Elinchrom Quadra or Ranger?

I found the photottix to be reliable. I just bought a pair and test them on my speedlites.

Most triggers now are quite reliable (from what people write). Remember that older triggers like Cactus v2 were quite ****, but they worked.

My ECO ringflash arrived today, almost 2 months to the day since I ordered it.
After unpacking it and plugging it would not work, the power read out on the quadra battery pack just kept flashing. On hunch I tried one of the power cords that came with the Quadra and thankfully the ring flash worked.

I checked the power cord and one of the pins (number 3) is either corroded or was cast incorrectly. The tip of it is malformed and it has a gold/brass colour.

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onefstopshort wrote in post #12530230
My ECO ringflash arrived today, almost 2 months to the day since I ordered it.
After unpacking it and plugging it would not work, the power read out on the quadra battery pack just kept flashing. On hunch I tried one of the power cords that came with the Quadra and thankfully the ring flash worked.

I checked the power cord and one of the pins (number 3) is either corroded or was cast incorrectly. The tip of it is malformed and it has a gold/brass colour.

I rang the shop and they apologised profusely for the issue and sent me out another cable via courier so hopefully that will arrive on Tuesday.

The actual ringflash is a lot lighter then I expected, it actually feels a bit flimsy if I am honest. However it does produce wonderfully lit images.

Sorry to hear that. My extension cord also came damaged and in wrong size lol (10m instead of 5m). Seems that the cords are quite fragile or easy to slip through QC.

I would like to hear more about the ECO ring flash, been very interested to hear what people say. But so far not many people have it. So if you decide to write a review there will be at least one reader

kokakaste2 wrote in post #12530263
So if you decide to write a review there will be at least one reader

+1

Still on the fence about keeping my Quadra and picking up the eco ringflash or getting rid of it.

Hi guys,

Picked up the Ranger yesterday, I got distracted by my phone slipping in the ventilation system of my car via the duct under my seat on the way there :/ and missed a testing step and I am a touch concerned.

It is an Speed AS Pack but the scale on the display remains the same when the head is plug into either the A or B Socket. Do I have a situation?

It reads between 1.5 and 7.1 in both.

Recycle time at 6.0 is faster in the B Port (Same as a RX 600 plugged into the mains BTW)

Sylvester XxX wrote in post #12534027
It reads between 1.5 and 7.1 in both.

It should read between 1.5 and 7.5. And yes, it will read the same no matter where you plug the head in.

Rudi wrote in post #12534129
It should read between 1.5 and 7.5. And yes, it will read the same no matter where you plug the head in.

Excellent. Thanks. Smile returned to face

I was not sure as the the quadra RX Changes form A to B.

It is 7.5 not 7.1 as I previously stated.

Hey Sylvester and others,

I asked this question a while ago but never got a definitive answer.

With the Ranger RX AS set to deliver ~600 Watt seconds, is the recycle time faster than a 600RX at full power getting power from an AC wall outlet, not a portable battery?

To be honest with you, I've never even thought of testing that (unplugging port A and plugging into port B to see if the readout stays the same) - but I remember running through the entire power range on my Speed AS pack, on either port (during different shoots), and don't remember the settings to be different (it's just the min and max power that are different between ports A and B, but the range of stops is identical). I could set the power from 1.5 to 7.5 on both ports.

I think the Quadra, being newer, is a somewhat "smarter" pack. But I've never played with one for more than a few minutes of time...

With the Ranger AS when you've got the flash plugged into the B port the power reading will remain the same, but you'll be getting a lower output. The B channel is 1.5 stops lower than the A port when each is used by itself. When there are two heads plugged in, the A port gets 66% of the power and the B port gets 33% for a 2:1 ratio. However, with only one head plugged in the A port gets 100% of the power while the B port with one head only gets 33% power.

So full power (7.5) on the Ranger on the B port is actually only putting out 366 watt seconds, versus the 1100 watt seconds it would put out on the A port. This means that you can also go ultimately lower in power on the B port, since the minimum setting (1.0) is 5.7 watt seconds, where as with one head on the A port the minimum power setting equates to 17 watt seconds. The B channel also has faster flash duration, if that matters to your shooting.

The Quadra works the same way, with regard to power splitting between the channels.

TMR Design wrote in post #12534312
Hey Sylvester and others,

I asked this question a while ago but never got a definitive answer.

With the Ranger RX AS set to deliver ~600 Watt seconds, is the recycle time faster than a 600RX at full power getting power from an AC wall outlet, not a portable battery?

Hi Robert I remember you asking this question so that is the 1st thing I did.

I them both trigger optically from another flash with the 600 RX Plugged into the power socket.

When the A head is on the B Port recycle time is exactly the same I popped 10 times with the audio confirmation being in sync each time.

Both at 6.0 on the Scale.

This is when I noticed the scale being the same on both ports.

I am guessing the 6.0 an the A port is not the same at 6.0 on the B port but I am not 100% Sure at the moment.

Sylvester XxX wrote in post #12535018
Hi Robert I remember you asking this question so that is the 1st thing I did.

I them both trigger optically from another flash with the 600 RX Plugged into the power socket.

When the A head is on the B Port recycle time is exactly the same I popped 10 times with the audio confirmation being in sync each time.

Both at 6.0 on the Scale.

This is when I noticed the scale being the same on both ports.

I am guessing the 6.0 an the A port is not the same at 6.0 on the B port but I am not 100% Sure at the moment.

Thank you for doing that, Sylvester.

Do you also happen to know approximately how many pops you get at that power setting with a fully charged battery?

So basically

6.0 on the RX 600 = 6.0 on the A port of the Quadra = 6.0 on the A port of the Ranger RX AS

6.0 on the RX 600 = 7.5 on the B port of the Ranger RX AS


Is that right?

TMR Design wrote in post #12535040
Thank you for doing that, Sylvester.

Do you also happen to know approximately how many pops you get at that power setting with a fully charged battery?

With this new information I may be using the wrong settings.

With the Ranger AS Speed, which I have it should be around 300.

I just fully charged a battery and I have one spare so I can test that now. There is a slow recycle mode that claims to give 40% more flashes but at a cost of a longer time to recharge the battery.

Edit: around 195