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Thread: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

  1. #11
    Foamer
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    Oct 2010
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    South Dakota
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    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    I have two Alien Bee B1600 and six White Lightning x3200 lights. I am seriously considering selling everything and buying six of the new Einstein lights. They are state of the art and a real bargain. As for Skyports, I have the original ones--simple triggers. I replaced them with CyberSync triggers (I have 12) to get more range and a better build quality. What I like about Alien Bees/White Lightning is they hold resell very well, and customer service is impeccable.


    Kent in SD
    In contento ed allegria
    Notte e di vogliam passar!

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    377

    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    I think there is a significant difference in build quality between the Swiss manufactured Elinchrom professional stuff and some of the newer budget Elinchrom models (I understand that the latter are made in India, not that that is a bad thing in itself).

    Having said that, I have a D-Lite 2 that I keep for use with a fibre optic attachment that works quite nicely. It's just not as robust as some other Elinchrom stuff but you would expect that for the price and save weight to boot.

  3. #13

    Join Date
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    Lund, Sweden
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    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    I have a pair of D-lite 4s, and like them. The burn time can get a bit long as you turn down the power (with digital small format I've seen fidgety children blur) but that's less likely to be an issue with LF. I've used them 'on location' to do wedding pics and team portraits for my kids' teams, but always with an extension lead.

    Were I in the U.S. the Buff Einstein + lithium battery pack + Cyber Commander would look very sweet. In Europe the Buff distributer seems more interested in gouging buyers on shipping than actually getting any stock ready to sell. Elinchrom was a better bet for me. It didn't hurt that the various Skyport trigger kits seem to be dropping to more reasonable prices, although I limp along on an 80% reliable eBay trigger.

    Lots of modifiers adapt to Elinchrom mount, so that's not a big issue, although the strength and design of the Elinchrom mount worry some, and the D-lites are not as robust as the mid- and top-range units. On the other hand, D-lites are plenty strong enough to support their own weight inside an indirect modifier, so it's really the mid-size modifiers which are likely to cause problems.

  4. #14

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    Oct 2010
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    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    Did we succeed in talking you out of purchasing?

  5. #15

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    Jun 2002
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    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    lol there is a Noblex I'm bidding on, the strobes might wait.

  6. #16

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    Oct 2010
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    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Petronio View Post
    lol there is a Noblex I'm bidding on, the strobes might wait.
    They make those in 4x5!?

    My Ebay Elinchrom 1200 arrived last night. Typical Ebay purchase for me: light looks nice but didn't ship with a power cord or modeling lamp. But those are cheap replacements. Having never used a studio strobe, all I can say is that the light is blinding. The build quality is excellent.

  7. #17
    runs a monkey grinder Steve M Hostetter's Avatar
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    Jul 2008
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    Beech Grove Indiana
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    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    isn't that Noblex one of those fixed-focus jobs we been hearin so much about?

    for 2 grand + that must be some mighty sweet hunk of extruded plastic,,, don't forget to post em in tiny format section!

  8. #18

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    Dec 2006
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    Chicago, IL
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    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    Frank, I've been shooting with the D-Lite 400 for the past 2-3 years, and I like it a lot. Through a giant softbox, it still gets you LF-able f/stops. Much more oomph than a speedlight. It's cheap, easy and good. Plus, if you don't like it, you can flip it easy.

    Paul C. Buff lights have more bells and whistles, but cheat their w/s ratings ("effective w/s" is bulls#!t). I can't help it, but I hold that against them.

    Of course, you can go crazy with 3200W packs and heads if you need to capture a troupe of dancers mid-jump at f/64. Actually, I would love to see you shoot that.

  9. #19

    Join Date
    Jun 2002
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    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    I have a (actually a couple of) good friends with full studios and even HMIs if I want them. That I don't... sums it up.

    But give me a day with some dancers and elephants and Avedon's old studio ;-)

  10. #20

    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    Re: Talk me out of buying a Elinchrom D-Lite Monolight?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ben Syverson View Post
    Frank, I've been shooting with the D-Lite 400 for the past 2-3 years, and I like it a lot. Through a giant softbox, it still gets you LF-able f/stops. Much more oomph than a speedlight. It's cheap, easy and good. Plus, if you don't like it, you can flip it easy.
    Did you use that on those half body portraits you did? Seems like there was more light than just that? I think I remember you shoot at f/9 though.

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