Studio Heads (Elinchrom) or Safari Li-ion

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Tugster

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I have recently closed the studio down and now I have surplus kit that isn't being used.

My predicament is, do I keep the Elinchrom kit and just use it from time to time with home portraits and the ocassional night time ball/dinner, or do I flog it and buy myself a couple of the Safari Li-ion kits which I feel will get more use as they can be used in a more portable setup.

The Eli's are great and would highly recomend them to everyone... My concern is that the Safari's will not produce the results that the Eli's are capable of...


Help !
 
Tugster said:
I have recently closed the studio down and now I have surplus kit that isn't being used.

My predicament is, do I keep the Elinchrom kit and just use it from time to time with home portraits and the ocassional night time ball/dinner, or do I flog it and buy myself a couple of the Safari Li-ion kits which I feel will get more use as they can be used in a more portable setup.

The Eli's are great and would highly recomend them to everyone... My concern is that the Safari's will not produce the results that the Eli's are capable of...


Help !
Click to expand...

Why do you feel that the Safari won't produce the same results?
Even at full power (600Ws) you'll get over 400 flashes to a charge, and if you need to you can even charge the battery while you shoot - it places a bit of extra strain on the charger but it's do-able.

The only downsides is that the recycling time is longer and and the modelling lamp isn't as bright (equivalent to 100 watts tungsten).

As for the quality of the light, given consistent flash energy and consistent colour temperature, which the Safari has in spades, the quality of the light is all about the modifiers used, not the flash head.
 
What Elinchroms do you use? I believe most heads (not monoblocks) can be used with the Ranger battery with an appropriate adapter cable.
 
Thanks Gary for the info. I was thinking lower power from the Safari's...I need to have a good think about the next step.

I currently have 2x Style RX600's and 2 Style RX300's with 44 and 70cm beauty dishes, also have couple of 135 Eli Octas, 2x 70cm Eli Soft boxes, Reflectors and a couple of Hi-lites...Honeycombs and snoots etc. I guess it will be a full system change.
 
RX600s can't be powered by a Ranger battery but they should work with an Innovatronix Explorer - there's a compatbility chart somewhere on their awful website.
 
Tugster said:
Thanks Gary for the info. I was thinking lower power from the Safari's...I need to have a good think about the next step.

I currently have 2x Style RX600's and 2 Style RX300's with 44 and 70cm beauty dishes, also have couple of 135 Eli Octas, 2x 70cm Eli Soft boxes, Reflectors and a couple of Hi-lites...Honeycombs and snoots etc. I guess it will be a full system change.
Click to expand...
Well, with 2 x Safari Li-on kits you're talking about losing a total of a half stop of power - is that going to matter?

As for your softboxes, a lot of people are changing from Elinchrom to Lencarta - 2 of them spoke to me about just yesterday - and the answer is to get S-fit speedrings from The Flash Centre to fit their softboxes, it shouldn't be a problem - but perhaps best not to mention Lencarta:)
 
Garry Edwards said:
As for your softboxes, a lot of people are changing from Elinchrom to Lencarta - 2 of them spoke to me about just yesterday - and the answer is to get S-fit speedrings from The Flash Centre to fit their softboxes, it shouldn't be a problem - but perhaps best not to mention Lencarta:)
Click to expand...

Are you sure you have that the correct way round? Don't you want an Elinchrom speedring to allow mounting of Lencarta softboxes on Elinchrom flash units. If so then what is wrong with the Lencarta one?

Steve
 
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Tugster said:
Thanks Gary for the info. I was thinking lower power from the Safari's...I need to have a good think about the next step.

I currently have 2x Style RX600's and 2 Style RX300's with 44 and 70cm beauty dishes, also have couple of 135 Eli Octas, 2x 70cm Eli Soft boxes, Reflectors and a couple of Hi-lites...Honeycombs and snoots etc. I guess it will be a full system change.
Click to expand...

As you have already got quite a nice Eli setup, just get a battery pack for them. Look for Innovatronix, their batteries get good reviews. :)
 
Finste said:
Are you sure you have that the correct way round? Don't you want an Elinchrom speedring to allow mounting of Lencarta softboxes on Elinchrom flash units. If so then what is wrong with the Lencarta one?

Steve
Click to expand...
No, it would be sensible to get S-fit speedrings so that the OP can use his existing Elinchrom softboxes on Lencarta flash heads.
It's about making use of what he has and saving money
 
Garry Edwards said:
No, it would be sensible to get S-fit speedrings so that the OP can use his existing Elinchrom softboxes on Lencarta flash heads.
It's about making use of what he has and saving money
Click to expand...

The way you phrased it sounded like people were moving from Elinchrom to Lencarta softboxes hence the need for an Elinchrom speedring for a Lencarta softbox. Anyways, I understand your perspective now.

Regards
 
mhuk said:
RX600s can't be powered by a Ranger battery but they should work with an Innovatronix Explorer - there's a compatbility chart somewhere on their awful website.
Click to expand...

Looks like a good option, especially considering the investment in Eli modifiers.
 
Depends on your priority. For ultimate control, keep Eli, and get a battery pack such a innovatronix. you can adjust the power of each head independently. But hauling it all will be a lot of heavy lifting. You'll want an assistant if possible.

But if you are happy with fixed light ratio between 2 heads, then you will sing praise of a much lighter, portable solution such as the Quadra/Safari, and the like. Power difference is absolutely minute, and the quality of light will all depend on the modifiers and light/subject distance.

HTH
Keigo
 
hairboy said:
Depends on your priority. For ultimate control, keep Eli, and get a battery pack such a innovatronix. you can adjust the power of each head independently. But hauling it all will be a lot of heavy lifting. You'll want an assistant if possible.

But if you are happy with fixed light ratio between 2 heads, then you will sing praise of a much lighter, portable solution such as the Quadra/Safari, and the like. Power difference is absolutely minute, and the quality of light will all depend on the modifiers and light/subject distance.

HTH
Keigo
Click to expand...
Fixed light ratio is really a bit of a non-issue. It's difficult expensive to get a non-fixed ratio, because it basically involves building two flash generator into the same box, but bear in mind that the so-called 2:1 ratio only actually applies if each head has exactly the same modifier fitted to it and is at exactly the same distance from the subject - which in practice doesn't happen:)
 
Garry Edwards said:
Fixed light ratio is really a bit of a non-issue.
Click to expand...

I disagree with that one. I often work with 2 lights (or more) on location, and second light often gets used at 3-4 stops under the key. Yes, you can pull the light back enough to lower the power, but that changes the quality of light as well as light spread. Add to that, when you work in a confined space, that option goes out of the window. This IS a definite con against using fixed ratio power pack system. One way to get around it is to get 1 pack for each head. Or use 2 mono heads on something like the Innovatronix - I've already stated the con in using them (weight/mobility issue) in my earlier post.

Neither solution is ideal. But it's always going to be a cost/performance (or in this case, convenience) compromise, unless you are made of money. And that's why I asked about the priority in my initial post.
 
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Yes, I agree that there is no single perfect answer - all I'm saying that having a fixed ratio isn't really a problem, or at least it never has been for me. If push comes to shove, a simple and cheap ND gel takes care of it
 
Garry Edwards said:
Yes, I agree that there is no single perfect answer - all I'm saying that having a fixed ratio isn't really a problem, or at least it never has been for me. If push comes to shove, a simple and cheap ND gel takes care of it
Click to expand...

+1 to this, I have Quadra with 2:1 fixed ratio. Never really seen that as a problem (or limitation). There is always a way to work around the 2:1 ratio, e.g. different modifiers, distance to subject and ND filters. :)
 
If you dont need the 600ws on a single head then you could always go for two sets of the Jinbei FL-500's

Linky with a bit more spec here not sure how good they are but might be worth a look and you will have two generators :)
 
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