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I am still tossing around the idea of keeping my westcott softboxes or not. I have used them on so many jobs, have flown cross-country a ton with them, and I'm a little hesitant to throw out a tool that I know works awesome. I keep hearing great things about the elinchrom softboxes though...
I might pick up an A1 once there are some sales, but I'm not keen on buying a product that's entirely new right when it comes out.
The more I think about it, the more it probably makes sense for me to get a B2 as well for location work.
I like the elinchrom strobes as well, but I have been using gels a lot more lately for my indoor location work (primarily for color correction) and the profoto b1 gels are so damn easy to use. It's funny the things that you grow to hate about your kit - I've just gotten so tired of all the janky hacks I've used to properly secure gels to my Godox strobes. I am also excited about getting a remote trigger system that is more reliable. I regularly have issues where the Godox R2 trigger just stops communicating for a few frames. When I was doing a lot of engagement sessions in Central Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park, my godox strobes actually were getting triggered by other photographers doing the same - very annoying.
rscheffler wrote:
ProMediaGear also make a cage for the B2 to attach to a light stand, etc.
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1236711-REG/promediagear_blpb2_battery_pack_cage_with.html
They make something similar for the Elinchrom Ranger Quadras I use. While pricy, I finally bought a few and I like them a lot. The pack is very securely attached to the lightstand via a super clamp and it let me totally ditch the straps that always got in the way.
As for a B2 with more power... that's essentially the Quadra (minus TTL and HSS, though you do get HS, which some will argue is better). I guess it depends on what you shoot. For my people work, I've found the Quadra's 400Ws is always enough power for singles or small groups. In fact, I rarely use it over 100Ws for indoor head shots, so could get by with the B2.
The Godox gear has intrigued me and I've contemplated getting AD200s for wedding reception coverage. The guy I shoot for got some recently and they haven't been a home run. The power is good, recycling is usually fast enough, but the problems lie in communication with the transmitter not being reliable enough. Guaranteed that at some point (a few times) per wedding that he'll have to do a reset. The other problem is speedlight integration. The Godox Li-ion units have been falling apart on him and integration with the Canon RT speedlight system is a workaround (can use the Phottix Laso receivers on the Canon RT system, but no TTL or manual output control of the Godox units - would have to use a Godox transmitter in the hand). I have a set of AlienBees and Einstein monolights I use for lighting larger venues and thought about replacing those with the AD600 but now not so much. What intrigues me currently is the D2. Love the idea of super fast recycling at full or near full power, as well as decently short flash duration at those settings. I also like how these Profotos fully charge the capacitors and draw only what's needed for a given power setting, keeping the rest in the capacitors available for potentially a short sequence of shots. Wish the Quadras would do that as it's about the only thing I don't like about them - the recycling time at above 1/4 power.
The Profoto A1 is what got me to explore their offerings in more detail and turned me on to the D2. I could see the A1 being very good for weddings and event coverage if they're reliable and live up to the on-paper specs.
I've read some negative comments, I think here in this board, about the Profoto deep umbrellas basically not doing what they're supposed to...
I really like the Elinchrom 39" Deep Octa, which I've used for years, and for which you can get a Profoto ring. I've been thinking about their 120cm Litemotiv recently but am also intrigued by the Parabolix modifiers that seem to be decent alternatives to the Bron Paras. ...Show more →
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