Undecided on location lighting

jacob12_1993 said:
Hello Garry, could you please share the difference between the Safari Li-on and the Discovery 600? It appears that the Jinbei can be purchased for less money and I am interested to know what Lencarta have tweaked from the original design.

Thanks :)
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This should answer your questions Jacob

The comments are in reverse order (Most recent first, which is damned confusing!)
 
I'm not going into too much detail, but basically the case, battery, leads and flash heads are the same. What's inside the case is very different, resulting in shorter flash durations, more flashes per charge, faster recycling and the ability to use the unit whilst it is on charge.

Lencarta also has a 2 year warranty, and has its own repair facility with its own clever techie type who can make things go right when they've gone wrong.
 
Michael Sewell said:
This should answer your questions Jacob

The comments are in reverse order (Most recent first, which is damned confusing!)
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Garry Edwards said:
I'm not going into too much detail, but basically the case, battery, leads and flash heads are the same. What's inside the case is very different, resulting in shorter flash durations, more flashes per charge, faster recycling and the ability to use the unit whilst it is on charge.

Lencarta also has a 2 year warranty, and has its own repair facility with its own clever techie type who can make things go right when they've gone wrong.
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Thanks :)
 
treeman said:
Just get the "The big boy" Ranger RX, comes in symmetrical and asymmetrical, lots of power, weighs a ton and virtually bomb proof :)
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Show off :LOL::LOL::LOL:

Just priced up a 2 head kit, chuck in a few accessories and I'll be selling the wive's nag to pay for it!!
 
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If you're looking at the quadra system, IMO it's also WELL worth watching out for second hand profoto acuteb kits... Especially if you will only largely want one head...

Not the cheapest system, but acuteb kits often go for 1200ish... And you don't need the fiddly £75 adapter like the quadra does to use real sized mods, etc etc etc....
 
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itsdavedotnet said:
If you're looking at the quadra system, IMO it's also WELL worth watching out for second hand profoto acuteb kits... Especially if you will only largely want one head...

Not the cheapest system, but acuteb kits often go for 1200ish... And you don't need the fiddly £75 adapter like the quadra does to use real sized mods, etc etc etc....
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Good point...and one I hadn't considered myself (y)
 
jacob12_1993 said:
Good point...and one I hadn't considered myself (y)
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They're not quite as tiny or lightweight as the quadras, and are only one head... But I far prefer them
 
The second hand option has been explored but for the sort of money I'm going to spend, I'd be happier with a warranty.
Moving on a bit, I'm going to discount the Quadras due to a lack of power. Instead I'm now torn between the safaris and a ranger setup. Safari setup would be 2 heads and 2 packs plus modifiers. Ranger setup would be 2 heads but 1 speed pack ( 550 for each head ) with the option to buy another pack if or when needed.
 
lala said:
The second hand option has been explored but for the sort of money I'm going to spend, I'd be happier with a warranty.
Moving on a bit, I'm going to discount the Quadras due to a lack of power. Instead I'm now torn between the safaris and a ranger setup. Safari setup would be 2 heads and 2 packs plus modifiers. Ranger setup would be 2 heads but 1 speed pack ( 550 for each head ) with the option to buy another pack if or when needed.
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Again... Profoto 7bs are similar prices second hand to rangers, even from a dealer so with some warranty - and tbh, give me profoto unwarrantied over elinchrom with a years cover any day. Depends what system you've got already... But I'm a huge fan of profoto gear, there's a lot of reasons that its the worldwide rental standard. Makes it very easy to rent extra gear to supplement your own kit too.

Not fanboiing, but as an assistant, I work regularly with almost every pro brand of kit on the market - and profoto just -works-. Absolutely stunning light quality too.
 
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jacob12_1993 said:
Common sense would say so but there does seem to be a beautiful quality to images lit with Profoto lights and Dave is not the first person to say this, quite a few top photographers all say the same
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Common sense would say it's cobblers, and while there's no doubt that Profoto gear is some of the very best out there, the quality of the actual light is no different. The difference is in the quality of the photographers that use it.
 
mike weeks said:
The thing is in my experience that common sense is not that common, but amongst photographers bulls..t is very common.

Mike
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I probably would have agreed with you, but then I started using them ;)

Though you are right about the modifier making the difference, but at what point do you decide the light source is being modified?
 
Let's qualify that a bit...
Once you get past the rubbish flashes that produce inconsistent power and inconsistent colour temperature, a flash is a flash is a flash.

A modifier is literally anything that modifiers the light in any way. Pretty well all studio flash heads have a built in modifier of sorts, in that they have some kind of reflective surface that maximises the output and which therefore modifies it to some extent. Then you fit something onto the front that modifies it some more.

It's that modifier, and the skill and knowledge of the person using the equipment, that makes a difference, not the flash head.

There may be psychological factors of course, if someone is using what they consider to be the very best brand it may give them confidence, just as the driver of a car that has a good reputation for roadholding may get better performance from that car than from a different one that s/he has less confidence in.

Any statements about one flash having better light quality than another is ********, AKA marketing hype.
 
Garry Edwards said:
A modifier is literally anything that modifiers the light in any way. Pretty well all studio flash heads have a built in modifier of sorts, in that they have some kind of reflective surface that maximises the output and which therefore modifies it to some extent.
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Yes, that's exactly my point, the Profoto head is very different to any other head, the built in reflector isn't there, its a swappable, movable one.

As you said
which therefore modifies it to some extent.
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could that not be the difference? And not forgetting the frosted glass dome protecting the bulb?

I've never said the difference is dramatic, it's just.....different :)
 
treeman said:
Yes, that's exactly my point, the Profoto head is very different to any other head, the built in reflector isn't there, its a swappable, movable one.

As you said could that not be the difference? And not forgetting the frosted glass dome protecting the bulb?

I've never said the difference is dramatic, it's just.....different :)
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And not all Profoto heads are the same, eg Acute heads vs monolight heads, quite different. Shouldn't we define 'quality of light' to save arguing at cross-purposes?

I do like the way Profoto goes about things, particularly how their modelling lights are a very close match to the flash output, the zooming modifier fitting for example. But on the quality of the light itself, as Garry says, a flash is a flash. Not even Profoto claim any difference there.
 
Just to update you all, I have just treated myself to rather an extensive shopping spree on Lencarta's website :D
 
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