Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL To Go Set
A veritable Swiss Army knife of a flash kit
Lights, camera, action, and go! See what we think of this pro kit
Elinchrom is renowned for high-quality flash outfits, based on a no-compromise design ethic. Its recent location flash systems like the ELB 400 and ELB 1200 have come with three optional heads, optimised for maximum output, super-fast flash durations, or for use with rapid shutter speeds. The new ELB 500 combines all three options in a single flash head, as well as enabling you to run the complete portable kit from the mains while recharging.
Build and handling
The big difference between the new ELB 500 and previous Elinchrom flash kits is that it uses IGBT (Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor) technology. In this respect, it’s more similar to flashguns and recent competing location flash kits from the likes of Interfit, Phottix and Profoto. Elinchrom previously resisted IGBT because it felt there was too large a compromise in the quality of light, consistency of output on a shot-to-shot basis, and uniformity in colour temperature throughout the power range. The company claims that the ELB 500 delivers the advantages of IGBT, without any sacrifice in quality.
A popular bonus of IGBT is that it enables TTL (Through The Lens) flash metering. You can use the ELB 500 in fully automatic mode, without setting the power manually. You’ll need a dedicated flash trigger to enable this. Elinchrom’s Skyport trigger sells for around £210/$250 in either Canon or Nikon options. The Phottix Odin II TTL trigger (£160/$136) is also fully compatible,
True to Elinchrom’s claims, consistency and colour temperature remain excellent throughout the power range
and adds Sony to the list of options. A bonus of the Phottix trigger is that you can assign dual ELB 500 flash heads to separate groups, applying different amounts of TTL flash exposure bias.
When you run two flash heads from a single power pack, an advantage over previous Elinchrom ELB kits is that you can apply any combination of power settings, rather than being locked to a 67/33 ratio. The heads themselves are light and compact, yet enable the use of Elinchrom’s wide-ranging Q-series accessories, plus the full range of studio light shapers via an optional adaptor. Each head connects to the power pack via a heavy-duty 2.5m cable, and extension cables are also available.
The power pack is similarly compact and has a modest weight of 2.43kg. Typical of Elinchrom, the menu system is intuitive and is actually even quicker and easier to navigate than in previous location kits.
Performance
Switching to Action mode optimises the flash duration to be as short as possible, while still enabling the full range of flash power. At the minimum output setting, the flash duration is a mere 1/20,000 sec, while still enabling a Gn of 7.1 (ISO 100, metres), when using a standard reflector. Even the LED modelling lamp is sufficiently bright at its full-power setting to enable you to shoot at f/4, 1/60 sec at a distance of one metre and sensitivity setting of ISO 100.
Flash output remains impressive even in high-speed sync mode, for use with fast shutter speeds. Recycle speeds are instantaneous throughout the lower half of the power range and still very fast at high-power settings. You can switch to ‘Eco’ recycling mode which increases recycle times by about 50 per cent at high-power settings, but extends battery life before recharging is needed.
True to Elinchrom’s claims, consistency and colour temperature remain excellent throughout the power range. The quality of light from the LED modelling lamp is also excellent, making it useful for constant fill-in lighting as well as for shooting video. Matthew Richards