D-Lite Lights

I use D-Lite 2s in my studio

Have done for the last 2 years

No probs at all - and have been used for up to 1,200 shots in 3 hours (toddler group)

My Key-light goes through a 1m Octagonal softbox most of the time, and still gives f8 at 100 ISO

Couldn't recommend them more tbh - though Garry Edwards (Trader on here) recommends a Lencarta Kit too, similar spec even cheaper I believe

HTH

DD
 
danbriant said:
I am wondering whats your thoughts on these
http://www.theflashcentre.com/d-lite-christmas-kit-i2831.html

I mean i think they are quite good but i dont know that much on studio light specs.
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The Elinchrom D-Lites are excellent starter studio lights. Although they look slightly flimsy, they are of a high quality and give a consistant temperature. I use them in my studio, alongside Elinchrom BX lights, and have had no problems at all.

The cheapest that I have seen for the 4/2 mixed kit is at www.warehouseexpress.com for £369 inc VAT.
 
Well, this is a bit disappointing, Elinchrom normally provide useful specs but this is just blurb with no hard info. Mostly, when sellers do that they have something to hide, but Elinchrom are one of the better Companies so it's a bit strange.

Also a bit disappointing that they've put the price up £50.

It's a good starter kit with adequate power, adequate build quality, good colour consistency, adequate modelling lamps and a very good range of accessories, and it's the accessories (the modifiers that shape and control the light) that are really important. But their accessories are very, very expensive compared to most other brands, something worth bearing in mind - a bit like buying a car because it's the right size for the family and then finding out that it only does 10 to the gallon...

This one by Lencarta is very similar, also has a radio trigger (needed) and costs less, with much cheaper accessories and with me as their techie support guy - not sure whether that's good or bad...
 
DiddyDave said:
Couldn't recommend them more tbh - though Garry Edwards (Trader on here) recommends a Lencarta Kit too, similar spec even cheaper I believe

HTH

DD
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Yes - worth mentioning perhaps that my 'trader status' (which is ending soon) has nothing to do with the work I do for Lencarta.
 
Only reason i wanted to know was because i saw them being demoed at the SWPP by the TFC and i was very impressed.
I may well end up purchasing these :) But from warehouseexpress http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1029456

But then you mention Lencarta, i have never heard of them. What do they do that the D-Lites don't?
 
danbriant said:
Only reason i wanted to know was because i saw them being demoed at the SWPP by the TFC and i was very impressed.
I may well end up purchasing these :) But from warehouseexpress http://www.warehouseexpress.com/product/default.aspx?sku=1029456

But then you mention Lencarta, i have never heard of them. What do they do that the D-Lites don't?
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Well, bear in mind that I've been involved with their design so may not be impartial but...
They take the Bowens S-fit accessories, which allows you to get good quality light shaping tools at far lower prices.
Their build quality is excellent, so is their colour temperature consistency and power consistency.
Their stands are much better, their kit includes a radio trigger that's worth nearly £60 and also includes a 5 in 1 reflector kit which IMO is something that every manufacturer should include. And if you have any problems or need any advice you get me, not a sales type - quite a few TP members have spoken to me, they may or may not tell you that that's a good thing:shake:

Basically, all that a studio flash has to do is to produce a reliable, consistent flash of light of adequate power, Elinchrom, Bowens & Lencarta all do that, some others don't. Beyond that, it's up to the photographer and the accessories, and you'll find that you have a lot to learn - but it's fascinating!

Please see this guide to choosing studio lighting
 
I've had the d-lite 2s for a while. I haven't had a great deal of use from them, but when I have used them, I've been happy with them. I did a reasonable amount of research before I bought them and I came across a few good reviews. I seem to remember I liked the idea of the digital readout, too.

One major pain is assembling the supplied softboxes. It's very frustrating until you get the knack. The rods always seem to be a few mm too long. You feel as though you're going to bend the rods or damage the fabric.

The price of all lighting accessories seems absolutely outrageous to me, and the Elinchrom ones cost more than most. But I think, on balance, I would probably go with them again. The accessories that you buy for the d-lites are the same ones used in the top professional studios. The lights themselves are not the ones used by pros, but they do have a consistent colour temperature, and that's all that I really want from them.
 
keith.l said:
I've had the d-lite 2s for a while. I haven't had a great deal of use from them, but when I have used them, I've been happy with them. I did a reasonable amount of research before I bought them and I came across a few good reviews. I seem to remember I liked the idea of the digital readout, too.

One major pain is assembling the supplied softboxes. It's very frustrating until you get the knack. The rods always seem to be a few mm too long. You feel as though you're going to bend the rods or damage the fabric.

The price of all lighting accessories seems absolutely outrageous to me, and the Elinchrom ones cost more than most. But I think, on balance, I would probably go with them again. The accessories that you buy for the d-lites are the same ones used in the top professional studios. The lights themselves are not the ones used by pros, but they do have a consistent colour temperature, and that's all that I really want from them.
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A tip on D-Lite soft boxes, once assembled try and leave them for a couple of weeks and you will find they fit much better the next time you need to take them down and put them up again.

As for the kit, I think the D-Lites are great.
 
I have also owned/used Lencarta lights, and found them to be good value for money for what they were. If wanting them for a 'hobby' studio, I would recommend them (although I did find that the recharge rate to be a little slow when shooting at full power). I did not own them for long, so cannot comment on their long term use.
 
tiler65 said:
A tip on D-Lite soft boxes, once assembled try and leave them for a couple of weeks and you will find they fit much better the next time you need to take them down and put them up again.
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Thanks for the tip. I have actually tried that and it did help a bit. The other thing I do now is consciously remind myself that rods need to be at a fairly steep angle to the speedring, not flat.
 
I've been using the Dlite 2 kit for just over a year now and have been really happy with them. Haven't had any probs whatsoever so I'm really pleased. Yes, the accessories are expensive but I managed to get a snoot and other bits and bobs second hand off ebay and a few places sell new Elinchrom compatible accessories too.

Agree with what other posters have said about the softbox assembly - I just leave mine assembled now and place one inside the other to reduce the amount of space they take up. Probably me just being a bit lazy!
 
bulldozer said:
Agree with what other posters have said about the softbox assembly - I just leave mine assembled now and place one inside the other to reduce the amount of space they take up. Probably me just being a bit lazy!
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If you decide to go with Elinchrom, consider getting a softbox not supplied with the kit. Kit softboxes seem to be the old Prolinca design, which doesn't have an internal diffuser and which you may not be happy with.

If you decide to go with Lencarta (or any other Bowens fitt make) then consider this folding softbox (other sizes & shapes available too, just as well as there's only one in stock:LOL:) it's a 'real' softbox, not a covered in umbrella, and assembles in seconds
 
keith.l said:
One major pain is assembling the supplied softboxes. It's very frustrating until you get the knack. The rods always seem to be a few mm too long. You feel as though you're going to bend the rods or damage the fabric.
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YOU SHOULD TRY THE UMBRELLA FOLDING ROTALUX ONES!!:LOL:

theyre even worse.

ive got the d lite 4s and cant fault them, if i had to buy a set now i would go for the dlite 2s though. the extra power isnt really needed for home studios and means your running towards the bottom end of the 4s. i would also look at the lencarta sets as well though(but not now as im into the elinchrom fittings now)
 
bulldozer said:
... and a few places sell new Elinchrom compatible accessories too.
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You wouldn't happen to have any links for those, would you, bulldozer? I didn't have much look finding compatibles. I'm surprised that you can find no end of high-tech alternatives for wireless triggers and the like, but when it comes to a bit of plastic for a snoot or grid, there doesn't seem to be that much out there.

I guess there's quite as much demand for light modifiers as triggers, but even so, if Elinchrom can charge 50 quid for a snoot, there must be plenty of money to made for anyone producing compatibles.
 
keith.l said:
What's the rationale for fitting the internal diffuser, Garry?
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All but the cheapest softboxes have an internal diffuser, a few have 2.

In a well-designed softbox, all the light has to go through the internal diffuser, there is then a gap of a few inches before it reaches the outer diffuser (there are a few less well-designed ones that have a large gap between the inner diffuser and the walls of the softbox, these don't catch all of the light and so don't do such a good job) The effect of the inner diffuser is that all of the light is diffused before it reaches the outer diffuser, so the lighting is far more even. If there is no inner diffuser you can expect to get hotspots, which normally shows up as glare on the skin of the subject.

It isn't quite as simple as that, there are other factors that make some softboxes better than others, but having an inner diffuser is cruicial IMO. My guess is that the inner diffuser costs pence to produce, I can't think of any reason not to include one.
 
Here is an example of the D-Lite 400 kit Softboxes in action.

1st box high up to the models right for hair light.

2nd box 45 deg to models left just above head height.

The colour cast is very nice. Skin tones are natural.

26d59034.jpg


Exif
F/8, 1/160th, iso100, 50mm 1.8, canon 30D
 
Garry Edwards said:
If there is no inner diffuser you can expect to get hotspots, which normally shows up as glare on the skin of the subject.
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But it's primarily the size of the light source that governs the diffuseness of the light. And adding an inner diffuser makes no difference to that. Otherwise, you could go on adding diffusers ad infinitum to make the light as soft as you like.

I can see that if you have a single diffuser, it might not manage to spread light evenly across its entire surface, and adding an internal diffuser would fix that. But I'd have thought the difference would be marginal, at best. I can't really see that if you have two SB of the same size, shape and material, one with an internal diffuser and one without, then one is going to produce a hotspot while the other doesn't.

I would definitely rather have an internal diffuser than not have one, but I'm not convinced that I'd really be able to tell the difference in the end-result.

Garry Edwards said:
It isn't quite as simple as that, there are other factors that make some softboxes better than others, but having an inner diffuser is cruicial IMO.
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Same kind of thing here, I'd love to have something like a Chimera. I can't help thinking that that's what the professionals use, and so they must be the best. But on the hand, I can't really understand why the light from a Chimera would be radically different from a mid-range SB. What are the other factors that you mention that affect the light quality?
 
But it's primarily the size of the light source that governs the diffuseness of the light. And adding an inner diffuser makes no difference to that.
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Erm...No. It's the size (actually the relative size) that governs the softness or otherwise of the light, i.e. that affects the shadow transfer edges. Size has no bearing on the degree of diffusion.

I would definitely rather have an internal diffuser than not have one, but I'm not convinced that I'd really be able to tell the difference in the end-result.
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Try it and see. Remove the inner diffuser and see the effect it has.

I'd love to have something like a Chimera. I can't help thinking that that's what the professionals use, and so they must be the best. But on the hand, I can't really understand why the light from a Chimera would be radically different from a mid-range SB. What are the other factors that you mention that affect the light quality?
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I use a Chimera medium (4'x3') softbox for both fashion & still life shots. As a tight-fisted and impoverished photographer I wouldn't have spent over £600 on it if another brand would have done the same job;)
Basically, it's very well designed, with ALL of the light very well scattered around the interior of the softbox before it reaches the inner diffuser, then ALL of the light has to pass through the interior diffuser before it reaches the outer one - no light leaks. And here are (virtually) no light leaks out of the back either, so no unwanted light to bounce off of walls or ceiling or to cause lens flare.
Then there's the diffusing material itself, much thicker and somehow more dense than others, almost like greaseproof paper. The light, although soft, is crisp. Someone once described it as making clothes look MUCH more expensive and I can't improve on that description.
 
Garry Edwards said:
Erm...No. It's the size (actually the relative size) that governs the softness or otherwise of the light, i.e. that affects the shadow transfer edges. Size has no bearing on the degree of diffusion.
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Fairy nuff. But I think it's fair to say that in this context the terms soft and diffuse are usually used synonymously.

Try it and see. Remove the inner diffuser and see the effect it has.
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I have the d-lite kit which doesn't have an internal diffuser, so I can't. But if there really was a significant difference between with and without, I'd have thought someone should be able to explain why.

I'm imagining the single diffuser of the d-lite as it fires. If there is a huge a bright circle in the middle with rapid fall-off to the edges, then I can see that an internal diffuser would help alleviate that. But I really don't think that's the case. And other than that, I can't see why internal diffuser would make any difference.

I wouldn't have spent over £600 on it if another brand would have done the same job;)
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And that's a strong argument in favour of them: professionals use them, so they must be good. But it's not very scientific!

Basically, it's very well designed, with ALL of the light very well scattered around the interior of the softbox before it reaches the inner diffuser, then ALL of the light has to pass through the interior diffuser before it reaches the outer one - no light leaks. And here are (virtually) no light leaks out of the back either, so no unwanted light to bounce off of walls or ceiling or to cause lens flare.
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Again, I agree all good qualities. But any mid-range SB should be able to avoid leaking light left, right and centre.

The light, although soft, is crisp. Someone once described it as making clothes look MUCH more expensive and I can't improve on that description.
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Okay, so you pulled me up on my terminology. Can we have a technical definition of "soft, crisp" light?:D

Thing is I realise there must be something in the reputation of these things. Pros like yourself use them for a reason. But a SB is really such a simple piece of kit, it should be possible for the manufacturers or someone to explain exactly what it is about it that justifies the price (in comparison to a reasonable SB that doesn't leak)

Or even better: here is a picture taken with softbox X, here is the same picture taken with our softbox, look at the difference. But you never see that.

In a blind test of photos taken using, say, an e-bay special, a bowens, a d-lite kit and a Chimera of roughly similar sizes, do you think most people would be able to see a difference? And if so, would they consistently prefer the ones produced with the more expensive kit?
 
Fairy nuff. But I think it's fair to say that in this context the terms soft and diffuse are usually used synonymously.
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Maybe so, but they shouldn't be, because they're not the same thing.

I'm imagining the single diffuser of the d-lite as it fires. If there is a huge a bright circle in the middle with rapid fall-off to the edges, then I can see that an internal diffuser would help alleviate that. But I really don't think that's the case. And other than that, I can't see why internal diffuser would make any difference.
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Try it for yourself. A very old technique for judging continuous lighting is to stand at the subject's location, look at the light source(s) then put on dark sunglasses or look through a piece of heavy ND (so that the moment you put the sunglasses on you can see the distribution of the light at the source(s) before your eyes accomodate to the new level).
You can do the same for flash using a digital camera: take a picture of the sources from the subject's viewpoint, with a suitable amount of ND (it can be a lighting gel or gels - the quality is unimportant). I find it to be a good teaching aid for making the link between the size, shape, directionality and evenness of the source etc to how the image looks - sometimes you want even, soft sources, sometimes you want uneven soft sources.

Can we have a technical definition of "soft, crisp" light?
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I don't really do technical definitions, I'm just a hack photographer who tries to give basic and hopefully helpful info, but I'll try to explain a bit better.
Softboxes are often seen as 'the' tool for producing soft light and, built in to that belief, is the assumption that soft light is good and that hard light is bad - and of course neither of those assumptions are true. Whether softboxes produce soft light or not is determined by a number of factors, the most important of which are relative size and angle of incidence. Used with knowledge, a softbox can produce both low overall contrast and high local contrast in the same shot, provided that it's a 'good' softbox with 'crisp' results. Take a look at this shot by Marc Gouguenheim, he used a large softbox as the only light source. The light, fairly high and to the left, defines and flatters the shape of her face - soft lighting. But look at the light on her clothes! All the detail is there, which requires crisp lighting (lighting that produces well defined shadow transfer edges) and as we all know, if the lighting on matt black clothes isn't crisp all the detail is lost, it just ends up looking like a black blob. This is one of the reasons that fashion photographers use Chimera.

I'm not saying that everyone should buy a Chimera (or come to that one of the Elinchrom Light Banks, which are pretty good too) - horses for courses! In fact I made a short video comparing a Chimera to a cheap Ebay one
I'm not proud of that video because it's far from perfect - I was comparing softboxes of different sizes and shapes and I think I came across as saying that the cheaper one, with its high output, was an advantage. I should have stressed that the opposite was true, the Chimera lost output because of its better design. I also should have taken my light meter readings with a flat (cosine response) sensor on the Minolta, not the dome (cardioid response) sensor. But it may still be interesting.
And, if my video hasn't bored you rigid, take a look at my guide on how to improve a cheap softbox which uses the softbox in the video.
 
Garry Edwards said:
You can do the same for flash using a digital camera: take a picture of the sources from the subject's viewpoint, with a suitable amount of ND (it can be a lighting gel or gels - the quality is unimportant).
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I'll give it a try. Would you agree that if I take a picture of a d-lite firing, and the light is even across its surface, then it has no need of an internal diffuser?
I don't really do technical definitions, I'm just a hack photographer who tries to give basic and hopefully helpful info, but I'll try to explain a bit better.
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Yep, and I appreciate your advice. And I'm not trying to be argumentative. It's just that a softbox is such a simple thing, if there really is much difference between them, it should be easy to explain why. To be honest, I think even among pros there's a bit of the thought: "well other pros use them, so I will too!"

Whether softboxes produce soft light or not is determined by a number of factors, the most important of which are relative size and angle of incidence. Used with knowledge, a softbox can produce both low overall contrast and high local contrast in the same shot, provided that it's a 'good' softbox with 'crisp' results.
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But most of the things you mention there - position, AoI, knowledge etc. have nothing to do with the softbox itself. The only defining qualities you've mentioned are that it's "good" and it gives "crisp results".

The way I see it, when it comes right down to it the front diffuser of the SB is the light source. All that the box behind needs to do is light it evenly and not leak any light. So I really can't see how much difference there can be between one SB and another of similar dimensions.

Still be genuinely interested in your answer to this one, btw:

keith.l said:
In a blind test of photos taken using, say, an e-bay special, a bowens, a d-lite kit and a Chimera of roughly similar sizes, do you think most people would be able to see a difference? And if so, would they consistently prefer the ones produced with the more expensive kit?
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This seems to be going on and on, and has now wandered well off track - but I'll have final go at answering your questions.

I'll give it a try. Would you agree that if I take a picture of a d-lite firing, and the light is even across its surface, then it has no need of an internal diffuser?
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Yes

Thing is I realise there must be something in the reputation of these things. Pros like yourself use them for a reason. But a SB is really such a simple piece of kit, it should be possible for the manufacturers or someone to explain exactly what it is about it that justifies the price (in comparison to a reasonable SB that doesn't leak)
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Doesn't this apply to just about everything made by people? As I see it, someone (Chimera in this case) came out with the first non-rigid softbox and other people copied the idea. Some of them understood the principles and tried to produce products that work just as well or better, others just copied the general idea, cut costs wherever they could and ended up with inferior products.

In a blind test of photos taken using, say, an e-bay special, a bowens, a d-lite kit and a Chimera of roughly similar sizes, do you think most people would be able to see a difference? And if so, would they consistently prefer the ones produced with the more expensive kit?
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Probably not. But professional photographers (or at least commercial photographers) have a very demanding clientelle and they definately can tell the difference
 
I have a dlite 4 kit and a dlite 2 head. the accessories are a bit more expensive but if you look around you can find 3rd party soft boxes etc.

I think they are very good, and consistant which is important.
 
keith.l said:
You wouldn't happen to have any links for those, would you, bulldozer? I didn't have much look finding compatibles.
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I did a quick search on ebay on the word 'elinchrom' and a few third party accessories popped up - 90cm octagonal softbox for around £40 along with other sizes.

I bought a silver umbrella last year - also off of ebay. You have to be careful as the umbrella rod diameters for Elinchrom lights are 7mm, whereas most others tend to be 8mm and won't fit. When I got mine, it was made by Viewfinder Photography and they have a few other bits and bobs as well - Viewfinder also supply equipment via their own website I think. The umberlla was about half the price of a regular Elinchrom one and has been great.

Hope that helps,
John
 
Yep, it does. Thanks for the info. I'd never come across Viewfinder Photography until I saw their stand at the SWPP convention. They had some handy bits and pieces for Speedlites. I'll check our their site. Thanks.
 
Matt989 said:
Some cracking info in this thread....when the time comes to buy a kit I think ill be going down the Elinchrom route....whether I go for the Dlite 2 or the Dlite 4 will be another matter...looking at the price difference the 4 kit seems like a better deal.
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Just keep in mind that if you use them in a small space its nice to be able to take the lights down lower and the dlite2's are 1 stop less then the 4's.
There is a kit that has one of each and its easy mix and match as a power setting of 3 on the dlite2 is the same as power 3 on a dlite 4 its just that the dlite 2 goes from 1-5 the dlite4 goes from 2-6
 
photochimp said:
Just keep in mind that if you use them in a small space its nice to be able to take the lights down lower and the dlite2's are 1 stop less then the 4's.
There is a kit that has one of each and its easy mix and match as a power setting of 3 on the dlite2 is the same as power 3 on a dlite 4 its just that the dlite 2 goes from 1-5 the dlite4 goes from 2-6
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Check photochimps glamour shots................ stunning and a great advert for the D-Lites.
 
photochimp said:
There is a kit that has one of each and its easy mix and match as a power setting of 3 on the dlite2 is the same as power 3 on a dlite 4 its just that the dlite 2 goes from 1-5 the dlite4 goes from 2-6
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Many thanks for that useful nugget. Very helpful to know

Eisbar
 
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