Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

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el_hoppy
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p.9 #1 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

Got my 2nd head and extra battery delivered on Friday and hit the beach Sunday

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I managed to flatten the battery, which is the 1st time I have ever done that on a shoot. I have never needed the Ranger or my old Bowens backup batteries. I did shoot quite a bit at close to full power, so it is not a surprise.

Jun 29, 2009 at 06:36 AM

s2000hku
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p.9 #2 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

El_hoppy, about how many shots before the battery die? I ordered a second battery for mine.

Jun 29, 2009 at 01:17 PM

el_hoppy
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p.9 #3 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

Roughly 180 shots plus light meter tests, so probably closer to 220.

Jun 29, 2009 at 05:22 PM

Daan B
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p.9 #4 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

el_hoppy wrote:
Roughly 180 shots plus light meter tests, so probably closer to 220.

That many light meter tests

Just kidding

About 200 full power pops is not bad actually

Jun 29, 2009 at 06:01 PM

el_hoppy
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p.9 #5 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

It is probably closer to 100 full power and the rest at 50% or more.

Jun 29, 2009 at 06:13 PM

Daan B
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p.9 #6 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

el_hoppy wrote:
It is probably closer to 100 full power and the rest at 50% or more.

Hmmmm... in that case a spare battery (or two) might come in handy.

Jun 29, 2009 at 06:53 PM

seanmcfoto
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p.9 #7 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

el_hoppy,
Have to ask which way this is set up.. I've been told that adding the extra cable will lose a stop of power. Is this true?
It looks like the A power is on the umbrella, with the bare head on the B Power.

Curious for a number of reasons... One being a way to balance the power for the lights as rear lights..

I went for the 2 head kit with spare battery and 2 EL-Adaptors.

Jun 29, 2009 at 09:36 PM

el_hoppy
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p.9 #8 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

I haven't got a clue

The A power head is on the longer cable because for at least one set-up the key light was closer to the waters edge and when a boat passes by the waves wash up the beach. Both lights and the pack were in the wash zone in that shot.

Besides looking after the lights I also had to tend to my boat when boats passed by

Jun 29, 2009 at 09:47 PM

bacilonur
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p.9 #9 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

Hey Hoppy, how about grabbing some superclamps and rigging up a few remote cameras in your boat all using the same flash with the Quadra and then see how it works at, say, 50MPH? You'd probably be the first. :-)

There was that guy from France a few months ago who wanted to do something with a Ranger and a jet ski, I guess he didn't make it.

Jun 29, 2009 at 09:51 PM

el_hoppy
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p.9 #10 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

My first edited shot from the Quadra.

Not so happy with the shadow caused by the shoulder. I think the 2nd light was too low and powerful. I think both lights metered about the same thanks to the umbrella. I'm still very much "all thumbs" when shooting outside of my studio,

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Jun 29, 2009 at 09:53 PM

el_hoppy
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p.9 #11 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

bacilonur wrote:
Hey Hoppy, how about grabbing some superclamps and rigging up a few remote cameras in your boat all using the same flash with the Quadra and then see how it works at, say, 50MPH? You'd probably be the first. :-)

There was that guy from France a few months ago who wanted to do something with a Ranger and a jet ski, I guess he didn't make it.

I had been planning to shoot a model at speed sitting on the back.... One day soon perhaps

Jun 29, 2009 at 10:03 PM

bacilonur
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p.9 #12 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

Was your second light supposed to be a rim light, like it is in your test shot, or were you intentionally going for cross lighting? That's what caused that shadow to stick out so much. If it had been behind her instead of to the side, the whole right side of her face would have been dark. Depends on the look you were going for, but you may want to try having the umbrella slightly closer to your camera axis and higher to reduce shadows like that and put the kicker behind her a bit more.

Jun 29, 2009 at 10:04 PM

seanmcfoto
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p.9 #13 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

Try this the next time:
Put the extension on the back light and keep the bar nearer the umbrella. Based on what I've been told, that will give you more power to the umbrella and less on the bare head.

In a doh! moment just now, I realised that I have 2 cables. I can just try it with one head and see if the power reduces when I introduce the 2nd cable.

I priced up a second pack minus a battery but it's about €700, so not a good buy for me just yet!

I'd love if they made a quadra ringflash (I am aware it'll work with the RX ringflash and adaptor cable for $$$$)

Edit: Adding the cable does drop the power, but not by much.. about 1/2 stop or so.

Jun 29, 2009 at 10:44 PM

sboerup
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p.9 #14 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

seanmcfoto wrote:

Edit: Adding the cable does drop the power, but not by much.. about 1/2 stop or so.

I'd say losing an additional 1/2 stop when it's already only 400ws is a big deal to me. 400ws is now 300ws . . .

Jun 30, 2009 at 04:32 AM

Carmen Miranda
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p.9 #15 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

sboerup wrote: 400ws is now 300ws . . .

Life is so ironic isn't it?

You buy an extension cord to move the light away from the subject, but because of a drop in power you have to move it closer.

Jun 30, 2009 at 04:47 AM

Daan B
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p.9 #16 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

sboerup wrote:
seanmcfoto wrote:

Edit: Adding the cable does drop the power, but not by much.. about 1/2 stop or so.

I'd say losing an additional 1/2 stop when it's already only 400ws is a big deal to me. 400ws is now 300ws . . .

+1

You really have to plan your shoots wisely with the Quadra...

Jun 30, 2009 at 06:34 AM

el_hoppy
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p.9 #17 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

Daan B wrote:
sboerup wrote:
seanmcfoto wrote:

Edit: Adding the cable does drop the power, but not by much.. about 1/2 stop or so.

I'd say losing an additional 1/2 stop when it's already only 400ws is a big deal to me. 400ws is now 300ws . . .

+1

You really have to plan your shoots wisely with the Quadra...

That advice really applies to all shoots regardless of your lighting gear.

I can see that 1/2 stop can be a problem with the key light, but is it really such a problem with the rim/fill light. Just don't do like me and use the double cable on the key

Jun 30, 2009 at 07:14 AM

jsuvala
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p.9 #18 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

Thought I would share my DIY adapter.

DIY adapter

I've tested it with the Elinchrom 21cm 50 degree reflector and it works quite nice.

Cons are that you have to use it with the quadras standard reflector and it doesn't have the light stand bracket.

Jun 30, 2009 at 07:23 AM

Daan B
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p.9 #19 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

el_hoppy wrote:
That advice really applies to all shoots regardless of your lighting gear.

Of course... It is just that there are other packs that provide a bit more power and are therefore more flexible.

Jun 30, 2009 at 07:51 AM

el_hoppy
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p.9 #20 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

Daan B wrote:
el_hoppy wrote:
That advice really applies to all shoots regardless of your lighting gear.

Of course... It is just that there are other packs that provide a bit more power and are therefore more flexible.

And speed lights have less power making the Quadra more flexible

Jun 30, 2009 at 07:58 AM

Daan B
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p.9 #21 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

el_hoppy wrote:
Daan B wrote:
el_hoppy wrote:
That advice really applies to all shoots regardless of your lighting gear.

Of course... It is just that there are other packs that provide a bit more power and are therefore more flexible.

And speed lights have less power making the Quadra more flexible

Sure... It seems that Elinchrom places the Quadra in between the Speedlights and Ranger RX packs. But if you own both Speedlights and a Ranger RX pack, I fail to see the attraction of the Quadra. For your particular shoot you could have easily taken the Ranger RX with you. At least, that is what I would have done. It is too easy to max out the Quadra under these conditions...

BTW Speedlights are even smaller/lighter than the Quadra

Jun 30, 2009 at 08:09 AM

el_hoppy
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p.9 #22 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

True I could have easily taken my Ranger, especially as we shot right where I parked the boat, so the weight and size savings were unimportant. But I am a gear head with a spending addiction and I wanted to play with my new toys

Jun 30, 2009 at 08:32 AM

Daan B
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p.9 #23 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

el_hoppy wrote:
True I could have easily taken my Ranger, especially as we shot right where I parked the boat, so the weight and size savings were unimportant. But I am a gear head with a spending addiction and I wanted to play with my new toys

Yep, I know what you are talking about

I will probably end up taking both the Quadra and Ranger on boat shoots which will give me the option of up to 4 heads or more realistically 2 fully asyncronisis lights. Before the Quadra came a long I was thinking (stupidly) of a 2nd Ranger but now that is not necessary. What I really want is the adapter so I can connect my RingFlash to the Quadra and use it as a fill light and the Ranger to power the key.

Yeah, I have though about this myself... Add another head for the Ranger RX or buy a Quadra for location work. The main advantage of the RX over the Quadra is of course weight/size savings. But I figured, once I have to take all that gear with me (Ranger + Quadra + heads + modifiers), this advantage will be long gone. The Ranger with two heads doesn't seem to be more cumbersome that way. Plus the Ranger RX will still give you 366 w/s on its B channel (when using two heads). The only thing is that I am tied to, is that I can't use two heads on the Ranger RX in an asynchronical manner. Here a Ranger RX + Quadra solution is more fflexible... Or just moving the strobes around in the case of 1 Ranger RX + 2 heads might work as well...

Jun 30, 2009 at 09:08 AM

el_hoppy
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p.9 #24 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

One thing I tried and quite liked was that I managed to fit the Quadra pack, 2 heads, cables, 1Dmk3, 24-70L & 70-200 f2.8L in my Peli 1510 case.

Beach, bikini and sunshine is perhaps not the best environment for the Quadra, but if you are shooting in an abandoned building or around the city at night etc.., then the Quadra has more than enough power and is more portable than the Ranger and has a modelling light for focusing which spped lights lack.

Jun 30, 2009 at 09:25 AM

evertdoorn
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p.9 #25 · Elinchrom Quadra - got it yet?

Daan, isn't it so that if you combine an A- and S-head on a symmetrical rx speed unit like the one you have, you get an assymetrical division anyway?

the dealer told me by the way that protective caps for the quadra heads are en route.

Jun 30, 2009 at 09:53 AM


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