Lencarta SmartFlash 2 kit? Upgrading from speedlights

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Kyle011288

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Kyle
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I am a beginner photographer and iv been using a Yongnuo yn565, yn560 III and YN560II in my studio shots but the recycle times can sometimes be sluggish if the batteries aren't fully charged and when they are fully charged they just don't last that long at all, I have 4 x 2900mah rechargeables in each light. The whole battery thing is annoying me alone, plus I want to get a large softbox and have read a speedlight wouldn't be sufficient to fill one properly so i'm looking at upgrading to studio heads soon.

Would you recommend the Lencarta Smartflash 2 ? Or would you suggest buying a more expensive and powerful single head and working from there? The thing is funds are tight at the moment so cant be affording everything. And that studio kit comes with stands, softbox, umbrella and everything. Ive already spent a bit on speedlights and stand kits and if I get a single studio kit i'll need different stands, modifier and everything. Surely the 200w heads will be way more powerful than what im currently using for now? And maybe in a year or 2 when im making more of an income from it I can then upgrade to better main lights and use these as background lights or fills.

I'm currently doing shoots in my house, and would do friends shoots in their house so don't want anything way over powerful anyway because I don't have the distance to have them from the subject.

Thanks
 
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for individuals and couples, the Smartflash is plenty, if you need a bit more power, you can always raise the ISO.

Later if you decide you want something with more oomph, you can buy a higher rated Lencarta head and all your accessories will fit, the control system (including the remote) will work exactly the same too.

Personally, I think it's a great time to be starting out with a Lencarta system.

The one change I'd make: If you're going to be taking them down a lot, upgrade the softbox to a Profold.
 
Thankyou for your help again Phil :)

Cool that's great news, I'm saving for this now then! Would you recommend the 2x brolly kit, softbox & brolly combo or 2x softbox kit? Baring in mind the softboxes included are only 60x60cm..

Also baring in mind this setup will be used in homes that may have fairly limited space so don't wanna go stupid with the modifiers but I do want what works best if I can use it in my space.

Oh yes, another friend mentioned to get folding boxes, I need to have a look at what the price would be for those.. (At work at the min).

Cheers!
 
Kyle011288 said:
Thankyou for your help again Phil :)

Cool that's great news, I'm saving for this now then! Would you recommend the 2x brolly kit, softbox & brolly combo or 2x softbox kit? Baring in mind the softboxes included are only 60x60cm..

Also baring in mind this setup will be used in homes that may have fairly limited space so don't wanna go stupid with the modifiers but I do want what works best if I can use it in my space.

Oh yes, another friend mentioned to get folding boxes, I need to have a look at what the price would be for those.. (At work at the min).

Cheers!
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As posted in another thread, you can amend the basic Lencarta kits, your best bet would be to ring Garry and ask.

Or you could order the 2 brolly kit and source an octabox separately. The quality might not be as good as the Lencarta, but you could save a few quid.
 
FYI.
There is a short review of the Lencarta Smartflash 2 in Octobers edition of Digital SLR photography.
They are Highly recommended
4.5 stars (out of 5)
 
The smart flash will be plenty! I was in your shoes a while back and bout an ultra pro 300. I had it turned down very low a lot of the time. I now have 3 smartflash (v1) 200's alongside. Looking back I should have just got the smartflash to start with.

I like the Bessel softboxes but have to say that you get what you pay for and the lencarta ones are definitely of better quality (I have 3 Bessel softboxes and one lencarta)

Garry is very knowledgable and extremely helpful!

Good luck!
 
My advice, if you're going for a 2 head kit, is to get one with 1 umbrella and 1 softbox - much more versatile than 2 softboxes, and more controlled than 2 umbrellas, and the cost is only £20 more than with 2 umbrellas.
Portability can be an issue with the kit softbox though, and an upgrade to a Profold is certainly worth considering. My suggestion here would be to substitute the kit softbox with either a Profold 85cm Octa or with a 70 x 100cm, depending on whether you prefer the rectangular or the octa shape. The price is the same, £120 each, the cost of the kit softbox is £45 so either of those substitutions would cost an extra £75.

As it happens, I went out to a customer yesterday and sorted out their lighting problems. Their need was to light a very large chromakey green turntable, which they are going to photograph beds on, 20 shots per bed to provide 360 degree images. It needed perfectly even lighting on the chromakey to make life simple and I set up a bank of large Profold softboxes, not because of the easy assembly (they will never ever be moved or taken down) but simply because the distribution of light is more even with the Profold ones. They were though amazed at how quickly they went up and how quickly I made my escape:)

I haven't seen that review in Digital SLR, must see if they sell it in Tesco.
 
Thanks for all your advice guys!

I will be doing studio only, mainly children. But there maybe siblings or parents in some shots.

These were recommended to me by a pro photographer but thought id ask a 2nd opinion too. Thankyou can't wait to save up enough to get them now! I have 3 speedlights at the moment im unsure if to sell them all or keep 1 or 2..

Im new to photography and will only really be doing shoots in homes so will be needing to setup and pack away my equipment.

Do you guys think I'll need a large octobox for my needs or will a medium one be fine? Cheers
 
The Lencarta Smartflash kit is excellent, well the original one was I bought the kit about 3 years ago, they worked fantasticaly and I never had any problems and always found I had more than enough power for most things, made the stupid mistake of selling it a while back when I had to give up my studio and regretted it, I think I will be buying the new Smartflash 2 kit very shortly.
 
Kyle011288 said:
Thanks for all your advice guys!

I will be doing studio only, mainly children. But there maybe siblings or parents in some shots.

These were recommended to me by a pro photographer but thought id ask a 2nd opinion too. Thankyou can't wait to save up enough to get them now! I have 3 speedlights at the moment im unsure if to sell them all or keep 1 or 2..

Im new to photography and will only really be doing shoots in homes so will be needing to setup and pack away my equipment.

Do you guys think I'll need a large octobox for my needs or will a medium one be fine? Cheers
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In most homes, you won't have enough ceiling height for a really large softbox
 
Smartflash-2 kit sounds just the job. That review in Digital SLR Photography mag seems to have got it right :D

Just picking up on the potential/probable lack of working room, umbrellas are more space-efficient than softboxes, at least the reflective ones are, because they're reverse-firing. For example, if you have the light stand right back against a wall, with a a softbox the front of the light will be a couple or even three feet closer than with a white umbrella. This is handy is you're tight on height as well, as you can push the umbrella right up against the ceiling.

My advice would be to get the 2x umbrella kit, then add a third so you have white, silver and shoot-through - and three quite different lighting options. Dead cheap, and v easy to put up of course. Then when you've got the hang of all that, you'll be well placed to choose the right softbox :)

Don't forget a reflector, pretty much vital IMHO, eg http://www.lencarta.com/studio-lighting-shopfront/reflectors/80cm-32-pop-up-5-in-1-reflector
 
I have 2 Lencarta Smartflash 200 w/s heads, mine are the ones available until recently replaced by the current model. I shoot at home and power has never been an issue, recycle time is very fast, especially as generally the flash output is turned well down, but the standard soft boxes are a pain to assemble. The only issue is that both my Smartflash model and the current model can not be set to ignore pre-flashes. For most photographers that's never going to be an issue but my Lumix G5 or earlier have this problem, this camera is not ideal for studio work in any case and I use my Canon. It's rare to see photographers shoot with anything other than Canon/Nikon/Sony (with hot shoe adapter) at the local studio informal club nights, but there were fails when trying to get an Olympus and Samsung to sync with the studio lights. So a +1 from me for the lights and an upgrade to folding softboxes would be money well spent.
 
HarveyM said:
I have 2 Lencarta Smartflash 200 w/s heads, mine are the ones available until recently replaced by the current model. I shoot at home and power has never been an issue, recycle time is very fast, especially as generally the flash output is turned well down, but the standard soft boxes are a pain to assemble. The only issue is that both my Smartflash model and the current model can not be set to ignore pre-flashes. For most photographers that's never going to be an issue but my Lumix G5 or earlier have this problem, this camera is not ideal for studio work in any case and I use my Canon. It's rare to see photographers shoot with anything other than Canon/Nikon/Sony (with hot shoe adapter) at the local studio informal club nights, but there were fails when trying to get an Olympus and Samsung to sync with the studio lights. So a +1 from me for the lights and an upgrade to folding softboxes would be money well spent.
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The new Smartflash optical slave will now ignore a preflash. :D
Although the triggering system is the dogs danglies, so you shouldn't really be triggering them with on camera flash.
 
I'm triggering them with Ojecco Radio Triggers, not the on camera flash, but the Lumix still sends a pre-flash signal to the hotshoe that can't be turned off.
 
HarveyM said:
I'm triggering them with Ojecco Radio Triggers, not the on camera flash, but the Lumix still sends a pre-flash signal to the hotshoe that can't be turned off.
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Ahh! How weird.

Is that even when set to Manual flash?
 
There is no manual flash setting in the Lumix G5, auto only. It doesn't support the Olympus (Optical) off camera flash protocol either, the first Lumix camera to do so was the GH3, the G6 and GX7 also support the protocol and probably other recent models. Even the humble Olympus E-PM1 can do that with the supplied mini flash attachment. The only way the G5 can fire studio lights is if the head can be set to ignore pre-flashes, in my case I use Interfit 200w/s heads which have this facility and use the slave flash facility on the Lencartas. There is no M4/3 specific radio trigger available that I am aware of, only a hybrid optical to radio transmitter and a radio to optical receiver which strikes me as a rather clumsy and expensive solution, but if somebody knows of one, I would like to know. To be fair to Lencarta, their higher spec heads do support pre-flash settings.
 
Yes, the website is wrong, the SmartFlash does have both S1 and S2 slave settings.
That's fairly new, the first batch didn't have that.

I'll get it changed.

Incidentally, there is no "Godox branded version of the SmartFlash". The ones sold under different names have a totally different content, with slower recling, slower flash durations, half the range of adjustment and a less powerful modelling lamp.
It gets confusing for potential customers when their sellers put misleading specs on their websites
 
Garry are there any discounts for adding a foldable softbox to the smartflash 2 kit or is it just the difference in price if buying seperately?
 
Kyle011288 said:
Garry are there any discounts for adding a foldable softbox to the smartflash 2 kit or is it just the difference in price if buying seperately?
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Sorry, no discounts :( £75 is the price difference.
 
You really want to be giving up on umbrellas whenever possible, especially in small spaces, because it is impossible to control light with an umbrella. They chuck light everywhere. Umbrellas are fine as a lightweight portable option.

You are far better off with two softboxes. I would recommend a softbox and octabox combination, as the octabox will give round catch lights in the eyes. Get umbrella style or fold-up softboxes that can be set up very quickly if you shoot on location. I use fold-up softboxes and i can get a 3 light set up put up in 10 mins flat (timed it, lol).

You are very likely to get a much better deal (and quality of modifier and stand) if you buy your strobes, stands and modifiers separately.

Many kits come with stands that are too short. (Think hair lights and rim lights.) Many kits come with flimsy softboxes that only have one diffusing panel, and you'll appreciate one that has two because you'll hate hot spots.

I chose Elinchrom, among other reasons, because I need professional and reliable support.
 
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Jenny, you should try a softbox and umbrella side by side in a typical front room, and see how little difference there is (and also note post #11). A white umbrella, not shoot-though - they spread light everywhere (and that's one of the reasons for using them, for a bit of auto-fill-in).

Softboxes are great, but you can get fantastic results with umbrellas of the same size. People seem to think that because softboxes costs ten times as much as an umbrella then they must be much better but for most kinds of regular home portraiture IMHO there's no significant difference.
 
Umbrellas are arguably more versatile than softboxes anyway, and reflective ones come into their own in a small space, because they can use all of the limited space that's available, unlike softboxes which are necessarily deep - take the depth of the flash head itself, say 30cm, add the depth of the softbox and you're looking at being forced to have the front of the softbox at least 1 metre away from the wall, compared to say 15cm for a reflective umbrella.

Of course, not all softboxes are deep - but they really do need to be, to diffuse the light well. Years ago, Bowens made their 'Wafer' range of very shallow softboxes and a combination of good design and the right materials made them very effective, but they were also very expensive and didn't sell well. There are plenty of cheap copies but the ones that I've personally seen produce very uneven light.

As for Jenny's other assertion that it is better to buy components separately, that may be true with some manufacturers, where the included accessories are frankly rubbish, but it certainly doesn't apply to most.
 
HoppyUK said:
Jenny, you should try a softbox and umbrella side by side in a typical front room, and see how little difference there is (and also note post #11). A white umbrella, not shoot-though - they spread light everywhere (and that's one of the reasons for using them, for a bit of auto-fill-in).

Softboxes are great, but you can get fantastic results with umbrellas of the same size. People seem to think that because softboxes costs ten times as much as an umbrella then they must be much better but for most kinds of regular home portraiture IMHO there's no significant difference.
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I like softboxes with grids. I like to be able to achieve consistent shades of colour in a background when I need it. I like to control lights, so I avoid umbrellas. You've seen my studio size.

There is a massive difference. Softboxes are, in my experience, a lot softer than umbrellas and I prefer, generally, softer light. There is the added benefit with Elinchrom that you do not get from other strobes in that a deflector can be fitted centrally into the umbrella socket which makes the light even softer and more even, avoiding hotspots.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Umbrellas are arguably more versatile than softboxes anyway, and reflective ones come into their own in a small space, because they can use all of the limited space that's available, unlike softboxes which are necessarily deep - take the depth of the flash head itself, say 30cm, add the depth of the softbox and you're looking at being forced to have the front of the softbox at least 1 metre away from the wall, compared to say 15cm for a reflective umbrella.

Of course, not all softboxes are deep - but they really do need to be, to diffuse the light well. Years ago, Bowens made their 'Wafer' range of very shallow softboxes and a combination of good design and the right materials made them very effective, but they were also very expensive and didn't sell well. There are plenty of cheap copies but the ones that I've personally seen produce very uneven light.

As for Jenny's other assertion that it is better to buy components separately, that may be true with some manufacturers, where the included accessories are frankly rubbish, but it certainly doesn't apply to most.
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It applies that if you purchase separately you can choose rather than have a manufacturer choose for you. I know which I prefer. Especially when some manufacturers are incredibly blinkered.
 
250W or 150W .. the description lists different specs.

http://www.lencarta.com/studio-ligh...sh-studio-flash-lighting-kit-softbox-umbrella

Ambiguous piffle.

"Each of the kits listed below is ideal for portrait and family photography."

"5200-5500K"

300K variance - as denied on the phone and yet it's still there in the spec. And if the claim is that variance is calculated at 150K, the number will still be different from the 100K I was quoted. Who knows what it is? Not the supplier, clearly - see modeling bulbs above.

Do Lencarta have replacements for free or on hire when your kit is being repaired? No.

The Lencarta kit softbox is shallow, just like someone a few posts ago is saying is no good. The softbox is only 60x60 and not much cop if you want to do anything beyond a portrait, which means it would be better to buy modifiers separately so you can buy something that is appropriate!

I could go on ...

Those in glass houses .......................

Many manufacturers supply stands that are far too short, thank goodness someone got something right.
 
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@JennyGW maybe you and Garry would like to get a room. You're getting a little tedious. Its almost as though you want a fight. On the link you posted the only reference to anything being 150w is the modelling lamp. Maybe I missed something or maybe you'd pick a fight anyway you can?
 
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Kyle011288 said:
Garry are there any discounts for adding a foldable softbox to the smartflash 2 kit or is it just the difference in price if buying seperately?
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Buy a £30 softbox on Ebay, it will be of better quality and easier to assemble in a hurry, which makes it a lot more practical.

You have the choice of listening to unbiased opinions or those of a salesman. I know which I'd pay more attention to.
 
boyfalldown said:
@JennyGW maybe you and Garry would like to get a room. You're getting a little tedious. Its almost as though you want a fight. On the link you posted the only reference to anything being 150w is the modelling lamp. Maybe I missed something or maybe you'd pick a fight anyway you can?
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I certainly don't want to get a room with JennyGW:), she seems to follow me around TP knocking me and Lencarta at every opportunity and has even posted her views of me on my TP profile...

She seems to have a problem with me, and seems to resent everyone who knows more about lighting than she does. That's her problem, not mine.
JennyGW said:
250W or 150W .. the description lists different specs.

http://www.lencarta.com/studio-ligh...sh-studio-flash-lighting-kit-softbox-umbrella

Ambiguous piffle.

"Each of the kits listed below is ideal for portrait and family photography."

"5200-5500K"

300K variance - as denied on the phone and yet it's still there in the spec. And if the claim is that variance is calculated at 150K, the number will still be different from the 100K I was quoted. Who knows what it is? Not the supplier, clearly - see modeling bulbs above.

Do Lencarta have replacements for free or on hire when your kit is being repaired? No.

The Lencarta kit softbox is shallow, just like someone a few posts ago is saying is no good. The softbox is only 60x60 and not much cop if you want to do anything beyond a portrait, which means it would be better to buy modifiers separately so you can buy something that is appropriate!

I could go on ...

Those in glass houses .......................

Many manufacturers supply stands that are far too short, thank goodness someone got something right.
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Nonsense. That phone conversation was about variation between one shot and the next, I said that nobody could see any variation of less than 100K in a normal portrait type shot, which is true. I also said that the shot by shot variation of the SmartFlash is less than 20K, which is also true. The quoted variation of up to 300K is NOT shot to shot, it is from min to max power.

No, Lencarta doesn't supply free hire whilst products are being repaired - but then as most repairs are carried out for free or for no more than £30, we can't afford to...

The Lencarta kit softbox is NOT shallow, far from it.

If you don't like Lencarta, or me, or both then that's fine - but please be more mature.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I certainly don't want to get a room with JennyGW:), she seems to follow me around TP knocking me and Lencarta at every opportunity and has even posted her views of me on my TP profile...
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Sounds like some frustration and a little unrequited :kiss: on her part. I'm not sure if you should be flattered or scared
 
JennyGW said:
250W or 150W .. the description lists different specs.
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Easy enough to make a mistake

Ambiguous piffle.

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I would agree that your comments are definitely that
"Each of the kits listed below is ideal for portrait and family photography."

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Perfect Intro gear to complete that task
"5200-5500K"

300K variance - as denied on the phone and yet it's still there in the spec. And if the claim is that variance is calculated at 150K, the number will still be different from the 100K I was quoted. Who knows what it is? Not the supplier, clearly - see modeling bulbs above.

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99% of users would never see the difference at any of those figures
Do Lencarta have replacements for free or on hire when your kit is being repaired? No.

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Does anybody? Of course you could pay over-inflated prices to get that service, in fact never seen it offered and a real professional has spares of their own
The Lencarta kit softbox is shallow, just like someone a few posts ago is saying is no good. The softbox is only 60x60 and not much cop if you want to do anything beyond a portrait, which means it would be better to buy modifiers separately so you can buy something that is appropriate!

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At the price level it works well, in fact I could show many at a higher price that are only their equal
I could go on ...

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You do and it is getting rather boring, whatever your issues can you take them elsewhere please
Those in glass houses .......................

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should put curtains up, draw to close, like your comments
Many manufacturers supply stands that are far too short, thank goodness someone got something right.
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mike weeks said:

Easy enough to make a mistake

I would agree that your comments are definitely that

Perfect Intro gear to complete that task

99% of users would never see the difference at any of those figures

Does anybody? Of course you could pay over-inflated prices to get that service, in fact never seen it offered and a real professional has spares of their own

At the price level it works well, in fact I could show many at a higher price that are only their equal

You do and it is getting rather boring, whatever your issues can you take them elsewhere please

should put curtains up, draw to close, like your comments
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Blatant bias lacking fact or even logic.
 
Garry Edwards said:
I certainly don't want to get a room with JennyGW:), she seems to follow me around TP knocking me and Lencarta at every opportunity and has even posted her views of me on my TP profile...

She seems to have a problem with me, and seems to resent everyone who knows more about lighting than she does. That's her problem, not mine.

Nonsense. That phone conversation was about variation between one shot and the next, I said that nobody could see any variation of less than 100K in a normal portrait type shot, which is true. I also said that the shot by shot variation of the SmartFlash is less than 20K, which is also true. The quoted variation of up to 300K is NOT shot to shot, it is from min to max power.

No, Lencarta doesn't supply free hire whilst products are being repaired - but then as most repairs are carried out for free or for no more than £30, we can't afford to...

The Lencarta kit softbox is NOT shallow, far from it.

If you don't like Lencarta, or me, or both then that's fine - but please be more mature.
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Shameful. Quite shocking from a retailer in any sphere.

Buyer beware!
 
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mike weeks said:
And the bias is what? I actually demonstrate for a different company than Lencarta so if anything many would expect me not to support Lencarta.

You really have no understanding and that is not just Shameful but I am too polite to say what it is

Mike
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I point out all of the mistakes, bad information and bad advice and all you can do is find excuses for each. Answer with facts.
 
JennyGW said:
I point out all of the mistakes, bad information and bad advice and all you can do is find excuses for each. Answer with facts.
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Fact, I have had many conversations with Garry and have been much good advice regardless of buying or not.

Fact, I have seen Garry providing lots of information to others be they customers or not. I have never seen him deliberately set out to mislead, confuse or dupe anybody

Fact, mistakes do creep in when you create lots of web pages

Fact, when people are aware of mistakes they can then correct them

Fact, your photography is not good enough that you would notice the difference between 5200K and 5500K light temperature, neither would I, nor most people in this forum

Fact, I am not aware of any lighting supplier providing loan equipment during repairs

Fact, you seem to have an agenda

Fact, I will not be answering you further in this or any other thread
 
Garry had the audacity to cast aspersions on other retailers providing bad specifications.

It's not about whether I'd notice the difference, or even you. It's about accurate information on a product specification. Had you ever been in retail you would understand how dangerous that can be.

Then I will make you aware of The Flash Centre, national Elinchrom dealers, because they did loan lighting to me and they saved my bacon. While I would have still been waiting how long for my Lencartas to come back from China?

Mike, I doubt we'll miss each other much. However, that is a shame.

My agenda is this. Many people here, even most, are looking for professional solutions. They depend on their gear to earn a living. It is crucial that a professionals gear can be relied on and the same thing goes for the service that we buy into when we select a manufacturer.

If that's not important to you, fair enough. But give some consideration for those who have to worry about these things.
 
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