10-29-2012, 05:11 PM
Hi guys,
a couple of years ago I did a evaluation, wether I should get some cheap studio strobes to replace my speelights (strobist kit) for mobile usage. Back then I found out that the cheap strobes are no match for a well functioning speedlight rig, mainly due to luminance and color consistency issues with the cheap chinese brand. Now, about 2 years later, I'd like to come back to the discussion and add some new personal ratings, adding some of Elinchrom's products in the mix and maybe start a new discussion of what's the best choice for mobile flash. Let the photo nerdery commence!
#qualifier: #rating
Ambient Light Only:
Mobility: 10
Color Consistency: - (depending on the time of day)
Lum. Consistency: - (dito)
Power range: - (dito)
Sculptability: 1
Price: 10
Action Freeze: - (dito)
Speedlights:
Mobility: 9
Color Consistency: 8 (don't mix Canon and Nikon speedlights if you can avoid it)
Lum. Consistency: 9
Power range: 4 (low ok, but not very high)
Sculptability: 5*
Price: 8
Action Freeze: 8 (Hispeed Sync goes above the X-Sync speed, but this means also: loss of max power)
*not able to light large modifiers evenly, unless you get something like a LP739 Double Flash Speedring Bracket, which will in turn reduce mobility again.
Cheap Chinese Studio Monoblocks (looking at you Walimex):
Mobility: 3 (when used with a battery, else "0")
Color Consistency: 7
Lum. Consistency: 3 (ouch...)
Power range: 3 (not very low, not very high)
Sculptability: 8**
Price: 10 (... as in "cheap")
Action Freeze: 4 (terrible, flash slowly burns away in an ever so gentle slope)
** while you can use all modifiers or buy adapter speedrings, the power settings are not very fine tunable, my old unit had only three power settings: 1/4, 1/2 and full power. Good luck with that.
Elinchrom Starter strobes (D-Lite-it series)
Mobility: 3 (when used with a battery, else "0")
Color Consistency: 10
Lum. Consistency: 9 (manual says 0.5% tolerance)
Power range: 7***
Sculptability: 9****
Price: 8
Action Freeze: 7 (depending on the unit from 1/800s to 1/2200s, aka not absolutely terrible)
*** 5-stops, often my D-Lite-it 4s are simply to bright (e.g. as fill lights) in the studio and I use a deflector to subract another stop of light.
**** can be used with all modifiers. Heavy big octabanks will however put a lot of stress on the plastic handle and you will have to replace it after 2 years or so, depending on your usage pattern.
Elinchrom Ranger RX (Speed)
Mobility: 7 (heavier than speedlites, but with built-in radio triggers)
Color Consistency: 10 (yep)
Lum. Consistency: 9 (1% tolerance)
Power range: 9 (6-stops!! up to 1100 W/s)
Sculptability: 10
Price: 2 (I knew there was a catch…)
Action Freeze: 8 (1/1150 - 1/2250)
Elinchrom Ranger Quadra Series
Mobility: 9
Color Consistency: 10
Lum. Consistency: 10
Power range: 10 (6.6 f-stops!!!! up to 400 W/s)
Sculptability: 7******
Price: 5
Action Freeze: 8 (1/1200 - 1/4000)
****** needs adapter for modifiers and will not carry anything larger then medium-sized modifiers (not large softboxes or octabanks)
So, what do you think, what solution have you chosen for your mobile setup? If you live in the states, you simply have to include Paul C. Buff in your evaluation, especially with consideration to their action freeze capability.
Cheers,
John
[url="http:/www.obsoquasi.ch"]http://www.obsoquasi.ch[/url]
a couple of years ago I did a evaluation, wether I should get some cheap studio strobes to replace my speelights (strobist kit) for mobile usage. Back then I found out that the cheap strobes are no match for a well functioning speedlight rig, mainly due to luminance and color consistency issues with the cheap chinese brand. Now, about 2 years later, I'd like to come back to the discussion and add some new personal ratings, adding some of Elinchrom's products in the mix and maybe start a new discussion of what's the best choice for mobile flash. Let the photo nerdery commence!
#qualifier: #rating
Ambient Light Only:
Mobility: 10
Color Consistency: - (depending on the time of day)
Lum. Consistency: - (dito)
Power range: - (dito)
Sculptability: 1
Price: 10
Action Freeze: - (dito)
Speedlights:
Mobility: 9
Color Consistency: 8 (don't mix Canon and Nikon speedlights if you can avoid it)
Lum. Consistency: 9
Power range: 4 (low ok, but not very high)
Sculptability: 5*
Price: 8
Action Freeze: 8 (Hispeed Sync goes above the X-Sync speed, but this means also: loss of max power)
*not able to light large modifiers evenly, unless you get something like a LP739 Double Flash Speedring Bracket, which will in turn reduce mobility again.
Cheap Chinese Studio Monoblocks (looking at you Walimex):
Mobility: 3 (when used with a battery, else "0")
Color Consistency: 7
Lum. Consistency: 3 (ouch...)
Power range: 3 (not very low, not very high)
Sculptability: 8**
Price: 10 (... as in "cheap")
Action Freeze: 4 (terrible, flash slowly burns away in an ever so gentle slope)
** while you can use all modifiers or buy adapter speedrings, the power settings are not very fine tunable, my old unit had only three power settings: 1/4, 1/2 and full power. Good luck with that.
Elinchrom Starter strobes (D-Lite-it series)
Mobility: 3 (when used with a battery, else "0")
Color Consistency: 10
Lum. Consistency: 9 (manual says 0.5% tolerance)
Power range: 7***
Sculptability: 9****
Price: 8
Action Freeze: 7 (depending on the unit from 1/800s to 1/2200s, aka not absolutely terrible)
*** 5-stops, often my D-Lite-it 4s are simply to bright (e.g. as fill lights) in the studio and I use a deflector to subract another stop of light.
**** can be used with all modifiers. Heavy big octabanks will however put a lot of stress on the plastic handle and you will have to replace it after 2 years or so, depending on your usage pattern.
Elinchrom Ranger RX (Speed)
Mobility: 7 (heavier than speedlites, but with built-in radio triggers)
Color Consistency: 10 (yep)
Lum. Consistency: 9 (1% tolerance)
Power range: 9 (6-stops!! up to 1100 W/s)
Sculptability: 10
Price: 2 (I knew there was a catch…)
Action Freeze: 8 (1/1150 - 1/2250)
Elinchrom Ranger Quadra Series
Mobility: 9
Color Consistency: 10
Lum. Consistency: 10
Power range: 10 (6.6 f-stops!!!! up to 400 W/s)
Sculptability: 7******
Price: 5
Action Freeze: 8 (1/1200 - 1/4000)
****** needs adapter for modifiers and will not carry anything larger then medium-sized modifiers (not large softboxes or octabanks)
So, what do you think, what solution have you chosen for your mobile setup? If you live in the states, you simply have to include Paul C. Buff in your evaluation, especially with consideration to their action freeze capability.
Cheers,
John
[url="http:/www.obsoquasi.ch"]http://www.obsoquasi.ch[/url]