Elinchrom Strobes: DLite-4s vs 300RX

[telles75]

I own both and last night I was doing some tests and found out something rather interesting. The D-Lite 4 are rated 400Ws and the 300RX 300Ws, however measuring the light ouput with a Sekonic L-758 at exactly 1 meter from the strobe I could only measure a difference of 0.1 to 0.2 f-stops. Meaning the output is almost identical. Is this possible?

When measuring at the lowest setting the 300RX is 1.0 to 1.1 f-stop dimmer than the D-Lite 4 (but that was expected since the RX series have a wider range of control).

I am puzzled about these results. Maybe Rob or other Elinchrom users can step in and comment on this.

[TMR Design]

I own both and last night I was doing some tests and found out something rather interesting. The D-Lite 4 are rated 400Ws and the 300RX 300Ws, however measuring the light ouput with a Sekonic L-758 at exactly 1 meter from the strobe I could only measure a difference of 0.1 to 0.2 f-stops. Meaning the output is almost identical. Is this possible?

When measuring at the lowest setting the 300RX is 1.0 to 1.1 f-stop dimmer than the D-Lite 4 (but that was expected since the RX series have a wider range of control).

I am puzzled about these results. Maybe Rob or other Elinchrom users can step in and comment on this.

Hi Rafael,

A 400 Watt second strobe should be a little less than 1/2 stop more powerful than a 300 Watt second strobe it doesn't seem unusual at all. If you think about it, 450 Watt seconds would be 1/2 stop brighter and 600 Watt seconds is one whole stop brighter. For 400 Watt seconds to show .1 to .2 stops brighter makes sense to me.

[telles75]

Wow.. see I am an ignorant..LOL.. I always thought that Watt second was directly proportional to F-stops, how wrong was I.. So you are saying that the difference between a 300RX and a 600RX would be only 1 more stop? Damnnn, I am glad I got the 300RX then, 1 stop is nothing, how do people swear that it is a big difference overpowering the sun between a 300RX and a 600RX?

[TMR Design]

Wow.. see I am an ignorant..LOL.. I always thought that Watt second was directly proportional to F-stops, how wrong was I.. So you are saying that the difference between a 300RX and a 600RX would be only 1 more stop? Damnnn, I am glad I got the 300RX then, 1 stop is nothing, how do people swear that it is a big difference overpowering the sun between a 300RX and a 600RX?


Rafael,

Watt seconds and power output are often misunderstood. As has been discussed quite often, the concept of overpowering the Sun can be difficult or it can be hard depending on time of day, if the Sun is directly overhead, the aperture you want to shoot, etc.

We see it done with Speedlight's and low power strobes but if you're talkng about a Summer day with a late morning or midday Sun directly overhead, that can be difficult even for 1000 or 1100 Watt seconds.

Most manufacturers make strobes that are in one stop increments from each other. For instance, Alien Bees makes a B400, B800 and B1600. They are 160, 320 and 640 Watt seconds respectively. Elinchrom makes the RX strobes in 300 and 600 and 1200 Watt seconds, the BXRi in 250 and 500 Watt seconds and D-Lite's in 200 and 400 Watt seconds.

Every time you double the output you increase power by 1 stop. Sometimes that extra stop of light makes all the difference. On the other end of things, sometimes having the lower power can be important. How many times do we see people with a 600 or 640 Watt second strobe that wants to work close to the subject and shoot at f/4 but can't get the power low enough. In those cases that's where a 200 or 300 Watt second strobe comes in handy.

[telles75]

As always Rob, thank you for an "enlighting" response :) And I do agree with you, when shooting indoors I always used to be setting my DLites 4 at the minimum setting and even then the output was too strong and I had to place the model farther from the Octo ruining completely the soft quality of light you get when working really close to the Octo. On the other hand, sometimes when shooting outdoors even at the highest power I cannot seem to defeat the sun by 2 or 3 stops (meaning I would need a 1200 Watt-sec strobe or even stronger!) So definetly no purpose for me on having the 600RX for that, I rather have a 300RX that gives me more control on the lower end, faster recycle time and shorter flash duration. I guess in my ignorance I picked up the best RX for me and saved myself $150/per strobe for going 300RX instead of 600RX :)

[Marloon]

if i may add something...

-When thinking about power output, make sure you think of your future modifiers. For example, softboxes can reduce the power output by 2 stops. BD can reduce it by 1 stop. Having that extra stop allows for a "safety margin / allowance".

-When thinking about power output, think about your desired outcomes - Consider the settings you shoot - do you shoot in f1.2 or f11, do you shoot at high ambient light settings or do you shoot before dusk? Make sure you find a strobe you are comfortably with that can shoot in these varying conditions. But remember, as there is no 1 perfect lens, and there is no 1 perfect camera, there is also no 1 perfect strobe.

in addition...

-When considering a lighting system, ensure that they have the modifiers you require for future upgrades. Is there a third party company that you can rely on to provide you your modifiers - chimera, photoflex, lightrein

-When considering a lighting company, ensure that they have sound products - look for build quality in reviews and consistent light quality.

-Consider the accessories that you will be using, i intend to use PW to fire my strobes. ie. bowens lighting has a PW module and an antenna that is very handy for me.

-Consider the features that you'd like from your lighting system - ie. audible beep when ready, light dimming when ready, f-stop range, wattage for modeling lamp, weight can be an issue... oh and make sure you consider the recycling speeds!

-Think about usage when considering lights (where will they be used, what will they be used for, that sort of thing). Where can you get a power in an outdoor setting, does your company provide battery packs that allow you to shoot outside?

[TMR Design]

if i may add something...

-When thinking about power output, make sure you think of your future modifiers. For example, softboxes can reduce the power output by 2 stops.

OK I have to ask. What softbox do you own or use that eats up 2 stops? I've never heard of this ever before and I don't own a single modifier that comes close to eating 2 stops.

[TMR Design]

As always Rob, thank you for an "enlighting" response :) And I do agree with you, when shooting indoors I always used to be setting my DLites 4 at the minimum setting and even then the output was too strong and I had to place the model farther from the Octo ruining completely the soft quality of light you get when working really close to the Octo. On the other hand, sometimes when shooting outdoors even at the highest power I cannot seem to defeat the sun by 2 or 3 stops (meaning I would need a 1200 Watt-sec strobe or even stronger!) So definetly no purpose for me on having the 600RX for that, I rather have a 300RX that gives me more control on the lower end, faster recycle time and shorter flash duration. I guess in my ignorance I picked up the best RX for me and saved myself $150/per strobe for going 300RX instead of 600RX :)

My pleasure Rafael. Unless you absolutely have to work in bright Sun light then why do so? Whenever I'm in control of the time of day I shoot I choose early morning, later in the afternoon or at dusk, or I choose to work i the shade or to the side of a building or structure that blocks the Sun so I have nice ambient light but no strong Sun.

Another nice thing about the lower end of power is that if you do want to open up the lens without using ND filters it's easier when you have another stop of power reduction.

[telles75]

So you got the 300RX or the 600RX Rob?
I have 2 Elinchrom modifiers (the Deep Octa and the Midi Octa), I always put the deflector to reduce the output by 1 extra stop, because without the deflector even with the 2 panels, the light loss is less than 1 stop. Seriously, my problem is not needing more power but wanting to reduce it :) Of course in studio with backdrops I can shoot at f9 to f11 no issues but sometimes when shooting indoors I want to be able to shoot f2.8 to f4 to get blurred backgrounds so they do not distract the image, it is in these occasions that I wished the strobes went even lower in output.

[TMR Design]

So you got the 300RX or the 600RX Rob?
I have 2 Elinchrom modifiers (the Deep Octa and the Midi Octa), I always put the deflector to reduce the output by 1 extra stop, because without the deflector even with the 2 panels, the light loss is less than 1 stop. Seriously, my problem is not needing more power but wanting to reduce it :) Of course in studio with backdrops I can shoot at f9 to f11 no issues but sometimes when shooting indoors I want to be able to shoot f2.8 to f4 to get blurred backgrounds so they do not distract the image, it is in these occasions that I wished the strobes went even lower in output.

I have 3 600RX's and a 300RX on the way. I use the deflectors when needed for the quality of light but don't use them to reduce output.

I have a high quality 2 stop ND filter that I use if I need to reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor and it makes things easy without trying to gel or use extra diffusion on each strobe. This was I can get the exact quality of light and proportionality between the strobes and then globally reduce the light so I can shoot at wider apertures.

Most of the time I have no trouble getting about f/8 or slightly less with my strobes and the 2 stop ND lets me shoot at around f/4. I never have the need to shoot in the studio at anything wider than f/4.

[telles75]

Sometimes I like to even shoot f1.8 like in the pic below ;) In those cases I just use the modeling lights and don't even trigger the flashes. However I would prefer to use the flash if I could lower it down even more (I have thought of getting an ND, so I think I will give it a try).
http://i46.tinypic.com/2usvmee.jpg

You can see the 2 lights position here
http://i46.tinypic.com/1z5i0wj.jpg

Sometimes f7.1 is not wide enough like in the pic below. This was the lowest f-stop I could use with flash even using the deflector as a 1stop reducer plus both diffusers on the Deep Octa. See how the clock in the background is still semi in focus. I would had love to shoot at f2.8 and get that more blurry (like in the f1.8 shots above).
http://i47.tinypic.com/20ge8zr.jpg