Photography Thailand Forum

[agitlits]

Does anyone have the D-Lite 4 kit? Here is the link: http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Elinchrom-DLite-4-kit-4453

Is it good/ bad? Any recommendations?

Thanks
Alex

[epixx]

It's good, and I considered it for a travel kit but bought a couple of Electra Advance 300 from Ekasilp instead (cheaper, smaller and lighter, made in Thailand and there's a power supply unit available). The prices for the D-Lite vary wildly, but the lowest I saw was around THB 35,000 for the complete set (AV Camera in New Road and Foto Thailand at MBK). The rumour is that there's a new version with a cooling fan coming.

You should also be aware of the BX500/250Ri from Elinchrome, which is bigger, more expensive but better and has a built in radio slave, and the portable Ranger Quadra from the same supplier. Distributor for Elinchrome is Fotosystems. They seem to be a bit slow with regards to getting in spare parts and new products.

[agitlits]

Thanks Epixx for the info. I will be buying the kit through the Australian distributor and it seems a bit cheaper here. Do you know if these (D-lite) units can be powered by an optional battery? The battey for Elinchrome lights seems outrageously expensive though!

Cheers
Alex

[epixx]

Battery power is not possible as far as I know. That requires a separate, low voltage power inlet. The power units are expensive for any brand. Those for the Ekasilp strobes cost the same as the 300W strobes, and one is needed for each strobe.

[Marc Schultz]

Alex - Worth noting about those lights is that the build on them is very consumer market oriented for just the hobbyist. So although they are lightweight and easy to move, they are not really built very tough and not hardy enough really to be using on location. Also, since they are only 400 Watts per second lights, it will be difficult to shoot with them at F-Stops much above F/8 since they just don't have enough power so they wouldn't be good for product shots, interiors, food, advertising or any of the like where you often want more DOF and sharpness. There are really designed for the home user who just wants to shoot a few family portraits. If that is all you are looking for though then they would probably be just fine for you. Personally I would opt for their Style 600 heads. They used to run about 20,000 Baht each, but now the new models have gone digital and they are close to double the price. Possibly you could find a couple of older used one though in Australia and in which case might cost only a bit more than the D-Lite kit you are considering.

Epixx is partially right about the local distributor Fotosystems being a bit slow on getting new products and spare parts in although one of my Elinchrom light cases/housings cracked recently on a job and surprisingly they had the replacement housing in stock and are making the repair for me right now.

Hope that helps...

[agitlits]

Thanks Marc and Epixx for very useful info.  Not sure if I will be buying this kit now. I want to have some practice with bigger lights such as these. I only have experience with speedlights and would like to expand at this stage. I might upgrade later on.

Do you think the lightmodifiers such as softboxes and snoots for this d-lite units are universally suitable for all Elinchrome heads?

Thanks

Alex

[Marc Schultz]

Do you think the lightmodifiers such as softboxes and snoots for this d-lite units are universally suitable for all Elinchrome heads?

Thanks

Alex

Probably they are, but best to check with the place down there that you might eventually be buying them from to be sure. I am pretty sure Elinchrom only has one standard type head attachment style, but good to double check.

[epixx]

Do you think the lightmodifiers such as softboxes and snoots for this d-lite units are universally suitable for all Elinchrome heads?

Thanks

Alex

Probably they are, but best to check with the place down there that you might eventually be buying them from to be sure. I am pretty sure Elinchrom only has one standard type head attachment style, but good to double check.

I believe that is the fact as well.

[agitlits]

Thank you for all the useful info, guys!

Cheers
Alex