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We saw many new flashes in Photokina, one of the units that we thought was worth mentioning are the new ELC Pro HD units. We talked with Richard Terborg, Elinchrom Ambassador, to get the inside on those strobes.
They come in two flavors: 500WS and 1000WS, both in a new streamlined body. The strobes are pretty much what you have come to expect of mid-range strobes but they do have some interesting features worth considering:
Have you ever had to balance LED lights? If you have, you know it is a nightmare. For once not all 6500K are created equal and even if all the LEDs on your setup are set to 6500K, they light output is slightly different. The other thing is that regardless of the color temperature, LED lights (and other pulsing lights, such as fluorescents) do not show a consistent light pattern.
This inconsistent light pattern means that a graph showing the color signature of an LED light may have spikes on certain colors. (have you ever heard on the horrible green spike?). Here is the thing though, (in general) the color meters that we currently have are not built to measure those color spikes, they assume that the signature is linear and sample the light color at wide intervals. Those wide intervals may cause the light meter to miss a spike (or a valley).
This is where the Sekonic C700 comes into play. We had a chat with Sekonic International sales director, Lorenzo Gasperini and he explained to us how the C700 is coping with those issues. There are some good news. Apparently, Sekonic rushed production and only had 2 of the C700 units produced, and even those were not guaranteed to be the final models. And there is nothing more exciting than putting your hands on a one of a kind unit :). And yes, the screen was stellar :)
When we did the Benjamin vs. Rebecca Challenge a few months back I asked Ben how much the Broncolor cable between the pack and head costs? It was around $800. So, in Photokina, I was quite surprised and pretty happy to see that Broncolor are coming out with Siros – a ~$1,000 strobe.
Here is the interesting part, according to the discussions we had with Broncolor those $1,000 heads will have all the features of their big $10,000 brothers. They will not be as fast, or as powerful, but they will still give you that super fast T.1 t to completely freeze water splashes.
A few years back Rosco were faced with a problem. With the rise of off camera flash use, many photographers discovered the free Rosco sample gel pack. What began as a service for studio owners and stage managers, soon turned into an “unlimited” supply of gel packs for photographer. Of course being a business Rosco could not continue and supply the world with free gels (impacting both their own operation and creating a shortage with paying customers). Rosco dealt with this situation pretty cleverly, creating the Strobist Gel Pack along with David Hobby. It was a very cool kit at a very affordable (~$10) price. It was one of those things that never left my camera bag (we did a short fun review here) we reviewed it here (and here).
While the kit was a great solution to a real problem, it was not a polished product. And this is what Rosco are fixing today. We met Frank Lambrechts, product manager for Rosco and he explains the change for us. Rosco Gel Packs are what strobist kit what might have been Rosco had more time to think about a solution rather than being overwhelmed by demand and needing to come up with a quick solution to satisfy the market. [Read More…]
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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