Lencarta Safari Portable Light - Reccomendation?

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astalemind

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Hi All,

I have searched the forums for Posts and Threads on Lencarta to try and avoid another one, but I've not seen one that covers my questions. So sorry, another Lencarta and gear question.

I am looking to buy a portable light to give me more power than my speedlights for outdoor shoots. I have been looking at the Alien Bees, Elemental and Lencarta units. I currently use SB-28's and they are great, but I need to shoot much later in the day. I want something that will help in more lighter/powerful daylight.

I have some Lencarta 200w strobes that I use and am very pleased with so far. When I've looked on the Lencarta website is see they have the Safari Classic and Li-on.

I am looking for some advise from current uses of both systems both on the actually seen benefits of the Li-on over the classic. And i am also concerned whether the heads can hold, safely, either my 140cm octa box, 42cm and 70cm beauty dish or a 60" umbrella.

Cheers
Matt
 
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If you're looking to use the 70cm beauty dish, I would recommend the Classic. Your 140cm Octa could also pose problems in anything other than very still air.
I used the Li-on and a 150cm folding Octa for the Marriott brochure shoot, and whilst it was fine, it did give me cause for concern.
The Classic can take absolutely any modifier you might want to use, whereas the Li-on needs a bit of thought beforehand. Larger mods can be used, but you need to think about possible additional support etc.
The Li-on has extremely good battery life, better than the other sytems tested by Advanced Photographer magazine, but the Classic can trounce anything! Huge battery life at over a thousand full power pops.
The Li-on is far more flexible with its asynchronous outputs, 400ws through socket A, 200ws through socket B, and if you press the button labelled A+B you get 600ws through socket A
The Classic is 600ws through either socket if a single head is used, or 300ws through both heads if two are used. If you need to reduce the power to minimum and decide to use the 300ws option on the Classic, you have the issue of needing to dump the light from the second head without it adding to your scene. The Li-on on the other hand is very straightforward, simply use one head in socket B for 200ws output, and no need to worry about extranuous light from another head. Oh yeah, and the Li-on will obviously use less power whilst doing it.
The Li-on can be used whilst it's charging, so its a viable studio system too. The Classic can't be charged and used at the same time.
The Li-on has two modes of recycling, a quick mode for very quick recharging, but using more power, and a slower mode that is roughly equivalent (don't quote me!) to the Classic, and prolongs the battery life.
There are other differences that I can't recall at the moment, as I need a coffee. However, they are mentioned on Lencarta's blog entries and are linked to from the Li-on product page
 
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Hi Micheal,

Thank you for your comments and advise. I use my speedlights with my smaller modifiers i.e 28" softbox, but when I need a more full body coverage I am using my 60" umbrella but finding limits to the time of day I can shoot in. I am wanting something with more power that means I can shoot in the day and reduce the imapact of the ambient.

Using my 70cm and 140cm octa would be an advantage, with a manbag or heavy weight in the stand, including a foot etc. I've not shot with them outside before as I've not had a light unit that I can use outside other than speedlights, and a speedlight would be useless in a modifier of that size.

I was concerned that the head won't be strong enough to hold a heavy modifier. I can certainly see the adjustable power advantage of the Li-on as a jump between a speedlight wattage vs 600w is huge. I did consider the Alien Bee as hey have the 3 sizes, but then it means having several units.

Cheers again. Some more to think about.

Matt

Matt
 
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The problem is not so much the head, as the tilt mechanism - which is actually quite strong on the Li-on.

With big and heavy modifiers like that, you really need some kind of secondary support pretty much regardless. If nothing else, the stand becomes unbalanced.
 
From what I've seen the Li-on head is the strongest of the plastic ones available, but it's been made small and light for user convenience and the 'official' line is that the Li-on shouldn't be used with heavy or large light shapers, and the 140/150cm Octa and the 70cm beauty dish certainly qualify as heavy/large, so if you do it then it's at your own risk...

But with care and common sense, it can be done. As Richard says, guy ropes with a large softbox, also if it's off the ground it's obvious to support the front edge with something at the right height. The 70cm beauty dish is definitely too heavy, but again it can be supported at the front, with a spare light stand.

I've been told that a heavy duty metal head will be available as an option in the future, but this isn't something that I'm dealing with personally and I don't have details or dates yet.
 
HoppyUK said:
The problem is not so much the head, as the tilt mechanism - which is actually quite strong on the Li-on.

With big and heavy modifiers like that, you really need some kind of secondary support pretty much regardless. If nothing else, the stand becomes unbalanced.
Click to expand...


Hiya,

What would you reccomend then as an additional support mechanism. I have thought about the nice thin softboxes to replace the octabox for outdoor use, but I am weighing up my options with research before making any purchases.

Basically, in the end I want a portable system that allows outdoor shooting with a nice light coverage for full body key light, first looking at optimising what I have currently, and second, what else might be more practical.

Matt
 
astalemind said:
What would you reccomend then as an additional support mechanism. I have thought about the nice thin softboxes to replace the octabox for outdoor use, but I am weighing up my options with research before making any purchases.
Matt
Click to expand...

I would speak directly with [user]Garry Edwards[/user], although he has given good advice above, which I think you missed, as it looks like you both posted together.
Garry Edwards said:
From what I've seen the Li-on head is the strongest of the plastic ones available, but it's been made small and light for user convenience and the 'official' line is that the Li-on shouldn't be used with heavy or large light shapers, and the 140/150cm Octa and the 70cm beauty dish certainly qualify as heavy/large, so if you do it then it's at your own risk...

But with care and common sense, it can be done. As Richard says, guy ropes with a large softbox, also if it's off the ground it's obvious to support the front edge with something at the right height. The 70cm beauty dish is definitely too heavy, but again it can be supported at the front, with a spare light stand.

I've been told that a heavy duty metal head will be available as an option in the future, but this isn't something that I'm dealing with personally and I don't have details or dates yet.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Michael,

Yeap, we must have posted at the same time or when I was in another window typing my response. I've dropped Garry a direct message.

Matt
 
astalemind said:
Hiya,

What would you reccomend then as an additional support mechanism. I have thought about the nice thin softboxes to replace the octabox for outdoor use, but I am weighing up my options with research before making any purchases.

Basically, in the end I want a portable system that allows outdoor shooting with a nice light coverage for full body key light, first looking at optimising what I have currently, and second, what else might be more practical.

Matt
Click to expand...

I'm no expert, not done much of this myself. But I've tried supporting the rim of a big softbox with a brace and Manfrotto superclamp attached to the central column of the stand. Only roughly bodged it up, but it was obvious that it was not ideal and does nothing to address the inevitably front heavy nature of the rig, so the balance is still a bit precarious.

You really can't have too big a stand with a large footprint outdoors. Lencarta makes a very nice big stand, that is actually quite manageable, and cheap, but has a generous spread.

I don't think you can beat having another stand supporting the rim of the softbox independently. I favour guy ropes and pegs to hold the whole lot down, or heavy weights when that's not an option. Trees and things like that are handy, so take plenty of washing line. Basically, if there's anything more than the lightest breeze, with a big modifier you need everything you can lay your hands on. Or have a smaller option available.
 
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