I've taken 4 common Elinchrom speed ring inserts and done a close comparison.
Those inserts are the Cheetah/ebay, Norman, Photoflex and Photek.
The height of the collar will determine how far the flash tube is recessed and that's another issue entirely. This comparison was done to explain and illustrate why some inserts have a better fit when mounted to an Elinchrom strobe.
The Elinchrom bayonet mount has two locking pins that sit in the notches of the insert. The notch for the bayonet mount is what really makes the difference in terms of how the ring seats when mounted to the strobe. In all cases where the notch forms a hook shape there is a 1mm difference between the shallow and deep part of the notch.
The deeper the notch, the tighter the fit on the strobe and it's the shallow part of the notch that is where the pin is parked. This explains why the Norman insert fits loosely and why the Photek is very snug.
I've also measured a handful of authentic Elinchrom speed rings and accessories and in every case, Elinchrom or not, where the shallow part of the notch is 6mm, the fit is snug. At 5.5mm the fit is good and quite acceptable. At 5mm you really start to feel the wobble.
Amazingly, even the Elinchrom modifiers are not all machined to the same spec and some fit loosely. The speed rings are all very snug. The reflectors are all over the place. My 7" grid reflectors (I have 2 of them) have a good fit, although not snug. The 9.5" wide angle reflectors (also 2 of them) wobble quite a bit. The 10.25" high performance reflector is snug and has the same great fit as the speed rings.
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For those that have done the Elinchrom modification on a Speedotron 22" beauty dish this also illustrates why the Norman insert doesn't work quite as well as any of the others. If you look at the third row of images you can see the gradual sweep from the base, or lip, to the collar of the Norman insert. All the others have a more abrupt angle from the lip to the collar. That small amount or extra flat surface allows you to drill the mounting holes more easily and also seats the lip flush against the mounting area of the beauty dish. The Norman insert doesn't seat flat and when you tighten the hardware it's really important that you not overtighten because the dish will be pulled towards the insert and potentially deform. The hardware also has to be inserted at an angle which doesn't help things at all. You can see that the Norman insert is the only one that makes the gradual sweep.
So, if you're going to mod or build accessories with an Elinchrom mount, I do not recommend using the Norman insert. The Cheetah/ebay and Photoflex have a better fit and the Photek is the best fit of them all but remember, the collar is also very tall and depending on the device or speed ring used, you may find that the flash tube isn't far enough inside the modifier.
SP Systems makes an insert which is identical to the Photek and there are other inserts available but I haven't measured or tested those. Just remember that 5.5mm and 6mm, measuring the shallow part of the notch, will give you the best fit.
