An odd one because it doesn't entirely fit with the rest of the range. There is a light using 4 low energy daylight balanced compact fluorescents in a softbox. 4 tubes producing roughly the equivalent of 450 watts of tungsten light. Low energy and coolish running - after a day's constant use you can comfortably put your hand inside the softbox - the outside surface it slightly warm to the touch.
I think most people know my views on using continuous lighting for people shots, but I don't make the decisions and anyway, this new product is ideal for video. And ridiculously cheap, although I'm guessing that future stock can't be sold at the Focus price. It's actually 4 x 105w fluorescents, giving a tungsten equivalent output of about 2000 watts.
Location power system (amazingly after 2 days I still can't remember the name of this)
This is described on a banner and is at working prototype level. If the stats I've been told are accurate then this will be a fantastic bit of kit.
It has 6 sockets. 3 are for next generation studio flashes (NOT as I mistakenly told some people yesterday Discovery pack flashes - these will be a brand new design - no I have no other details about them at all). The other 3 are standard 3 pin sockets (which look to also accept continental style plugs) and will be able to run studio flash heads, laptops, printers etc.
Smallish and lightish with a Li-ON battery the designers are expecting up to 2,000 X 300 w/s flashes from a studio head and expect a retail price of around £350. And yes, I know what a bold claim both those numbers are. I have no idea when it will be available but if those numbers stand up then I wouldn't think twice before buying at least one.
Please try to pay attention 007
It's called the PowerTrekker. Right now it isn't in production, we've got to the stage of having a working prototype in a wooden crate... It will be on the website soon, but people won't be able to pre-order until we have a delivery date, which will be some distance away because there's still a lot of detail work to do. Once it happens I believe it will offer the best portable power solution for mains powered studio flashes by far, and unlike our current range of products nobody will be able to point fingers and claim that it's a clone or a re-badge of anything else, not that I'm bothered by these claims
The power pack thats coming is very interesting too.. im not sure its a good thing to have ANOTHER new head that only fits that pack but for a location power source it'll be great.. but they should have a standardised plug for the heads, i understand there will be different AC/DC heads so cant be compatible but for people like me that are buying into Lencarta (albeit in a small way) it would make things easier.. buying one head now, only to need a different head tomorrow for a different pack..
I understand these concerns. Basically it's a similar idea to the Bowens, i.e. the next generation of Lencarta studio flash heads (still in development and a long way from production) will work on both AC and DC and the connectors are to allow direct DC connection to the PowerTrekker. There are big advantages to this, because there will be no need to convert DC power, increase the voltage and 'filter' it via a pure sine wave inverter to the new flash heads, making it much easier to decide that Lencarta is the way to go... For anyone who doesn't have the next generation of Lencarta flash heads (which is everyone at moment), just plug whatever you have, of any make, into the standard 13A sockets. There are 3 sockets.
Discovery pack and head.
This is a similar pack to the Safari with the following key differences:
a) asymmetric 60:40 split across the 2 sockets (so, plug in 2 lights and one will be roughly twice as bright as the other)
b) smaller head - half the size of a Safari head but still with S mount. NOT compatible with Safari
c) dramatically improved modelling light - 10w LED light. I don't believe there's another pack on the market that can match this ATM.
d) fewer flashes per battery charge - I was told today that it would be "at least 350" but I haven't been able to check that. Comparing the design with the Safari I would have expected more.
e) slightly lighter pack - I carried it a few hundreds yards this morning and don't believe it weighs anything like the 8 kilos quoted above .
Not having it charged up was a disaster, you can blame me for that...
Like the Safari, it's made by Jinbei to Lencarta spec (or at least the pack is, the head is unmodified because the Jinbei head is perfect as it is.) The same applies to the Ringflash head, like the Safari ringflash head and the Elinchrom 'Eco' ringflash head, which are also standard Jinbei products, although of course the Elinchrom version has a different plug.
I only got the Discovery on Thursday, I then photographed it very quickly, got it on the website (which didn't work) and got it on to a pull-out banner. I did some very quick tests before leaving for Focus and I'm not yet in a position to publish accuratge figures, but I'm very impressed with both the flash duration and the colour temperature consistency. The colour temperature consistency varies by no more than 300K from full power to minimum power (1 - 1/16th) which is much better than I expected, and from the very quick tests so far, the colour temperature variation from 1 flash to another at the same power varies by no more than 20 - 30K - and that's outstanding!
The really amazing thing about it though is the modelling lamp. 10 watts doesn't sound a lot but it IS a lot when it's LED technology, and it's a lot brighter than the Quadra (and every other portable flash that I know about). Obviously the modelling lamp can't be left on indefinately (battery drain and overheating) so there's a digital control that allows it to be set to be on for anything from 10-99 seconds.
My belief is that the new Lencarta Discovery is a much better buy than any other product of its type. The only limitations that I can find are that it's probably not a good idea to put something really heavy, like a 70cm beauty dish, on the tiny flash head, but as it's a S-fit mount and doesn't need an expensive adapter to make it fit accessories, it's still a lot better than the competition. And although it doesn't have as many flashes to a charge as the Safari, it still beats the competition.
It's a pity that it has the same name as the new Jinbei Discovery, who now seem to be using Landrover names (they also have a Freelander) but that's just coincidence. Lencarta started with the Safari, which 4x4 enthusiasts will recognise as a tough upgrade to 'ordinary' Landies, and we thought that 'Discovery' would be a good name for this model. Actually I wanted 'Disco' which is what all the Landy people call their Discoveries, and maybe I was right... But it doesn't matter, if all the usual claims that it's just a re-badged Jinbei product surface then I don't care.
Oh, and it only weighs 3.3kg, not 8 kg.
Anyway, it's
on the website as of now, and there's an extra 10% discount for people who pre-order it.
I'll get the website listing improved when I can, and there are a lot of other new products to go on there too.
I think that just about covers it, but just ask on this thread if I've missed anything out.
Finally, people who bought during Focus got a 5% discount by using the coupon code focus - good news, because I had an email from the boss this morning, telling me that the focus coupon code will work until the 31st March
