Elinchrom BXRi 250/500 Twin Flash Head Kit

Comments about Elinchrom BXRi 250/500 Twin Flash Head Kit:

I purchased this set to add to my existing Elinchrom lights, the main decision point was the integrated skyport. Not only does it trigger the strobe but you can also adjust the power from the transmitter which is really useful when a the strobe is 9ft up in the air on a boom, or actually anywhere that involves walking to. It's still not that common so some models think it's 'really cool'!

I can't justify the cost of RX units so this was the next best alternative. They arrived in a pretty beat up outer box but the packing is good and thick and within a few minutes they were up on the stands and I was ready to play. Being an existing Elinchrom user there was nothing to learn about the control panel although the frequency and group setup is not intuitive. Yes, I did have to read part of the manual but it only took a few minutes and unless your next door neighbour has a set on the same frequency you'll probably not have to do it again. It's worth keeping a copy of that paticular bit of the manual in your bag just in case.

The first thing you notice is that they aren't BX units with skyport built in. They're not at all bad but against a BX400 they feel less solid. They're nicer build quality than D-Lites but I think these are also built in India so aren't chunks of solid Swiss engineering. Everything works, and works well and they've been used on a number of shoots already and do the job they were intended for. The auto fan is quite nifty and although I never found the fans in my other units intrusive it is quite nice to have periods of quiet. If you have music on it makes no odds though.

Light quality is excellent and no different to other Elinchrom strobes and the stands are nice and robust. The storage bag is useful and offers reasonable protection although I use it to store reflectors, honeycombs and brollies in as I've got more robust bags for heads. The supplied softboxes are the usual Prolinica units, difficult to assemble, a bit too small to be hugely useful and lacking an internal diffuser which gives them a bit of a hot spot. I've already got a good selection of Elinchrom Rotalux and Interfit soft boxes so they've stayed in their packaging. This is the weakest part of the kit and you should invest in better modifiers as soon as you can.

In general I'm very happy with them, they work well and the built in skyport is very useful, it does save a lot of hassle. The lowest setting on the 500 is too powerful to use close to the subject at F8 ISO200 on headshots unless it's a very big softbox and I usually have to fit a silver reflector in the brolly tube to damp it down a little and shoot F11. Great for larger groups or if using dense gels though. I'll probably look to pick up another BXRi250 unit fairly soon.

Comments about Elinchrom BXRi 250/500 Twin Flash Head Kit:

Well ...out of the box and working! we had watched the DVD expaining everything before we purchased, and then out of the box and taking pictures,

Yes very simple! I would recomend buying the DVD, also the sekonic light meter as this backed up what you were seeing. I think the built in skyport is excellent with no messy cables, also you can reduce the power of the flash from the camera (via the skyport). I would like to see a third head as standard but that's me. If you are wondering about this kit, just buy it ...u wont be disappointed, it's digital so precise calibration and it will last without the need for an upgade.

Mike

Comments about Elinchrom BXRi 250/500 Twin Flash Head Kit:

Great kit with excellent lighting contol. The Skyport system is excellent - no reaching for the controls on the back of the heads. Both the heads and the modelling lights can be set from the Skyport unit on or off the camera hotshoe. This is a real boon. The softbox build quality is OK and the metal parts are pretty industrial. However, the design of the softboxes is not very good as it suffers from the necessity of having to fit into the compact carrying case for the heads. When puting the softboxes together it would be easy to puncture the cover at the mounting ring with the support rods unless extreme care is taken. The carrying case for the heads is good, with semi hard half shells. The 250w/500w combination is a good one.