Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I am a professional photographer, and my studio is set up with Dynalite system. I have packs, heads, and a range of light modifiers. However, there are some cases where I want to have one or two heads far away from the pack and it makes sense to have monolights for those places. So, I bought this light for testing, after a few hours of product research online. Now, after a few weeks of commercial shoots, I'm thinking about buying a few more of these.
I shoot fashion, headshot, glamour and so forth, so fast recycling time is essential. This light's recycle time is not as fast as Dynalite but it's definitely good enough for me, especially because I tend to use this light for places where I don't need much power. I'm using it mostly in 12 to 50Ws output range, such as fill, hair light, and background light. I've not compared this side-by-side, but I think D-Lite 2 and 4 give about the same recycle time if you match the actual output power. Since I don't need more than 200Ws for the role I expect D-Lite 2 to play, D-Lite 2 is a better option. Now, I use all sorts of lighting tricks to make people look good, and often the light is on a boom arm. That means, I strongly prefer light weight heads (hence Dynalite over Profoto). Vast majority of monolights are inconvenient for me because they are heavy. I'd rather work with light heads, moderate counterweights, and fine tune by adjusting the placement. That's my style.
Most other monolights that I've used are too heavy to sit atop boom arms. More than half of the monolights I tried are too slow to recycle. Elinchrom D-Lite 2 is perfect for me, because it goes down to 12.5Ws, very lightweight for what it is, recycle charge is reasonably fast, and the quality of light is very good, with 1/10 stop control.
Now let's go over some of the negatives.
The head is flimsy, especially the bracket that attaches to the light stand stud, and umbrella shaft. Umbrella shaft must be 7mm diameter like other Elinchrom products, but the shaft is held in place by friction only. The sync terminal is 3.5mm phono jack, and not standard H or 6.5mm jack. These are minor inconvenience but livable, especially at such a low price. The bracket is flimsy but if you use it carefully in a studio, and don't set up and tear down often, or take to locations, it's probably ok and lasts long enough.
If you have to compete with available light, you might not like this lite. This flash requires 1/125 or longer exposure with all cameras, even if the camera's x-sync speed is 1/250 sec. This is because this flash fires with a small lag, regardless of the method of triggering the flash. If you are using it in dark studio as a fill or hair light, I think this is okay. But keep this limitation in mind.
The biggest problem is the crappy modeling light. There may be a cost limitation, or heat dissipating problem that precludes standard halogen bulb, but I'd rather have compact fluorescent or some other form of bulbs than this dim bulb of lower color temperature than halogen bulbs (btw compact fluorescent would have problem when you want to control the modeling light according to the flash output, but that's a different story...).
This light does not come with any reflector or modifier whatsoever, just like other Elinchrom heads. You need to buy them separately and attach via Elinchrom's proprietary bayonet system.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Elinchrom EL 20481 200Ws D-Lite 2 Multi-Voltage Compact Flash Unit
Unlike other entry-level studio flashes, the Elinchrom D-Lites are designed to work perfectly with digital cameras, are extremely lightweight with a sleek compact design and incorporate state-of-the-art features commonly found on higher priced units. In addition, the D-Lites offer amateurs and enthusiasts something that other budget priced studio flashes cant -- control. Digitally controlled, shooters can rest assured that each time the flash is fired the D-Lites will produce the same amount of light, at the same duration and at the same color temperature.
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