Elinchrom 400BX or D-Lite2 (or D-Lite4)?

Hi,

Has anyone used both the Elinchrom 400BX and D-Lite2 (or D-Lite4) monolights?

Can you tell me which one is better and why?

From the specs they seem pretty similar to me except for the 400BX being heavier, pricier, but fan cooled.

Is the fan cooling an advantage in normal studio photography? I don't need to fire away like a mad thing...

Any thoughts on which one would be better would be much appreciated!

Best regards,

Anton

I too am looking at the Elinchrom DLite 4 monolights. I am a bit concerned about using a strobe in a softbox without a fan to reduce the heat. From what I have heard, it is not a big deal unless you planning on using the lights all long. For a cheaper price, the Alien Bee AB800 has a cooling fan, but does not give you color which is consistent through the power range. Touch decision...I'm in the same boat as you mate

If you are looking at either to purchase, my recommendation is always to buy the best you can afford thus the 400BX.

I have three D-Lite 2's, They are excellent entry level units. I don't shoot with modelling lights on as they are not fan cooled.

I recently purchased a 400BX, simply for the fan cooling, so that I could leave the modelling light on throughout the shoot. (assist focusing)

Testing between the two I would say they are as consistent as each other, the BX tactile keypad is a little more positive, and robust. The modelling light can also be altered in 1/10 increments independent of the flash setting, however, I don't see a use for that -not for me anyway.
The build is also a little more robust, and the modelling light is 150W of which I believe can be increased to 200W, whereas the D-Lite is 100W max.

In the US, the D-Lites are being supplied fan cooled, this might be the case in the UK sometime, but they haven't made their minds up yet.

Email from Elinchrom on 7th Feb 08 pasted below:

"Dear Stephen
Fan-cooled D-Lites are actually only shipped or will be shipped into
countries / areas where the units may suffer from high ambient temperatures.
It might be a serial feature in the future, but the decision has not been taken yet.

The D-Lite 100 is on hold for some time.
The actual line kept us very busy, so we had to change our original plans and we must focus on
production capacity and availability of components, since they are specific like quality flash tubes which are
difficult to make and capacities are limited.

I hope this helps a little.
Kind Regards
Thomas

Elinca S.A.
Thomas H.W. Beinke
Deputy Director / Marketing"

The D-lites are fantastic, and for an entry level kit can hold there own against some of the more expensive gear, the BX is a little better, but you will not see any difference in your images.
Good luck with your final choice.

Hi steveathome,

Thank you very much for the detailed response! That is very helpful!

I am in the UK also and the D-lites appear to not have fans or at least the places I have seen them (online: http://www.warehouseex​press.com and the http://www.theflashcen​tre.com) both state they are not fan cooled... Where did you buy yours?

I hope you don't me asking you for some more details:

You said you bought a 400BX in addition to your D-lite2s but I have read that mixing lights of different types / powers causes colour temperature imbalances in the shots. Are the 400BX same colour as the D-lite2s maybe? Have you seen any problems like this with your mixed setup?

Also, you said you leave the modelling lights off. Is this just a precautionary measure "just in case" or have you tried to leave them on and the thermal cutoff on the lights kicked in after a while?

Thanks a lot for your advice! It is much appreciated!

Best regards,

Anton

The Flash Centre have stated recently that the newer D-Lites do come with fans fitted in the UK. Some have already reached the general public, as noted on other forums I frequent. Apparently Elinchrom are holding off on an official announcement until Focus 2008. There is still older stock out there to sell and presumably this is to allow for that to be sold.

If you are in the market for a set I would suggest calling a few dealers to make certain you get the newer version. Cost according to members on other forums is identical.

Hello Anton,

Firstly, any advice I give is from a strictly from an amateur view, but I do try to be as accurate and honest as I can.

My D-Lites are not fan cooled either, I purchased them from warehouse express last May.
After speaking to Robert recently (TMR Design), he informed me that his new D-Lites (in the US) are fan cooled. This might be a feature for the future in the UK, but certainly not yet.

I have not had any overheating issues since purchase, but then I have always been careful to avoid that anyway, by turning modelling lights off - once set up.
I was having a little difficulty focusing on occasions, hence the additional BX model, of which I leave the light on.

Upon conducting my own tests (and I appreciate my method will be different to others that have tested on this forum) I found the consistency from max power to min power output to drift only +/-150K in temperature and +/-3 tint. I found this to be so with both the D-Lite and the BX.

The temperature between the D-lite and BX can be up to +/- 400K , but this was in the worst case scenario - one unit at min and the other at max (6 stops). Best case scenario there was only a difference of 100K between the two models.
I certainly haven't noticed any colour casts in my images.

I have seen a rather large difference in colour output between the Elinchroms and my past Interfits, but I think (I may be wrong) from the same manufacturer I would expect more consistency between models.

Hope this helps.

kato1 wrote in post #4884635
The Flash Centre have stated recently that the newer D-Lites do come with fans fitted in the UK.

I wish I had known that before purchasing my BX, I would have had no problem adding another D-Lite to my collection instead.

However, I am satisfied with what I have so no worries.

Srangely enough Steve I was totally decided on the Style 400BX's but then came across an arguement on another forum where some were arguing that the D-Lites now had fans whilst others wouldn't have it.

Anyway to cut a long story short I think it was one of the mods contacted The Flash Centre and the above was the reply they received. This was further supported by other members who posted pics showing the fans on their new D-Lites.

For info the fans are located under the head toward the switch gear end, if that makes sense.

As said, the tactile keypad is a little better constructed on the BX, but unless used day in day out it shouldn't be a problem.

Even on the BX it would have been nice to have real buttons with a more positive click or even a rotary dial for power adjustment.

kato1, thanks for the information on the fans!

I have just emailed both the Flash Centre and Warehouseexpress asking for clarification whether they sell the D-Lites with or without fan cooling. I will post their replies here when I get them for the record.

Steve, thanks for the added details! From what you have said I think I will go with D-Lite2 as they are so much cheaper and otherwise almost the same if they really come with fans. (Especially the 2 head kit from Warehouseexpress - cheaper than buying two D-Lite2 heads without any of the extras you get in the kit!)

Best regards,

Anton

You won't go wrong with the D-Lite 2s. Great color temp, pop to pop consistency, and full digital control. From the tests Robert and I did these are the best value in home studio lighting that we've found after testing LOTs of lights.

RichNY, thanks for your input!

Just one more question: I just saw that B&H have the D-Lite2 set for $899 and the D-Lite4 set for $900, i.e. only $1 difference for twice the power?!?

Given they cost the same, would you recommend the D-Lite2 or the D-Lite4?

(I doubt I will buy from B&H as I would then have to pay import duty and VAT in the UK but seeing the same prices made me curious whether the D-Lite2 is in fact somehow better than the D-Lite4 despite it having less power?)

Best regards,

Anton

I have the 2's and would really recommend the 4's if budget allows. The latter give you so much more light and are more versatile - if you want to wipe out backgrounds for instance.

I am happy with the 2's (non-fan cooled) but turn the modeling lights off when set-up. I don't like the screw which allows the softbox to be angled - this is easy to strip. Also the largest softbox they can take is a medium 3x4 ft and this is pushing it. They won't take a large. The light quality and controls are excellent.

I would have liked a brighter modeling light 100W is poor. Hensel for instance is 300W+. You need to be able to see what you are doing and bright modeling lights are important.

If I bought again - for long term use - I would go up market to the BX's etc which are made in Switzerland and not India.

I've been conducting some very extensive tests on many of the popular entry level lights as well as some high end pack and head systems.

So far my tests are showing Elinchrom D-Lites to be so incredibly stable. Both the D-Lite 2 and 4 perform the same, showing consistency from pop to pop like no other strobe and color temperature shifts that are not as great as other lights. The shift is small and the range of temperatures doesn't get as 'warm' as others, and ultimately NOT showing the magenta shift that strobes like the Alien Bees exhibit.

Steveathome and I have spoken about the D-Lites and BX units, and I've looked at both myself. No doubt that the BX and RX series Elinchrom's are more robust, with a better and more solid build, and the RX can take advantage of the remote system and some other accessories that BX and D-Lite can not. Hardly an issue in my opinion.

The build on the D-Lite, although not rock solid, is actually quite good in terms of holding large modifiers with speed rings. Don't interpret this as not being sturdy or solid. It is but compared to the BX or RX it's not quite as good.

Even though retailers like B&H clearly state in the specifications that the D-Lites are not fan cooled, there was a recent change to the US models and now both D-Lite 2 and 4 are shipping a fan cooled version that replaced the original and after some additional testing I find the fan to do the job quite nicely with the modeling light remaining on for hours at a time. So any previous overheating problem has been corrected.

The only other thing to know when buying Elinchrom is that they are still using the older, alternate, smaller shaft size for their umbrella mount. That means that you either need to use umbrellas and modifiers that offer the narrower shaft or just use an inexpensive umbrella bracket in between the light stand and the strobe. Then you can use any standard size umbrella or device.

I consider all these points to be rather insignificant compared to the actual quality and consistency of light and color produced by the Elinchrom's.

Many people will kick in opinion or say "I like brand x" because that's what they have. My recommendation comes from thorough testing and close comparison.

Lighting with Speedlites/Speedlights can be great but if you want power that can compete with a D-Lite 2 or a B400 (not a D-Lite 4 or B800) then the Nikon SB-800 will give you that. The SB-600, although quite good, will not give you that power. Remember, whenever people compare power levels of small flash units to studio strobes it's always using the highest zoom setting on the flash head, and once you drop down or use 35mm or 50mm as the flash setting it just can't compete. With studio strobes the reflectors also give you at least 1 full stop more power than without.

The last consideration becomes portable power. If you have to work on location and it's important that the kit pack and move easily then the SB-800/Quantum battery combination is great. If you know you'll have AC power and don't want the investment in portable power then the studio strobes are the better choice.

digitaljoe wrote in post #4887233
I have the 2's and would really recommend the 4's if budget allows. The latter give you so much more light and are more versatile - if you want to wipe out backgrounds for instance.

I am happy with the 2's (non-fan cooled) but turn the modeling lights off when set-up. I don't like the screw which allows the softbox to be angled - this is easy to strip. Also the largest softbox they can take is a medium 3x4 ft and this is pushing it. They won't take a large. The light quality and controls are excellent.

I would have liked a brighter modeling light 100W is poor. Hensel for instance is 300W+. You need to be able to see what you are doing and bright modeling lights are important.

If I bought again - for long term use - I would go up market to the BX's etc which are made in Switzerland and not India.

True but you have to be careful of the space and think about the apertures you want and need to shoot at. With the D-Lite 4, for instance, if you want to shoot at f/4 or 5.6 and like close lighting with the softbox 3 feet from the subject then you can't drop the power enough (D-Lites only cover a 5 stop range, not 6 like many others) to achieve that, and that forces you to change the lighting by moving the light further away from the subject. You're back to being controlled by the lights rather than being in control.

Also, I have 2 D-Lite 2's and don't have any problem achieving white with no detail on my background with f/9 on my main light. Power is not the issue and is a common misconception. The real issue, more often than not, is the type of reflector used and its angle of coverage. With a 10 foot background, 1 D-Lite 4 is not going to give you top to bottom, left to right coverage that is even. As with any other stobes in that lighting situation, you need to either add a second strobe to the background or use something like a 130 or 135 degree wide angle reflector which makes all the difference in the world.

The angle of coverage on a standard 7 or 8.25" Elinchrom reflector is no more than 80 degrees and that is where you're being limited, not by power.