Smartflash200 or Elite pro 300?

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I've been putting a few quid to one side to get some better studio flash heads. After reading around I'm going to be looking towards the Lencarta gear. For a first step its going to be one light, looking to build to two later on. I currently have a reflector I can use and the older lights I have can be used for background lighting. The second light when I get one would be up front as well.

Now, I'm struggling to decide which is the one for me between the Smartflash 200 and the Elite pro 300, I know its only £60 difference, but that does go some way to getting some light modifiers or accessories.

I shoot in my kitchen, so not a full studio set up. Being able to adjust the light is important as the room can get pretty bright with everything running at full tilt. Is 200 watts enough and is the adjustment on notches or is it adjust to suit?

Views and experiences with either greatly appreciated.
 
For starters, you are thinking about good equipment. I have the E300's and they are just great. However, for starters you could get away with the 200w/s as you would be unlikely to use them on full power, but if you can stretch it, then the E300 would be the way to go. One light is quite enough provided you have a reflector to hand.

If you are going to the Focus on Imaging at the NEC 4-7th March, I believe there may be a discount on orders placed at the Lencarta stand where there will be lots on display on their larger stand than last year.

If you wasnt to do some studio shoots, I am arranging some in Birmingham. Take a look at 'Meeting Place' for more info.

All the best
 
200Ws is a good amount of power for the kitchen, don't worry about that... If you run out of oomph, just bump the ISO up on your camera and you're basically doubling the effect of the flash.

Tbh, I would get the Elite Pro for the better modeling lamp features and abilty to DOWN to 1/32 power. The max power is not so important in a small home studio. Which is why my 1500Ws Elinchrom heads that go down to only 1/16th are waaay overkill. I still love the smell of dust burning in the air though!
 
If you can make it to Focus, I'll be doing some lighting demos on the Lencarta stand (so will Garry and Jeremy - there's a somewhat gaudy PDF about it here)

Looks like there would be interest in my doing something using one Smartflash :)
 
Thanks Chaps,

Unfortunatly I dont think I'm able to attend the Focus on Imaging event due to a team event we have going off with work, we recently reorganised and the new boss of our section is getting us all together.

So would you say the need to be able to turn power down maybe more critical in a smaller kitchen setting, than overall power in order to control light zones and spill?
 
Blasted said:
So would you say the need to be able to turn power down maybe more critical in a smaller kitchen setting, than overall power in order to control light zones and spill?
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Possibly. Though TBH it's pretty rare for me to think I have too much power....

I did some testing of a bunch of lights recently (and for clarity I'd better state that none of them were Lencartas - in fact none are likely to be makes you are thinking of). I don't think any of them had a real 1/32 adjustment. The bottom "notch" on the dial gave very similar power to the penultimate one.
 
Has to be the 300s simply for the fact you can't turn off the beep on the 200s.... Yes, I know that's an expensive way to make the things quiet but....
 
JonathanRyan said:
If you can make it to Focus, I'll be doing some lighting demos on the Lencarta stand (so will Garry and Jeremy - there's a somewhat gaudy PDF about it here)

Looks like there would be interest in my doing something using one Smartflash :)
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Gaudy...:'( Please feel free to redesign it Jonathan:lol:

I did some testing of a bunch of lights recently (and for clarity I'd better state that none of them were Lencartas - in fact none are likely to be makes you are thinking of). I don't think any of them had a real 1/32 adjustment
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Ours have.

Has to be the 300s simply for the fact you can't turn off the beep on the 200s.... Yes, I know that's an expensive way to make the things quiet but...
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. The beep is very quiet, but if it bothers you...

:lol:In reality, the only time that the beep bothers me is if there are several flash heads at different power settings, because the beeps go off at slightly different times.

Overall, it just comes down to personal choice - do you want flash heads that cost more but which have more features or would you rather keep the money in your back pocket? Both will do the job...
 
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I purchased a couple of 300's from garry a short while ago to replace some dodgy ebay jobbies, and dont know much about the smartflash, but what I do know about the 300 EP's is they are really good build quality, reliable and not that it matters nice to look at, add to that and garry is a very helpfull and knowlegable guy... ( you can tell I am pleased with mine , cant you )
 
I bought the Smartflash 4 head kit from Lencarta just before Xmas, and have yet to use all four heads together

The shot below was taken last week using a single Smartflash 200 through a 60 x 60 softbox as the main light, and a 2nd Smartflash 200 using the standard reflector as the hair light

Now I'm far from an expert, but I'm happy with the result, but more important to me, so were the couple in the shot :)

6883740537_e1696b4dd5_b.jpg

​
 
Cheers chaps, and nice picture.

It all comes down to pennies really, or lack of. Its easy to keep saying its only another 40 or 50 quid but you have to draw the line somewhere. I also appreciate the fact of you get what you pay for. I could get a 200 and start getting a few modifiers to experiment with or get a 300 and have to wait.

Out of curiosity how would a 300 match up with a 200? which way round would you use them?
 
Blasted said:
Just to bump my last question,

Are there any issues or things to consider when mixing a smartflash 200 and an elite pro 300?
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Just one thing that I can think of - Lencarta is now very low on stock of the ElitePro 300, so the choice will disappear soon:'( Sorry!
 
Garry Edwards said:
Just one thing that I can think of - Lencarta is now very low on stock of the ElitePro 300, so the choice will disappear soon:'( Sorry!
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Hi Garry,

Is there any stock at all?

I ordered one from your eBay shop just yesterday, 28th Feb. :(

Darren
 
Sorry, don't know - I don't deal with the Ebay side, it's possible that the person who does has some stock available. I'll try to find out and get him to get in touch with you.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Sorry, don't know - I don't deal with the Ebay side, it's possible that the person who does has some stock available. I'll try to find out and get him to get in touch with you.
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Cheers Garry :thumbs:
 
Lencarta said:
Person who's dealing with eBay is on leave today, so I've sent you an eBay message myself.
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Thanks very much, I received your message and have replied.

I see the UltraPro range is due for release on 4th March. Main differences from the ElitePro appear to be:-

- aluminium build
- digital controls
- remote control
- built in radio receiver

Looks good :)
 
domino1999 said:
Thanks very much, I received your message and have replied.

I see the UltraPro range is due for release on 4th March. Main differences from the ElitePro appear to be:-

- aluminium build
- digital controls
- remote control
- built in radio receiver

Looks good :)
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Don't forget the auto-dump and faster recycle times
 
It's being launched at Focus, it's available now.
There are a lot of new features, no gimmicks, smaller size - I could go on and on but you'll be glad to know that I'm not going to:)
 
Garry Edwards said:
It's being launched at Focus, it's available now.
There are a lot of new features, no gimmicks, smaller size - I could go on and on but you'll be glad to know that I'm not going to:)
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Well seeing as the Elite300 I ordered is out of stock, I'm hoping that maybe Harry can do me a deal on the Ultra400 instead :D
 
I am too looking into buying Elite Pro 300's and the Lencarta website is very confusing, It sates that they are 'in stock' next to the price, and then lower in red it says the 300's are out of stock. I plan to call them tomorrow to see what the deal is and if they are out of stock, when do they expect more.
 
=ReBeL= said:
I am too looking into buying Elite Pro 300's and the Lencarta website is very confusing, It sates that they are 'in stock' next to the price, and then lower in red it says the 300's are out of stock. I plan to call them tomorrow to see what the deal is and if they are out of stock, when do they expect more.
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Their MD told me yesterday that the ElitePro 300 is definitely out of stock and don't know when they'll have new stock coming in. I expect you'll get the same answer if you speak to them today. They do have SmartFlash and the ElitePro 600 in stock though. I'm tempted to go with the UltraPro 400 instead, since Garry already said above that they're available...
 
=ReBeL= said:
I am too looking into buying Elite Pro 300's and the Lencarta website is very confusing, It sates that they are 'in stock' next to the price, and then lower in red it says the 300's are out of stock. I plan to call them tomorrow to see what the deal is and if they are out of stock, when do they expect more.
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Yes, the website says that they are in stock but they aren't, and there's a big red notice saying that they are out of stock.

I will update the various pages when I have a firm delivery date.
Sorry that it's all a bit confusing, unfortunately it isn't me who deals with either the website or the stock orders.
 
Garry Edwards said:
It's being launched at Focus, it's available now.
There are a lot of new features, no gimmicks, smaller size - I could go on and on but you'll be glad to know that I'm not going to:)
Click to expand...

I thought this was supposed to be a secret...... :)
 
Thank you Garry and Darren. Seeing as the UltraPro 300 are more expensive I need to think about it. I am also eyeing up Elinchrome 4 kit and they add wireless trigger to their kit.

I can't see any kits using the UltraPro 300's on Lencarta website, so I'd have to buy everything separately, this pushes the price up to around £600-650 for what I want. Elichrome is only tiny bit more expensive but 400W.

Decisions, decisions
 
=ReBeL= said:
Thank you Garry and Darren. Seeing as the UltraPro 300 are more expensive I need to think about it. I am also eyeing up Elinchrome 4 kit and they add wireless trigger to their kit.

I can't see any kits using the UltraPro 300's on Lencarta website, so I'd have to buy everything separately, this pushes the price up to around £600-650 for what I want. Elichrome is only tiny bit more expensive but 400W.

Decisions, decisions
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Fully customised kits will be available when the new website, which someone else is dealing with, is complete. Meanwhile, I'll try to cobble some basic kits (similar to the existing SmartFlash and ElitePro) ones together when I get back from Focus.

When you're looking at prices you need to look at the cost of essential accessories as well as at the price of the main product, just as you need to look at the cost of fuel and insurance when you buy a car - long term, these costs are far more important than the initial costs.
 
I was going to sell my strobist type stuff and go with the safari Li-on kit but I like the look of the new UltraPro range :love:

I like the idea of having the Li-on for both outdoor and studio use but its a lot of wonga for occasional outdoor use. I will need to have a good old noisy at Focus and decide then :)
 
CScottMcQueen said:
I was going to sell my strobist type stuff and go with the safari Li-on kit but I like the look of the new UltraPro range :love:

I like the idea of having the Li-on for both outdoor and studio use but its a lot of wonga for occasional outdoor use. I will need to have a good old noisy at Focus and decide then :)
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Keep well away from us - you'll end up buying both when you see them:)
 
Garry Edwards said:
Keep well away from us - you'll end up buying both when you see them:)
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Maybe I will have a nosey and not a noisy... or maybe a bit of both ;)

and I know you don't really want me to stay away! :lol:
 
Garry Edwards said:
Keep well away from us - you'll end up buying both when you see them:)
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Well, I would really like to buy one Garry, but a full day has gone and no-one has responded to the 2 messages I sent this morning to lencarta_direct on eBay and another message I sent via the Lencarta website this afternoon.

The only person who has responded today (and quickly I hasten to add) is your good self, but as you've said, you can't help me, so I'm feeling a little neglected, particularly as Harry told me yesterday he would handle this "personally" :(

Darren
 
I've just got hold of him on the phone, he says that he is refunding you now - I would have preferred to have been able to deal with it myself, but don't have anything to do with the Ebay sales
 
Garry Edwards said:
Fully customised kits will be available when the new website, which someone else is dealing with, is complete. Meanwhile, I'll try to cobble some basic kits (similar to the existing SmartFlash and ElitePro) ones together when I get back from Focus.

When you're looking at prices you need to look at the cost of essential accessories as well as at the price of the main product, just as you need to look at the cost of fuel and insurance when you buy a car - long term, these costs are far more important than the initial costs.
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Garry, I'm not sure what do you mean when you say 'essential accessories'. If you mean stuff like light stands, reflectors, etc, then I have included all of that.

I'm after a set of lights (2 x), stands, umbrellas, large sofbox, backdrop system, etc. I was really hoping the ElitePro would be available, as the price suits me better.

I need to price it all again against Elinchrom kit and other suff, and decide then.

I'm also waiting for my XZ-1 to sell, before I can shell out the cash. I hope I will be ready to order all the stuff I need on monday. I'm sure I'll call Lencarta first to talk about stock levels and few other things before I make the final decision.
 
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