Is Elinchrom d-lite RX 4 my only option?

I am currently using D-lite 400 IT mono lights and looking to replace them with an option that can over power the sun. The newer RX models seem to offer this option with HS reaching 1/8000th shutter speed, but are they my only option?

The reason I picked the ITs in 2012 was their compactness and light weight. Back then nothing competed with them in those two areas. Has this changed, are there any other brands offering very light and compact mono lights that compete with Elinchrom?

abdul10000 wrote in post #19008207
I am currently using D-lite 400 IT mono lights and looking to replace them with an option that can over power the sun. The newer RX models seem to offer this option with HS reaching 1/8000th shutter speed, but are they my only option?

The reason I picked the ITs in 2012 was their compactness and light weight. Back then nothing competed with them in those two areas. Has this changed, are there any other brands offering very light and compact mono lights that compete with Elinchrom?

I use and rather like the Elinchrom Ranger RX AS Speed. It’s a portable battery pack and head. At 1,100 ws, it’ll give the sun a sunburn.

I’ve replaced the lead acid battery with a compatible Lithium battery and it weighs less too.

That unit is replaced by the ELB units so the old Ranger is less expensive these days. The ELB 1200 has HS heads, and 2 other types to chose from.

Broncolor makes some great units that will do HS like Elinchrom does. Siros 800L. The kits are great too. Also the Move 1200ws battery pack is great too.

Profoto has units too

Phottix have some very nice gear. Take a look at them too.

There are other choices too. Depends on where you live which may be available.

This pic in my avatar is a desert pic with the Ranger Speed battery pack and head. In a Elinchrom Maxilite metal 16” reflector nicknamed the “Fireball”. The light was about 30 feet from the model.

F2.8 - 3.1 maybe 1/2000 ish. Enough to block out the desert background!

The Elinchrom ELB500 TTL kit (500Ws battery-powered pack + ELB500 TTL flash head + cable) provides HSS sync instead of Hi-Sync,
https://www.elinchrom.​com/battery/elb500ttl.​html

PS : To overpower the sun, my personal choice as a hobbyist photographer is to use my old Quadra Ranger 400WS in combination with a leaf shutter camera such as a Canon G-1-X Mark II or III.

I think the d-lite RX 4 is the best of the 'long-tail' elinchrom flashes to where faster shutters can use the Hi-sync, but not HSS..

Another option that isn't a mono-light is to use pack/head combos like the ELB1200 or Ranger RX ; both will overpower the sun, and I am not sure of the older Quadra or the newer ELB400 will be enough for the afternoon overpower the sun images.. My cheap suggestion is to use a Speedotron 800 w/s pack with a long-tail 102 head. You can get one more stop of light over the D-lite 4, and it won't be very expensive.. There is 1200/2400ws small packs out there on the used market. But my 800 w/s is about the same size as the Eli. And the used market for those Speedotrons is mature enough to where it won't drop in price too much since they haven't changed it in years {or that that it hasn't been updated in decades}.

I looked at the Godox DP800 moonlights and they seem like a PCB WL in design..The claim to have 1/2000 duration, but I am almost certain the 1/2000 is a t.5 setting and not the t.1 so the Godox might be a Hi-sync flash.


***I just noticed you are in the middle east, so you might have to decline the speedotron, and look at the european flash makers.

abdul10000 wrote in post #19008207
I am currently using D-lite 400 IT mono lights and looking to replace them with an option that can over power the sun.

When shooting with flash outdoor by sunny day in presence of noticeable ambient light, the dark band due to X-sync shutter speed limitation is often not an issue if you use 1/400s or 1/500s shutter speed (instead of usual 1/200s or 1/250s X-sync shutter speed Max). By the way, you have the possibilty to reframe your file so to exclude all potential black band in post-prod thanks to your 22,3 MP camera. This means you can overpower the sun by 1 stop at least in X-sync mode, with no need of Hi-sync mode nor need of HSS sync mode.

You can also stich two "black band files" or more - horizontaly or verticaly framed on the field - so to create in post-production an "as large as you want composite final image" without no dark band at all.

If you add a ND1 filter or a ND2 filter, more outdoor sun overpowering possibilities are yours at minimal budget.




Lenghts and effects of dark band with focal plane camera used normaly as usual:

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I just want to point out that I can only use monolights because battery packs are not allowed in air travel. That is why I use the d-lite it because they are very compact and lights and offer 400w/s power. Otherwise I would have considered the new Profoto battery powered B10. I am just looking at mono lights with a power cable.

As for the way I use the lights, its mainly indoor to overpower the sun in interior pictures. Often times I set my two monolights to light a section that has direct sunlight beaming through the windows. At 1/160 shutter speed the direct sun light is still visible creating harsh highlights. I need to increase shutter speed by few stops to something like 1/640 - 1/1200 to completely remove the direct sunlight.

Pictoraider wrote in post #19010444
When shooting with flash outdoor by sunny day in presence of noticeable ambient light, the dark band due to X-sync shutter speed limitation is often not an issue if you use 1/400s or 1/500s shutter speed (instead of usual 1/200s or 1/250s X-sync shutter speed Max). By the way, you have the possibilty to reframe your file so to exclude all potential black band in post-prod thanks to your 22,3 MP camera. This means you can overpower the sun by 1 stop at least in X-sync mode, with no need of Hi-sync mode nor need of HSS sync mode.

You can also stich two "black band files" or more - horizontaly or verticaly framed on the field - so to create in post-production an "as large as you want composite final image" without no dark band at all.

If you add a ND1 filter or a ND2 filter, more outdoor sun overpowering possibilities are yours at minimal budget.



Lenghts and effects of dark band with focal plane camera used normaly as usual:

Hosted photo: posted by Pictoraider in
./showthread.php?p=190​10444&i=i94241356
forum: Flash and Studio Lighting

Lenghts and effects of dark band with focal plane camera rotated at 180°:

Hosted photo: posted by Pictoraider in
./showthread.php?p=190​10444&i=i226379656
forum: Flash and Studio Lighting

Thanks for sharing. Very interesting idea but it does not work for my interior photography.

abdul10000 wrote in post #19013715
Thanks for sharing. Very interesting idea but it does not work for my interior photography.

It should work...because you are a raw shooter.

abdul10000 wrote in post #19013709
...
As for the way I use the lights, its mainly indoor to overpower the sun in interior pictures. Often times I set my two monolights to light a section that has direct sunlight beaming through the windows. At 1/160 shutter speed the direct sun light is still visible creating harsh highlights. I need to increase shutter speed by few stops to something like 1/640 - 1/1200 to completely remove the direct sunlight.

When shooting in RAW, keep in mind you can add 1stop to 1,33 stops to the "jpeg files' correct exposure".

Suppose you overpower the direct harsh sunlight (f13 & 1/200 s & 100 ISO sunny rule) by only 1 stop,
suppose your flash light merge with the direct sunlight so your "ambient/flash lighting ratio" is 1:1 ;
if your indoor camera settings are for example f13 & 1/400 s & 100 ISO, when the light meter says f13 & 1/400 s & 100 ISO is the correct exposure for jpeg file recording,
you can increase the amount of flash light so the flash meter says 1/400 s & 100 ISO & f18 up to f20 if you shoot in raw mode.
Doing so, the "ambient/flash lighting ratio" turns out to be 1:3 at least and will therefore contribute to overpower your harsh highlights.
Regards,