[obsoquasi]

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



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[Steinar1]

Very interesting subject. Unfortunately I do not have enough facts to compare the different options, but to me nothing beats the mobbility vs; quality you can get of a set of good cobra flash units with a mobile set up of light formers. You can bring it anywhere and get top quality quickly and with little fuss. You have to know your stuff and use it often, but if you do, you can use it for mostly any job where mobility is required. Look at what Joe McNally does with the Nikon CLS system!!

[obsoquasi]

[quote name='Vieux loup' timestamp='1352722096' post='20925']

Very interesting subject. Unfortunately I do not have enough facts to compare the different options, but to me nothing beats the mobbility vs; quality you can get of a set of good cobra flash units with a mobile set up of light formers. You can bring it anywhere and get top quality quickly and with little fuss. You have to know your stuff and use it often, but if you do, you can use it for mostly any job where mobility is required. Look at what Joe McNally does with the Nikon CLS system!!

[/quote]



Joe McNally does a very decent job with his CLS system indeed, however he has to compromise all the time. And that's the problem, I essentially want to work on location the same way I work in the studio, use modifiers of any size, have enough power, get 100% consistent light (color and light output). It's difficult to fill a big strip light with a small flash, not to mention a large softbox or octa. And in situations, where I can't move the lights in close, it's almost pointless to use striplights in bright daylight. But fortunately there are products for almost everyone's preferences. From cheap third-party speedlights, branded speedlights, Quantum flashes, Ranger Quadra, Ranger RX. Recently people seem to get interested in buying heavy accus like the Explorer XT3 and hook up their studio gear. Fine with me, as long as it doesn't start to rain...



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