Elinchrom Users Only (Mark IV)

I knew you were going to say that Simon haha!!! £1000 for two rotalux 130x50 strips with grids........ I can't bring myself to do it! You can see the warmth in the Eli diffusion material just by looking at it

Yeah that comparison was geared more towards more and more competitors making their way into the market. I don't feel Elinchrom are nearly as innovative as they once were. If Buff had some sense he could dominate the UK market with ease. They rant and rave about their latest gear as if it's a world first ie new Eli heads and those Litemotivs

Buff has no sense, he's dead.

He's dead!? When did that happen!?

http://pdnpulse.pdnonl​ine.com …tuary-paul-c-buff-78.html

Thanks Ralph. I never realised he was of such an age! Wonder what direction the company will take now? Man, if we had Buff gear in the UK, at the prices you guys pay, I would fill my studio with the stuff.

dbeugel wrote in post #17575640
I knew you were going to say that Simon haha!!! £1000 for two rotalux 130x50 strips with grids........ I can't bring myself to do it! You can see the warmth in the Eli diffusion material just by looking at it

I'm not starting to sound like a broken record am I?

The Eli is actually a fair bit cheaper than the Profoto 1x4 when you consider how much larger it is but as Lighttools is your only option the grid is merely 3 times the cost, which is pretty much why I'm selling off my Elinchrom modifiers (that and the stupid bags are too small if you use anything bigger than the Elinchrom fit ring).

dbeugel wrote in post #17575644
Yeah that comparison was geared more towards more and more competitors making their way into the market. I don't feel Elinchrom are nearly as innovative as they once were. If Buff had some sense he could dominate the UK market with ease. They rant and rave about their latest gear as if it's a world first ie new Eli heads and those Litemotivs

No argument from me, I don't understand why they don't complete the accessories for the Rotalux range or if that's considered a bad idea why not just abandon them entirely or go for a different range than Rotalux if they're not prepared to match their competitors?

They do look like they're in a bit of a mess, with LiteMotiv they've got 5 softbox lines, no current pack and head system outside of their portable kits but at least they replaced the style rx heads with a new monoblock which does do a few things to differentiate it from other heads on the market and gives a clear gap between the dlite, brx and elc pro hd lines.

There must have been some good reasons why PCB pulled out of International markets, I agree with you in regards to the UK, I see no reason why PCB couldn't get a good grip on the middle to low end of the market especially when you've got companies like Bowens increasing the price of their latest heads with the amazing addition of inbuilt radio triggering (which would have been impressive 10 years ago).

Studio lighting is a weird market.

Hey Simon!

It is a very weird market! I always feel like I've been robbed every time I buy a softbox! I was storing away the Bessel strip boxes the other day to fire on eBay, and as I was tearing it down I thought to myself, the build quality of this stuff is just as good as Elinchrom, I bought two new Bessel 160cm (i think) strips with mediocre grids for around £75 off of Amazon! It's just the stuff they use to 'whiten' the diffusion sheets that's way off the mark which is a shame as I was forever painting back in the correct hue in photoshop.

Well I opted in the end for the Rotalux 130x50 with Lighttools EZpop 50 degree. I'm going to buy one this week and another later on. The guy at The Flash Centre told me to open a business account with them, I just wish I'd done that before as it also means no deposits on rentals which is great. I might rent a PhaseOne and troll everyone on Facebook with my 'new purchase' !!

hk-len wrote in post #17573074
Hi All,

I am planning to purchase my first Elinchrom unit and had a few questions. I'd be very grateful for any help/advice.

1) Is the $999.99 price listed on Adorama for the "Ranger RX Speed AS" legitimate? Are there any catches to that? (Missing components, etc.?)

Buy quickly! Many of the 50% discounted Elinchrom products went right back up to near-MSRP pricing the Tuesday following Memorial Day. I missed out on a few accessory purchases by waiting, but I spent an ungodly amount of money during the short period the sale was active. I bought a ton of Elinchrom gear--it's all new stock, complete, and awesome! I assume Adorama bought-out the remaining Vistek inventory as Elinchrom transitions to their new distribution entity.

windpig wrote in post #17573603
999.99 is a great price, I'd call Adorama and have them answer your questions regarding missing parts.....

....or message me: Helen@adorama.com

Hi Helen

Hi Helen! Thanks to your recent Elinchrom sale, I'm all set! I was about to buy a Chinese-import, a Godox RS600P (poor man's Quadra) to upgrade my portable set-up. But having to order from a Hong Kong eBay seller, with unknown after-sales support and parts availability gave me pause. The Godox is a pretty good looking system (about $700 for the strobe and two Li-ion batteries), but I ordered a single-head Ranger Quadra 'S' set-up, spare Li-ion battery, and an ECO ringflash during your sale last week instead. Thanks, Adorama!

I'm just now reading abbadon's "Quadra-killer" thread, so some of what I said above may be inaccurate. Finally, someone's nailed down all the facts about the Godox ES-600P/Cheetah CL-600 Quadra-like products (thank you, abbadon!).

Elinchrom Ranger Quadra Hybrid Li-ion:

I'm always a bit "iffy" about Li-ion battery packs since they're so damned finicky about proper maintenance (ideally, they like to be stored at about a 50% state-of-charge). This is my first substantial investment in a Li-ion system since my always-dying Vagabond Mini-Lithium batteries. That's the main reason I've been relying solely on SLA (sealed-lead acid) battery technology for all of my other packs (e.g., Quantum Turbos, Dynalite XP-1100s). SLAs are cheap, easy to source, and simple as heck to maintain (just keep 'em trickle-charged). So after just reading virtually the entire Quadra-killer thread, I dug into Elinchrom's website to find their Li-ion specs:

Quadra Hybrid Li-ion:
Output: 400Ws
16.8V; 3.3Ah
Capacity: 320 full-power flashes per charge.

Cheetah CL-600:
Output: 600Ws
12.8V; 8.0Ah
Capacity: 500 full-power flashes per charge.

A battery rated at only 3.3 Amp-hours isn't exactly a lot. Now, I did buy my Quadra set-up on sale, so even though the CL-600's specs beat Elinchrom's, it's a less dramatic comparison. One thing of note, however, and the primary reason I chose the Quadra, is for its ECO ringlight's potential suitability to HyperSync applications. Here's the t.1/t.5 values for the Elinchrom ECO ringlight:

Elinchrom ECO ringlight:
Maximum power: 1/600th (t=0.5); 1/300th (t=0.1); ['A' outlet].
Minimum power: 1/1,500th (t=0.5); 1/1,000th (t=0.1); ['A' outlet].

PM me if you're interested in an Eco ring light.