Elinchrom D-Lite 4 Kit

Who Should Buy It?

Someone looking for a nice set of strobes (and all the other gear like stands and soft boxes) at a good value.

the Cost

$900 for the kit, $350/head

the Good

Great quality for the value, fits with other Elinchrom accessories

the Bad

Could always use more power (these have 400 w/s per unit). Missing some of the bells and whistles of the higher end units.

Welcome to the third installment in the Studio Strobes and Setup for Beginners series. Check out the intro here or the Choosing Your Strobes segment here.

My choice of studio strobes that provide a great balance of features and cost are the Elinchrom D-Lite 4’s.

The kit comes with 2 identical, 400 w/s studio strobe heads, with stands, 2 softboxes, cases and cords. The kit includes everything you need to begin your studio lighting setup.

After several months of use, the units work consistently, providing good color and durable use. The units are very easy to set up and use and are one of the best additions to my lighting setup.

The Specs

Each flash head has a power output of 400 w/s, replaceable flash tubes, power variability (ranging 5 stops), modeling light and an optical slave (one can see when the other fires and fires at the same time). They synch at 5V (that is the amount of voltage that runs along the synch cord from your camera to the flash - you can use wireless triggers as well, which is the topic for another installment in this Studio Strobes and Setup for Beginners series), which makes it safe to use with any digital camera.

The soft boxes that come with the kit work best for 1-2 person portraits (they aren’t huge - 1 is 21" and the other is 25.5").

The Good

Good value. You can purchase the entire kit for about the same price as a single professional-quality strobe head. I also really liked the decent range of features and the fact that all the other great Elinchrom accessories worked on the strobe heads. For example, I also purchased the Elinchrom Midi-Octa Bank soft box and it worked perfectly.

The Bad

Not too much to complain about, really. The biggest downside is the power. At 400 w/s, the strobes put out about 1/3 of the power of the high-end versions (400 w/s is still lots of light - the bigger ones will give you about 2 stops of light, though).

The Verdict

Looking for a nice combination of features/power and cost? The versatility, compatibility with other Elinchrom products and the ease of use make these a great studio strobe. You’ll probably also want to purchase some large soft boxes as the two that come in the kit are best for 1-2 person portraits.

Welcome to the first section of Studio Strobes and Setup for Beginners. Check out the intro to the series here.

One of the cornerstones to studios and the focus for today’s post is choosing studio lighting. It’s time to decide what lights should be used. We’ll consider several options. Other aspects, like light modifiers, backgrounds, etc. will be examined in future posts in this series.

How to Decide

When deciding what type of studio lighting you should use, you’ll want to consider several questions:

• How much $$ can I spend?
• How much light output do I need?
• How flexible do I want my choice to be?
• How hot can the lights be?

Some Options

You’ll have several different options, depending on how you answered the questions above.

Continuous lights provide always on light, allowing you to see exactly how the light will fall as you set it up. Lots of options here. Tungsten are popular and can produce a decent amount of light (still less than pro-level strobes though) but get VERY hot. That was a deal breaker for me - I do a fair number of children portraits and the heat thing was a problem.

You can also do fluorescent continous lights, which run MUCH cooler, but you lose quite a bit of light output. If you’re interested in continuous light, check out a great description of popular continuous lights by Scott Kelby here (picture shown above).

If needed, this can be the cheapest way. As long as you get the same type of lights you can often get away with cheaper workshop-type lights from a place like Home Depot. Just make sure that you don’t mix different bulb types - like some fluorescent and some tungsten - each often outputs a different light color cast and you don’t want a little of both.

Entry level strobes are a great way to get into the strobe world at a reasonable price. They provide a reasonable amount of light output and some decent features (like adjusting the output, modeling lights, etc) without breaking the bank. They also run much cooler than continous lights. I chose an entry level strobe - see that section below.

Professional level strobes provide high light output, lots of flexible features (like remote controlled settings and more). The catch? The cost. 1 professional level strobe can run you $1000+. That’s without stands, soft boxes, etc. (see a picture of a strobe to the right).

A Mixture: Depending on your budget and needs, you may choose a combination of these. For example, you might choose strobes when you need higher light output and flexibility for outdoor portrait sessions. You might have another continuous light setup using fluorescent bulbs for indoor product shoots (when you don’t need as much light output and it helps to see exactly where the light is falling as you setup the lights).

My Choice: Elinchrom D-Lites

Choosing which strobes I wanted was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a while. I visited online retailers (like B&H Photo), searched on Google, read discussion boards and more. None provided a clear choice and why, especially in the entry-level ish price range. I knew Scott Kelby used Elinchroms, but his particular models are pro level and cost pro $$.

Then, one day, the Strobist ran a contest and was giving away Elinchrom D-lites (entry level models) as a prize. He gave them a general thumbs up. With that recommendation and the fact that Scott Kelby uses Elinchroms, I was sold.

I purchased them a few days later - my full review on them as my choice will be posted in the next installment of this series.

Studio Strobe Terminology

Flash Tube: The fancy ‘light bulb’ that creates the actual flash.

Modeling Light: Light bulb that sits near the Flash Tube. It can be turned on/off as needed and is used to get a feel for where the light will fall (it isn’t nearly as strong as the Flash Tube, but can show where shadows, etc. may end up). It also helps provide light prior to the full flash so that your camera’s autofocus has enough light to work.

Watt/Seconds: The power output of a light source. Every time you double your Watt/Seconds (from 400-800, for example), you get one stop of light. Luckily, both strobes and always-on light sources are measured in Watt/Seconds, allowing for easier comparison.

Continuous Lights: Lights that are always on. The bulbs are typically tungsten, but are more frequently fluorescent.

Monolight: The strobe plugs directly into the wall like any other electrical device.

Lighting can be one of the most challenging (and exciting) parts of photography. Especially for beginners. Luckily, there are some great resources out there for beginners. Strobist, Joe McNally and others help light the way!

About six months ago, I decided to step into the land of the home studio, which for me, included strobes. At the time, I did some research to try and find the best equipment, setups and general knowledge about using strobes. I found varying amounts of information, but still struggled getting a fairly comprehensive view.

That’s what this series intends to help with. I’d like to share the information, resources and experience I’ve gathered and worked with. I may not have the 20+ years plus experience, but I hope to help others just starting out with a guide on how to proceed with Studio Strobes.

This series will last several days (I’ll post most of the series back to back) and will include the following topics:

• Choosing your strobes. Which strobes did I choose? Why? My review of the options I selected.
• How to trigger your setup.
• How to effectively use the strobes for different lighting effects.
• Backgrounds. What are some options and what are the advantages/disadvantages of each.
• Challenges of the in-home studio.
• Various resources for studio lighting.

Check back tomorrow for the first installment - Choosing Your Strobes.

Gorillapod

Who Should Buy It?

Anyone who owns and uses a camera

the Cost

$24.95 - 54.95, depending on the model

the Good

Nice construction, great price, extremely flexible tripod solution

the Bad

Nothing bad here!

A few weeks ago, I reviewed a tripod by Gitzo, which is regarded as one of the premiere tripod manufacturers around. While I love my Gitzo, the Gorillapod tops its rating!

If you haven’t already seen the Gorillapod, it is a compact tripod (coming in at about a foot tall). Unlike other tripods, it has flexible, gripping legs, allowing you to put your camera almost anywhere. It comes in three sizes, depending on the size/weight of your camera.

I bought mine primarily for my new G9 point and shoot. The smallest version is meant for point and shoot cameras, but because the G9 is a little larger than others, I decided to get the medium version, which is meant for light SLRs. You can also purchase a heavy-duty version meant for SLRs with zoom lenses. Check out the site for full information.

The Good

Simply put, this thing rocks. It is small enough to fit in a backpack, but is still very solid. Knowing that the legs were flexible made me a little hesitant to put my expensive camera on it. But, after seeing it in person, any concern was removed. It easily holds my camera in any position, allowing me to set it on uneven surfaces, or when needed, wrap it around something like a car mirror or tree limb.

See the picture at the right of my Gorillapod in action at a recent family outing (click on it for a larger version). We wanted to take a family self-portrait and set the Gorillapod on the windshield of our van. It worked like a champ.

The Bad

After several weeks of use, I can’t find a single downside. Over time, I’m a little curious to see if the hinges will loosen up to much and become less effective - I haven’t heard anything about that from other reviewers, though. I expect that I’ll continue enjoying this great product for a while!

The Interesting

Joby (Gorillapod’s manufacturer) does a few interesting things. First, they seem to be a very environmentally friendly company. While I’m not as green as I probably should be, I do appreciate a company’s solid effort. And, they’ve turned it into a price savings for you. When at their web site, you can actually order any one of the products for about $3 less if you choose to not have it packaged (thereby saving packaging waste).

Also, they provide a Flash clip for the SLR versions that slides into the clip area and holds a portable flash like the Nikon SB-800 or Canon 580 EX II.

The Verdict

Do you own a camera? Then you should also own a Gorillapod. It’s low cost, low profile and high versatility make this an amazing purchase.

Gitzo Weekend Basalt Tripod Legs

Who Should Buy It?

Someone who wants a solid set of portable tripod legs at a reasonable price (comparatively).

the Cost

$350

the Good

Solid Gitzo construction; G-Locks; great travel or hiking weight/height

the Bad

Still a bit pricey; a little shorter than I’d prefer.

Gitzo is the premium name in tripod names. The Weekend Basalt tripod legs follow in that excellent tradition of quality and solid construction.

Made of Basalt (cooled lava), these tripod legs are light, yet fairly rigid (the quality is higher than aluminum but lower than their carbon fiber series). The set weights in at under 2 pounds, folds down to 22 inches and extends up to about 55 inches.

The Good

I purchased the set primarily for hiking landscapes and travel and they’ve performed wonderfully. Their construction is excellent and they handling them is a pleasure. They are small/light enough to easily place on a camera bag and fit well under an airplane seat or in an overhead compartment. Due to their lighter weight, in windier conditions, I had to put a weight (my camera bag) on the hook under the main post to anchor everything down.

One of my favorite features, though, are the patented G-Locks. They allow you to twist the lock, extend the leg and tighten the lock, without any unecessary leg rotation. The result is an incredibly fast set up and take down. When moving around for landscape shots, this is even handier.

The Bad

The only two downsides to this nice rig, forcing me to only give 3.5 stars, is the price and height. The set folds up small and as a result, the maximum height tops out at 55 inches. In some cases, I was wanting to stretch things a little further to increase comfort when standing behind the tripod or when trying to get a particular shot.

Also, at $350 for the legs only, they can be a bit pricey (the carbon fiber series is even more at $500+). You do get what you pay for, though. These legs will last a lifetime.

The Verdict

If you can spend the money and need a solid set of travel tripod legs at a good price, these will suit you well. The build quality, G-Locks, weight and general durability make them an excellent choice.