Itīs not only the power difference.
Itīs like working with a tamron lens and changing to an L lens, the tamron will be ok but the L is just better.
- The quadra bare reflector gives much better light and softer edges than a bare speedlite.
- Recicling time is much faster, when batteries are not at full charge with the speedlite, recicles begin to go desesperately anoing.
- Use any softbox or other modifiers and you already have 360š light output with the quadra.
- Battery will last longer
AND it is much more powerfull than a sb-800, not to say you cant do very nice pic in the sun with the sb but the ranger is at least 1,5/2 stops stronger.
It can also be used in studio, plugged all time with any elinchrom accesories.
And donīt forget remote manual control.. too good
I think itīs a great unit to be combined with speedlites, 2 speedīs and a quadra with 2 head is just ultra light.
I agree with Gordon. This should be at least x2 more powerful than a hotshoe flash from Nikon/Canon. And with a different reflector, you might be able to gain > +1 stop if not more. And I'm not sure if they were using the Quadra at full power on those shoot. I noticed that they were using 2 heads on one battery pack, which would render one head at 66% max power. I think you can easily underexpose a sunny background by 1 stop with 1 head attached to the Quadra battery and positioning your light close to the subject.
In any case, for somebody like me who do 90% indoors/10% outdoor shooting ratio, the Quadra fills that niche nicely.
Gordonmac wrote:
Before you all write it off on the basis of looking at someone elses videos of a shoot online, I suggest you try the Quadra for yourselves.
I've shot with it on a beach in full sun with white cliffs behind for extra brightness as an extreme test, and still overpowered the sun at half power to produce a deep blue sky.
The trick to all of this with a lower power unit like the Quadra is of course to shoot backlit by the sun. But then who on earth would want to shoot front lit anyway...? The shots I did on a beach were at 12 noon at beachy head in the UK. The sun was measuring F16 (which you can match with a bear headed quadra at about 6 ft at full power if you really wanted to) but the shadow side (which is what i had to beat with the Quadra) was at F5.6. I was easily able to get F8 or F11 out of the unit with a Lastolite Easybox hotshoe soft box attached at about 4ft just out of frame. So any other shadow detail in the background was at least a stop under the camera exposure, and because the sun is backlighting the whole scene, any background lit by full sun had a backlight kick look to it anyway. So the overall effect, which is what we are looking for, was an underexposed beach behind the subject.
www.gordonsegrove.com , portrait section, third photo in.
Gordonmac wrote:
The trick to all of this with a lower power unit like the Quadra is of course to shoot backlit by the sun. But then who on earth would want to shoot front lit anyway...? The shots I did on a beach were at 12 noon at beachy head in the UK. The sun was measuring F16 (which you can match with a bear headed quadra at about 6 ft at full power if you really wanted to) but the shadow side (which is what i had to beat with the Quadra) was at F5.6. I was easily able to get F8 or F11 out of the unit with a Lastolite Easybox hotshoe soft box attached at about 4ft just out of frame. So any other shadow detail in the background was at least a stop under the camera exposure, and because the sun is backlighting the whole scene, any background lit by full sun had a backlight kick look to it anyway. So the overall effect, which is what we are looking for, was an underexposed beach behind the subject.
www.gordonsegrove.com , portrait section, third photo in....Show more →
What you did with the Quadra on the beach i do every day and more with my two SB800s side by side.
You are shooting 4 to 6 feet away that is no problem for my two head flash system.
I use batterys i made that cost less then $30 each and my recycle time is fast around 2 seconds as i have both SB800s set to only 1 1/2 power.
If i went full power i could over power the Quadra i think.
I shoot family portraits on the beach almost everyday all summer. Getting ready to out agen today. We have 16 days in a row shooting on the beach then one day off then ten more days.
It is like this all summer every year.
My SB800s cost less and my batterys are super lite and i can carry the full setup with stand in one hand.
I use Lumaquest mini soft boxs on each flash if i take them off i get even more light Power.
I still might end up with the Ranger i have the new ABmAX 640 Watt on order and if it is not going to be as strong as i want i will then have to get the Ranger.
I want to start offering a mid day session around 3 or 4 PM and i will need to hit F16 at 12 feet with a BD on it i could live with F14 if i had to..
digitaled wrote:
What you did with the Quadra on the beach i do every day and more with my two SB800s side by side.
You are shooting 4 to 6 feet away that is no problem for my two head flash system.
I use batterys i made that cost less then $30 each and my recycle time is fast around 2 seconds as i have both SB800s set to only 1 1/2 power.
If i went full power i could over power the Quadra i think.
I shoot family portraits on the beach almost everyday all summer. Getting ready to out agen today. We have 16 days in a row shooting on the beach then one day off then ten more days.
It is like this all summer every year.
My SB800s cost less and my batterys are super lite and i can carry the full setup with stand in one hand.
I use Lumaquest mini soft boxs on each flash if i take them off i get even more light Power.
I still might end up with the Ranger i have the new ABmAX 640 Watt on order and if it is not going to be as strong as i want i will then have to get the Ranger.
I want to start offering a mid day session around 3 or 4 PM and i will need to hit F16 at 12 feet with a BD on it i could live with F14 if i had to.. ...Show more →
It seems you will be better suited going straight to the Ranger instead of dabbling with the ABMax.
No doubt the power of the Quadras, though higher than the 580/sb900, is not "THAT" high to be considered significant, but you have to acknowledge the added benefits (RX Skyport built in, changing power without walking back and forth to the heads, elinchrom modifiers) are just some of the key advanatages compared to the speedlights.
.....and while we are on the subject, maybe you can share tips on how you made a $30 battery for your speedlights??
Don't forget that the Quadra photos we have seen so far are with the standard reflector which looks to have a very wide spread of light. Once the 18cm reflector is available we should see it doing even better against the sunlight, much better than any 580ex/sb800 can do, plus once the adapter is available then there will be a large range of modifiers available although with the Quadra they will be better suited to a lower ambient light environment.
I have no doubt that the Quadra will be a good jump from speedlights. Whether they suit everyones needs is another matter, but EL has the Ranger if the Quadra is not enough.
I have the Ranger and think I will get the Quadra as well. Besides the times when I will not need the Ranger power (or weight) I can see the Quadra working with the Ranger acting as and independent fill/rim light or even powering my ringflash.
digitaled wrote:
What you did with the Quadra on the beach i do every day and more with my two SB800s side by side.
Every day and more eh?....
I also use speedlites (on a beach) and the quality of the light is not even similar in terms of spread, quality and coverage compared to the Quadra. I took the plunge and have been amazed at the increased possiblities vs my speedlites, particularly as its so portable.
Its not all about the power.
digitaled wrote:
my batterys are super lite and i can carry the full setup with stand in one hand.
You can do this with the quadra as well - its ridiculously light at 3kg, even when im used to a stand with a speedlite and softbox
All I would say to anyone is until youve used this little beauty, dont dismiss it on technicalities. You might be pleasantly surprised
can someone clarify a second shoe flash i.e. SB 800 at full power only added 1/2 stop, NOT a full stop of power output.
Elinchrom is not reinventing the wheel, I have been waiting for the Quadra for six years. During that time I have used Vivitar 823, Quantum T2, SB800, 550EX and Ranger RX AS.
I have no doubt Elinchrom Quadra will sell like hot cakes. Quadra is an industrial unit, I don't have to worry about burning the tube.
FYI Quantum T2 reflector diameter is almost the identical to the Elinchrom Quadra reflector. Do a simple test and check out the spread of light. (Quadra covers a wider area). One last word, I will not go back to the shoe flash or T2 alone.
In this test the speedlite is said to be 100w equivalent, BUT that is at itīs 28mm setting to get the same spread as the quadra.
With the modifier i use i can use it at 105mm setting with good spread of light so difference in power is greatly reduced, anyway, extra power and great usability make the quadra a no brainer for a portable setup with great quality for me.
Also, i always see people talking about having enormous amount of flash power to fight against the sun, but most donīt care that even a slight help in your max x-sync is lots of "free power" and weight saved.
I mean, one guy with a RX600 strobe and a 5D at 1/160 (max with the skyports if you dont want any shadow from the curtain).
Now another guy with the quadra and a 1D3 at 1/320.
Well the one with the quadra is having more usable power against the sun.
I even talked to a guy with a compact (G10 maybe, donīt remember), he told me he could sync at 1/4000 (electronic shutter) and overpower the sun with just a speedlite very easily.
Ok he wont get the short DOF from a DSLR but there are also DSLRīs like D40 with electronic shutter that can syncro very high.
For some people it may be worth getting one just for very hard ambient shots instead of buying (and carrying) thousands of watts to the beach.
I thought I read that the price was going to be around $1700 US. For my situation I think I could justify the Quadra if the price was lower. I think it would be very useful to have 2-3 of them or 2 and a couple of extra heads. 1-2 working with my full sized Ranger would be great.
I have been using this battery for almost 4 years now one for each flash and it still works 100% we shoot around 150 sessions a year with it on location.
I use dummy batterys in the SB800s with a wire running out to the battery it is very lite and recyles fast. I can shoot a full 8 hour wedding and still have power left over.
This is my flash set up.
This show the two SB800s with radio poppers and one of the batterys.
Here they are on a two head mount.
Older RPs that i had made a custom outside battery holder for so i could change the batterys more easy. I have the new ones now and do not need that.
Also wanted to say i do have two D40s and have shot with them and yes you can use the shutter speed to make the flash work better but i like the larger FF files from my D3 and D700 now days.
The D40 is fantastic on the beach for beach weddings as a second camera with a 70-300VR on it in good light.
Isnt it curious how a thread that was asking for people's experience with the new Quadra, turns into a thread where people try to justify their current gear!
What sold the Quadra to me was the weight vs light quality.
One Quadra head weighs about 300g. A speedlite weighs about 500g.
When shooting on a 2 speedlite rig with a softbox I would have to use a small 2.5kg sandbag.
So a 300g Quadra head + 3kg powerpack (used as a sandbag!) or 2x 500g speedlites + 2.5kg sandbag......?
What I'm saying here is that the Quadra apart from providing superior light quality is in fact no heavier than a speedlite setup. Thats what sold it to me after trying it out.
