been having great fun with studio lighting, endless possibilities and you only get better and better each time! :D
Click to expand...
The first time you put one up, you just slide the locking catch along what is essentially an umbrella shaft until it locks into position - just like an umbrella, then attach the inner and outer diffusers.

To collapse it, you just peel away enough of the velcro on the diffuser to make room for your hand, slip in your hand and release the catch. As the softbox collapses you push the diffusers inwards to keep them clean and put the collapsed softbox into its carry bag. Even I can do it in a few seconds:)
 
Sounds pretty straightforward. I rip open a little velcro to get a grip when attaching softboxes anyway to stop them spinning! Thanks for the advice :)
 
For the extra tenner get the folding ones.

The "build it yourself" ones are cool to pack down really small but even with practise an octa takes me 5 mins to put up. First try most people take >15 mins. And swear a lot.
 
Is that what the call 'Blue Light?
 
steveinhants said:
:shrug: Where is this option? I would have gladly paid an extra ten pounds for a fold away one......if this is an option can you please let me know asap?
Click to expand...
Sorry, that option doesn't exist - or at least not directly.
There are just too many accessories of all kinds to include them all as options in the kitbuilder, so the kitbuilder just offers the most popular choices.

One thing that you could have done though was to not have bought a softbox at all with the kit and then to have added one of the folding softboxes to the cart separately. All of the various softboxes (and other products) are under the 'Products' tab.
 
good to know some more people are happy with this kit... getting excited now :)
 
Hope you don't mind me adding to this thread but thought it would be better than creating another with the same title.

I too took delivery of my Twin Head EP300 Kit today. The first thing that I would like to say is how prompt their delivery was, I ordered just after 22:00 on Thursday Evening and was at my door today. :thumbs:

I cannot comment about other brands but my first impressions are that the kit feels well build, not as heavy as I thought which for me is a good thing but all the same very solid.
I have not attempted to put up the soft boxes yet and I too think that given the option, I too would have gone for collapsible ones at the price difference quoted above. Considering that most of my work is going to mobile shoots, This would have been a very attractive option. I have not had a look at the video but will have a go at putting one together this evening.

On a side note which is more of an oversight on my behalf, I thought that the kits would have come with a bag. When looking at most other brands they all came with carry bags, I presumed this would have been the case here. As I say this is an oversight on my behalf and might be an idea to add the option in the kit builder, I too would have gone for this option as well.

Cannot grumble on the quality tho, can only say good things so far.
 
On a side note which is more of an oversight on my behalf, I thought that the kits would have come with a bag. When looking at most other brands they all came with carry bags, I presumed this would have been the case here. As I say this is an oversight on my behalf and might be an idea to add the option in the kit builder, I too would have gone for this option as well.
Click to expand...
Actually Mark, that option IS in the kit builder, you must have clicked 'next' without seeing it.

I don't know whether it's practical to include the option of folding as well as non-folding softboxes in the kit builder, it might be cumbersome because as I said earliier, there is a total choice of 25 different softboxes, but I'll ask the webmaster about it.
 
You might need to have a word with them about their kit builder page then.
I have just checked now and can see the options, there are more options now than when I was last on the site. When I purchased the kit the last option was the Battery Powered Transmitter, There was a next button but no other options. Their Background section is now loading as an option as well in another tab, This was loading underneath their main kit building page at the beginning (I noticed this as I was looking for a stand and background as well, I ended up getting them from else where as I could not select them as part of the kit).

It looks like they have sorted it out but I can assure you that there must have been an issue with it, Just thought that they might like to know that there might be a few teething issues (these might have now been corrected).

For reference if they need to know, I am using the latest version of firefox on Snow Leopard.
 
I don't know what to say about that, the webpage certainly should show all the options but the site is loading slowly on my machine and I suppose it's possible that for some reason it didn't work properly when you were on it.

I'm passing this on to the webmaster for his comments.
 
Sorry for joining in with the off topicness... :)

I get the same problem quite regularly, using windows 7 and google chrome.

The "extra options" drop below the first page and are not selectable. Will get a screen shot next time it does it :)
 
lensworx said:
You might need to have a word with them about their kit builder page then.
I have just checked now and can see the options, there are more options now than when I was last on the site. When I purchased the kit the last option was the Battery Powered Transmitter, There was a next button but no other options. Their Background section is now loading as an option as well in another tab, This was loading underneath their main kit building page at the beginning (I noticed this as I was looking for a stand and background as well, I ended up getting them from else where as I could not select them as part of the kit).

It looks like they have sorted it out but I can assure you that there must have been an issue with it, Just thought that they might like to know that there might be a few teething issues (these might have now been corrected).

For reference if they need to know, I am using the latest version of firefox on Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...


:agree: No option for a bag on my order either Garry. All good feedback for the webmaster.
 
steveinhants said:
:shrug: Where is this option? I would have gladly paid an extra ten pounds for a fold away one......if this is an option can you please let me know asap?
Click to expand...

Oops.

I was remembering when I looked at strip boxes. The one I wanted was £10 more for the pop up version. Well worth it.

Looks like the 150 octa is £40 more for folding (you'd expect this to have the biggest difference of all prices).
 
I can see the bag options (last page before adding to cart). Running Windows 7 64-bit and IE8.

There's a couple of error messages that appear to be relating to the javascript showing at the bottom of the page.

Here's the error messages:


Message: 'jQuery' is undefined
Line: 84
Char: 1
Code: 0
URI: http://www.lencarta.com/lighting-st...h-head-with-choice-of-reflectors?options=cart


Message: 'document.getElementById(...)' is null or not an object
Line: 62
Char: 2
Code: 0
URI: http://www.lencarta.com/templates/PODmagentoversion/scripts/lencartacatlogmenu.js
 
ahh the joys of live webdevelopment on a live site
 
Sort of back on topic.... what bags are people using to transport lighting kits that don't come with them included?

I am really torn between the Lencarta smartflash and Elemental Genesis - by the time you have added the additional parts included in the Elemental kit to the Lencarta one (bag, reflector, softbox upgrade) the price is almost the the same - how do the Lencarta and Elemental bags compare?
 
Bags in packages are IMO at best not great and often rubbish (never even seen one by Lencarta or Elemental). Usually they are either too big (because you didn't get all the extras) or too small (because you did).

After lots of different ones and resisting their scary cost for ages I now use Pelis. I keep 2 packed each with 2 lights, cables, reflectors, grids and triggers. Heavy but WELL worth it.
 
The bag I got with the Elemental 2 light Genesis Kit is pretty good and seems tough enough with good padding both on the sides and in the middle so you can split it over two levels (stands underneath and lights on top to prevent scratching and bashing) and is long enough to put the light stands in it.

I now also squeeze a trinity head in it so that's three altogether and can just get the x3 lights, x3 stands, x3 reflectors, x3 rolls gaffer tape, umbrella, power cables, bottle of ginger, extension cable, pop up reflector, snickers bar, triggers, light meter and internal padding in - just! lol It's some weight and only just zips up.

I'd guess that most of the other brands are pretty much the same. :)
 
gman said:
The bag I got with the Elemental 2 light Genesis Kit is pretty good and seems tough enough with good padding both on the sides and in the middle so you can split it over two levels (stands underneath and lights on top to prevent scratching and bashing) and is long enough to put the light stands in it.

I now also squeeze a trinity head in it so that's three altogether and can just get the x3 lights, x3 stands, x3 reflectors, x3 rolls gaffer tape, umbrella, power cables, bottle of ginger, extension cable, pop up reflector, snickers bar, triggers, light meter and internal padding in - just! lol It's some weight and only just zips up.

I'd guess that most of the other brands are pretty much the same. :)
Click to expand...

That sounds like a good endorsement, thank god the all important snickers bar can be fitted in:D
 
gman said:
I now also squeeze a trinity head in it so that's three altogether and can just get the x3 lights, x3 stands, x3 reflectors, x3 rolls gaffer tape, umbrella, power cables, bottle of ginger, extension cable, pop up reflector, snickers bar, triggers, light meter and internal padding in - just! lol It's some weight and only just zips up.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I used to use a bag like that. It had wheels and weighed about 30 kilos. Then an assistant pointed out that if they put their back out lifting it they could sue me. Then I realised how bad it would be if I put my back out....

Don't like bags that take stands and lights on principle now - I'd much rather have one long bag and one small fragile bag.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Yeah - I used to use a bag like that. It had wheels and weighed about 30 kilos. Then an assistant pointed out that if they put their back out lifting it they could sue me. Then I realised how bad it would be if I put my back out....

Don't like bags that take stands and lights on principle now - I'd much rather have one long bag and one small fragile bag.
Click to expand...

It is an important point I agree and also the rectangular shape does make it a little uncomfortable to carry even with the shoulder strap. I'm only moving it a short distance into the car so it's a not a problem for me but if you are humping it about a venue then smaller bags to even the load across your body would be better.
 
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