Photography News Issue 50

Photography News | Issue 50 | photographynews.co.uk

68

First tests

ElinchromELB 1200 £3299

Specs

There are plenty of portable flash units available for the location photographer, that is unless you want power and then suddenly options dry up. One, though, is Elinchrom’s ELB 1200 system. The power pack gives 1200Ws of light with more than 200 flash bursts at full power and a great many more at fractional settings, plus there is the choice of three flash heads to satisfy different needs. Very briefly, the Pro head is the all rounder with the briefest flash duration of 1/5050sec while the Action head freezes motion with its 1/8850sec duration, and for those who enjoy mixing flash and sunlight the Hi-Sync head with correct sync up to 1/8000sec is the one to go for. A To Go kit costs £3299 and that buys all you need to get shooting with your choice of one head; individual heads are £799 each. In the kit is a sync cable and a Skyport Transmitter Plus for wireless triggering. If you go for the Hi-Sync kit you’ll need the Skyport Plus HS transmitter for flash shooting up to 1/8000sec – this is available for Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic or Sony at £219. The supplied Li-Ion battery is air- safe; spares cost £395. For even greater capacity go for the HD version at £495 but that is not suitable for air travel. I had the ELB 1200, which is manual flash only, with two heads, the Action and Hi-Sync, and tested them for output, flash duration and colour consistency in the lab (er, the kitchen) and out on location. The first thing to say is how reassuringly robust the power pack feels. Inevitably, location kit gets more than its fair share of knocks and bumps so solidity is important. The unit has two power outputs, A for full power and B for half power. With the Action head, pushing the A-B button toggles between half and 33% output, the lower setting giving the shortest possible duration. One thing to mention on the head to pack connection. Each head has a 4m lead which is very much a good thing but the actual connector could be better. I found it fiddly, notably the lead lock mechanism. Once connected up and turned on, you need to push A, A-B or B to choosewhich socket/s youwant active. I half expected that the unit would

automatically know when a flash head had been plugged in because it does recognise the head type, but no problem alert or blinking flash output figure reminds you to do this. Also, if you push any other button you get an audible warning. If you are using the Skyport Plus trigger it scans and detects the head and then you can adjust output, turn on the modelling light as well as fire the flash with it. Going back to head choice briefly, you need to consider this carefully. While the Hi-Sync head works with shutter speeds up to 1/8000sec, its shortest duration is 1/5050sec and its minimum output is 1.1. Compare this with the Action head that gives you a flash burst as brief as 1/8850sec, a minimum power setting of 0.1 and the fastest shutter speed I managed, using a Nikon D810 for correct sync, was 1/350sec using the trigger’s ODS feature. (The quoted output figures in the test refer to those on the power pack, where they are adjustable in 0.1EV steps.) If I was buying, I’d go for a Hi-Sync head because I like mixing flash and sunlight and the minimum power setting is just about low enough for wide aperture shooting when flash is the only light source. I don’t shoot dancers leaping around the studio so brief duration is not an issue. To test power output, I used a Gossen Digipro F flash meter set to ISO 100, with the head fitted with the 16cm reflector and at 3m. There is certainly plenty of power and a significant pop when the flash is fired at full power. At full power through the A socket I got a reading of f/22.5 from the Action head and f/22.9 from the Hi-Sync head. Double-checking the spec sheet the Action head is slightly less powerful than theHi-Sync and Pro heads so that pans out. When power settings were altered measured output changed accurately, mostly to within 0.1 or 0.2EV through the range. To test flash duration, hi-sync and colour consistency, I rigged up a domestic fan next to a Datacolor test chart in front of a sheet of large white card. I set each ELB 1200 head with the 26cm reflector on a stand at a distance of 3mand a NikonD810 fitted with the Skyport HS plus transmitter on a tripod. I used a 26cmreflector (not

The ELB 1200 packs a considerable punch when it comes to output and there’s the choice of three different flash heads. (Shown here not to scale)

Prices Three kit options – Action, Hi-Sync or Pro To Go sets, each £3299, Sky- port Plus HS (Canon/Nikon/ Sony) £219, spare ELB 1200 Air battery £395, HD battery £495, Action, Hi- Sync, Pro Head £799 each In the box 1x ELB 1200 pack, 1x Li-Ion battery and charger, 1x16cm reflector, 1x Snappy case and charger, 1x Pro- Tec Location bag, 1xsync cable, 1x Action/Hi-Sync or Pro head with cap, 1x Skyport Transmitter Plus Output 1200Ws Power range 7-1200Ws, 8.5EV Power distribution 2:1, 1:1 Colour temperature 5600K Flash duration 1/1280-1/5050sec Auto dump Yes Capacity (Air battery) 215 flashes at full power, 20,000 at minimum Battery charge time 90mins Recycling time (full power) Fast 1.7, Default 3.0, Eco mode 6.0secs Modelling light Yes, 5500K dimmable LED equiva- lent to 250w lamp LED run time 80mins at full power Dimensions (power pack and battery) 28x18x13cm Weight (power pack and battery) 4.3kg Head dimensions 22.5x14x23mm Head weight 2.2kg Brolly fitting 7mm centred, 8mm on tilthead Contact Elinchrom.co.uk Images The portrait and fan images were shot at 1/8000sec using Hi-Sync mode on a Nikon D810. The far right blow-up shows the action-freezing benefit of such a fast shutter speed.

included in the kit) for the high-speed sync test and swapped to the supplied 16cm reflector for the other tests. I did a custom white-balance reading with both heads first and then took lots of pictures. Colour consistency also rated highly with no significant colour shift fromminimum to maximum power. Elinchrom’s Hi-Sync is not a Speedlight-type pulsing systemwhere flash is pulsed very, very rapidly to give, in effect, a continuous burst of light. Hi-Sync uses timing so that the shutter records the peak of the flash burst but also the light as it decays. I was getting correct Hi-sync flash onmyNikonD810without any timing adjustment. However, if needed, the Skyport HS does have an ODS (OverDrive Sync) feature where you can adjust, up to 5millisec, the shutter timing to achieve correct exposures. On the ELB 1200 with the Hi-Sync head I was getting serious amounts of power. At 1/8000sec and full power, shots taken at f/11 looked good. That was at ISO 100 indoors. Outdoors, if you need more power or have to place the flash further away, you do have headroom with aperture, ISO and modifier choice. In my white card tests, shooting at shutter speeds of 1/500sec and above did give a gradation effect (lighter at the bottom, darkening across the top as the flash fades) that I couldn’t

Verdict

All round, the ELB 1200 is an amazing light source. It has flash power in abundance, is colour consistent and there’s a decent LED modelling light for video use. Plus it’s perfectly at home indoors or in very bright sun (with the Hi-Sync head) and is supported by the huge range of modifiers in the Elinchrom system. It is also a pleasure to use. The ELB 1200 is a serious investment but if you need an equally seriously good lighting system it is one worth making.

Pros Power, performance, versatility, takes Elinchrom-fit modifiers Cons Lead connection to pack could be slicker

reduce with ODS. Just make sure that the subject is correctly exposed and, depending on what you are shooting, it might not even be noticeable in practice. The use of a graduated filter in editing resolves the matter, too. Different camera models will behave differently and the ODS gives extra control if it is needed. There’s great potential with Hi-Sync, though, and impressive power. WC

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