i am on the way purchasing an elinchrom ranger rx as speed but i have a few questions left about the elinchrom reflectors. currently i have the standard 21cm reflectors that i use with and without grids. these have a covering angle of 50°. elinchrom also offers the more expensive and larger reflectors:
High Performance Reflector 26 cm 48°
Maxi Lite Reflector 40 cm 43°
Maxi Spot Reflector 40 cm 29°
what is the difference between the high-performance, the max-lite and the standard 21 reflector? they all covere merely the same angle 43-50°, and how does the high-performance reflector manage to get one stop more light out? could anyone (especially caemen and shatterkiss maybe?) also explain the different light-caracteristics produced, please!?
Have you by instance looked at the brochures at Elinchrom > downloads > guides? Some applications are shown there.
The main distinction is in the parabolic shapes. The (in theory) ideal parabola aligns all the light to a parallel beam without straylight.
The deep High Perf. conus collects the beam to a wide throw where pretty little stray light escapes sidely. Maxi Lite / Spot have the same parabola but different inner surface treatment, hence the Spot achieves a narrower 29° beam with ultra low straylight by it's highy polished aluminum. Though the core beam of the standard 21 spreads at 50° there is by far more straylight emitted.
cheers, Peter
ya, i saw those pathetic illumination images on the elinchrom website. iīd rather hear some reports from actual users how the different reflectors perform, i donīt believe in marketing bla-bla.
Dergiman wrote:
ya, i saw those pathetic illumination images on the elinchrom website. iīd rather hear some reports from actual users how the different reflectors perform, i donīt believe in marketing bla-bla.
How do you figure that to be "marketing bla-bla"?? You can clearly see the illumination pattern for each reflector. As to how each reflector performs, it depends on what you want to do with it. All Elinchrom accessories tend to perform well when used by skilled photographers...
rudiphoto wrote:
How do you figure that to be "marketing bla-bla"?? You can clearly see the illumination pattern for each reflector. As to how each reflector performs, it depends on what you want to do with it. All Elinchrom accessories tend to perform well when used by skilled photographers...
are we talking about the same images? those where they put a strobe next to a white wall? thatīs not the way i usually light anything nor do i see a large differnce between the images.
The maxi reflectors are a lot deeper. You'll have a lot less stray light leaving the head and much more of it will be focused toward your subject. If you're shooting sporting events it is ideal. If shooting portraits of any kind I would recommend looking at other modifiers. Both will look almost identical, very close to a bare bulb. From far away the maxi reflector will have a more focused beam and the regular reflector will look more like a broad flood light.
received the package yesterday. the performance of the ranger is impressive. i took some pictures with the maxi lite and with a standard reflector. the maxi lite will go back, i couldnīt see much difference except that the maxi has a harder edge and that the standard reflector features more pronounced highlights and somewhat harder shadows ( i had to look really close to see that, but the difference is there).
I have the Maxi Spot Reflector 40 cm 29°. I don't like it because it gives very strong, uneven beam with hotspot at the center due to the shiny silver interior. It is only useful for throwing maximum power of light at a long distance or bouncing light to ceiling or walls.
If you want more even beam, you will need to tape diffusion frost on the front.
The Maxi lite reflector probably has more even beam.
