Elinchrom: best buy in new(or used) strobe equipment?

[Daniel Stone]

Hey all,

Been doing some research(and saving) the past year, and after working on over 100 sets the past 12mo, here in LA, 95% of the jobs I've been on have been lit with Profoto. Not that that's a "bad" thing, the light quality is great, the output is even, and color temperature stays consistent from lowest power to full pop. But its EXPENSIVE... I don't like to use a lot of strobe power when I shoot w/ strobe(generally prefer to use a flex-fill, or a single/double net to cut down contrast from the sun, etc...

But after using a nice little Dynalite Uni400Jr monolight the past 6mo or so, I've come to appreciate the "cheaper" alternatives cost-wise to Profoto and Broncolor.

So, point of my question: for those of you who have used(or use) Elinchrom strobe packs and heads, they seem to be the best "bang for the buck" in terms of technical ability, and cost per w/s...

I'm not interested in Paul Buff or White Lightning's here. I want to get some QUALITY lights. Less plastic, more metal. Rubber bumper-cornered and all...

Here's the pack I've been eyeing(on the used market these average ~$1k or so)

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...tt_Second.html

and 2 heads

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc..._Pro_Head.html

This pack allows 1/10 stop adjustment(some say overkill, but why not have the ability, especially at this cost vs. Broncolor/Profoto?) all the way up to 3000W/S. Profoto's max out at 2400W/S in output, Bron's have 3200w/s packs. Of course a bi-tube head is always an option, but they're $3k, and hard to source used affordably(if at all).

Anyone here with experience on the Elinchrom system(ideally not with monolights, just packs and separate heads)?

Shooting with LF and MF mostly, hence the "need" for 3000w/s sometimes...

thanks

Dan

[Frank Petronio]

I've only played with the current stuff at B&W but my friend has been using the older Elinchrom for 25 years now, works great. But my general observation on ProFoto, Bron, and Elinchrom is that in spite of the nice quality of the overall system, they often have some dumb plastic weak link that will fail at the worst moment. Look at how the older Brons attach to light stands - dumb!!! If you want bullet-proof, get a Speedotron. If you want durable and reasonable weight, get Dynalite.

Go USA!

Seriously, the advantages of the Euro-systems seem to be more for high-speed, 4fps fashion on digital than any sort of value for a large format shooter. You can feed two 2000 watt Dynas into a bi-tube and get serious power, more so with the Speedos (although the flash tube design isn't as efficient so much of the power is wasted).

Again comparing rated watt-seconds isn't really comparable between brands, it really depends which light modifiers are most efficient with the tube design. The focusing of the ProFoto is nice, but baring that I'd want a mix of Dyna reflector heads and the 4040 glass domed heads.

[Daniel Stone]

Frank,

Thanks. I've used dyna's, and they're great. However, I get spoiled with the digital interface, the nice LCD showing how much power I'm dialing into a head outlet, less guessing that way IMO. Those Brons and the new Profoto Pro-8 packs are really nice, but insanely expensive. I'm not planning on traveling much with my strobe equipment (if at all really), so I'll be looking to eventually own all the lights I ”need” for my purposes. However, for traveling purposes, the Profoto 7b's can't really be beat IMO, especially with those new lithium batteries...

Dan

[Frank Petronio]

I'm using little 500XL Dynalites with the Buff Mini-Lithiums. If you can adjust your power needs to fit that model, the packs typically sell for $350 used on eBay, the batteries $225 new. I much rather have a couple redundant than one big pack, and umm, you could buy ten of them for what a PF pack would cost.

I don't know about you but that is a huge premium for keeping the light 3 feet further away and having an LCD panel ;-p

[aluncrockford]

The elincrom are perfectly fine and you can use the profoto soft boxes with an adapter, the 303 packs are robust and have plenty of power if you are shooting digital .

[Yef]

i'm very happy with my Elinchrom Quadra set's. I've been using 2 sets for 3 years now and i'm super happy with them. I'm using them with the elinchrom portalite softboxes with the adapter.

they are just great

[Daniel Stone]

Well it looks like I've got a pack now:

190676375576

Now to procure a few high speed heads for it.

Dan

[J. Fada]

I think Elinchroms give some gorgeous light. I used to have a few Style mono heads and I ended up selling them because I never used them. I still have a Ranger battery powered setup but I will probably sell that too since I never use it anymore either.

[D. Bryant]

I've never regretted purchasing any of my Elinchrom equipment. The color temp is consistent through any power level. Look for some of the more recent models used, you can get some good buys. The newer units have a lot of nice features. The skyport controls are very nice, though not totally essential but can save time. Not having to touch or move a light to adjust power output can be a great time saver.

I'm not sure what you are lighting but some of the Elinchrom modifiers can get pricey, especially grids for beauty dishes, so there other brands can be adapted.

If you are shooting film, use a digi-roid to check setups.

Good luck,

Don Bryant