When it comes to studio strobes I’ve pretty much standardized on Elinchrom gear. I like their lights, softboxes and Skyport Wireless System for controlling it all from the camera or your laptop. Of course the only problem with my 600RX Strobes is that they aren’t really meant to be used outside or in situations where you don’t have access to power. Sure I could get a big battery pack like this one that my buddy Scott Kelby likes, but I actually wanted to go in the other direction. I wanted to have a more portable lightweight setup. Don’t get me wrong, I use my speedlights too such as my SB800’s and SB900 (especially when I’m traveling by plane), but sometimes I want more.
The Elincrhom Ranger Quadra
I’ve been anxiously awaiting the Ranger Quadra kit. The Ranger series is Elinchrom’s battery operated lighting system. While the Ranger has always been cool, the Quadra kit raises the bar in portability! I was stunned by just how small this kit is. I bought the two head Pro S kit. They make two versions, the S and the A. The A is for, er um "speed" (don’t ask). Yep, the A kit is the faster of the two and would be better for fast moving stuff. Since I don’t shoot sports or fast moving objects, I went with the S Pro kit.
In this kit you get two S Pro heads with built-in Skyport receivers in the battery pack itself! YEAH! You get the battery pack, two batteries, power cable and a Skyport transmitter for your camera. The only thing that you don’t get in the kit itself is softboxes and light stands. Since I had to choose new lightboxes (my existing ones were too big), I wanted to replicate as close as possible what I had in studio. So I went with the smaller Octa shaped 39" softbox and one of the Strip Lightbank boxes. I already have several light stands so I didn’t buy any new ones.
You have no idea just how small the battery pack and strobes are until you’re holding them in your hands!
Putting the kit to the test
Yesterday was my first field test. I had a corporate shoot to do over at my friend’s business, Kearns Brothers, Inc. They wanted shots of each rep, plus some group shots for their website. Setting up the Quadra kit was a breeze. Also since it’s so light weight I could technically have traveled with lighter weight light stands. Each port on the battery pack can be configured to a different Skyport channel. This makes it real easy to control the output of the heads right from the Skyport trigger on my camera.
I used my popup Westcott Illuminator back drops and had no problems during the shoot.
Room for Improvement
There’s a lot to love with this kit! However, if I have to have one thing to complain about or hope they improve, it’s a simple thing. The cables from the strobes to the battery pack are just too short! If you’re using one strobe, it probably won’t be a problem because you just hang the battery pack right on your light stand and the one cable will be long enough. However, if you’re using two strobes plugged into the one battery pack, the cables just aren’t as long as I would like. This makes it harder to place the lights further apart from each other as you can see here:
Since the cables are totally detachable I’ll definitely be getting at least one longer cable so that I can put the lights further apart. Although the cables that ship with the kit are 8′ long each, there is a longer 11′ cable. While I wish that they were at least 15′ long, I’ll take 11′ over 8′ any day. Get two and you’ve added 6′ to the distance that they can be apart from each other.
The Bottom Line
Have lighting, will travel! I’m now equipped to travel and light just about anywhere that I would be shooting. I’m very pleased with the Ranger Quadra kit and it would be hard to go back to just using speedlights after using this system. The refresh time was great and the fact that it can work on battery power OR AC power is a huge plus! Two thumbs up!
My Gear Guide:
Elinchrom Ranger Quadra S Pro Kit with 2 Heads (you can get a one head kit if you only need one light)
2 Elinchrom EL-RQ adapter rings so that the bigger softboxes above would fit the Quadra heads.
Westcott Illuminator Backdrop (Black and White) and Stand
I did shoot tethered into Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 via Sofortbild on my MacBook Pro. See that setup here (older picture):
Bogen-Manfrotto Double Head Accessory Arm
CTG 5m Ultima USB 2.0 A-Style To Mini-B Cable
Bogen-Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod
Wow! What a cool blog…… informative , captivating, with fantastic pictures. Wow.
Sheree & I were talking about you & your family this morning. A great American success story of hard work, innovation, commitement & Family .
Mike
Great overview of the Ranger Quadra Terry, thanks. There is always confusion on the difference between S and A heads. Remember that this is Swiss made and English is not their first language. It may be easier to remember that “S” stands for standard flash duration for things like portraiture, still live, landscape photography. “A” stands for action for sports or anywhere else you have to stop fast action.
By the way, there is also a 5′ cable for people who want to put the battery pack on their shoulder and shoot. This really come in handy for photographers who have the Ranger Ring flash. There is an adapter cable to run Ranger heads from the Quadra. Imagine being able to roam an event with a Ringflash and portable battery pack! Also, can be daisy chained together, however, you lose one F-Stop each time you connect another cable.
Mark Astman
Product Lighting Manager
Bogen Imaging, Inc.
Thanks for your thoughts on this system Terry. I love how tiny this heads are! That softbox looks pretty darn cool as well.
So about the short cables. Is there an extension cord that will not kill a whole f-stop stop each time you daisy chain it? Thanks Terry!
thanks for including the links to your gear.
Nice review. I think I’d definitely want a separate battery for each light, based upon what you’ve described here. Not only to eliminate the cable length issue, but it seems that you’d need a different battery to vary the light output from each one.
Terry – really helpful – thanks. I wasn’t aware they could also run from the mains power which is a real bonus the amount I tend to shoot off in a longish session.
One question: presumably there is no way to run a third light light from teh system but would a speedlight or equivalent chime in OK does anyone think?
Cheers
Hi Terry; I just chatted with the main UK supplier and they say that the system can’t in fact run on AC – just battery – did you get different views or experience?
Cheers
CJ
Cambridge, I think there’s a slight breakdown in terminology here. Yes, the Quadra has to run off battery! However, the battery pack can be plugged into the AC at the same time and not run down during long shoots. So the battery pack would have to first be charged enough to power the Quadra lights, then from there it can be running off AC. Hope that helps.
Thank you so much for a great review. I bought the “A” heads although I rarely do fast moving subjects, They worked fine for me, although I wonder if there would have been a difference. After my first trial I bought one 11 inch cable, but your right, two would have been much better, and will certainly purchase another battery when finances allow it. I tried my Lastolight 24 Inch , but it seems way to heavy, thought I might brake the thing by tighting too much. The 14inch softbox they sell seems too small, and cant find a bigger one anywhere, although I read one exist. Guess Ill have to go Your route on that.
My Last test was a family shoot at one of our beaches (hawaii) a bit of wind so hard to put them in shade. I took the photos with the clear cap on, seemed better somehow, and more protection for the strobe. did a whole slew of test at 8ft with different power settings day before.
OK, making planes for Vegas to learn more from you , Mahalo (thank you)
I was wondering if years later you are happy with your decision in getting the “S” lights? Is there any advantage in using the “S” lights over the “A” lights for portrait work? Ready to order my set but having a hard time choosing the correct set.
Years later still happy with my choice. Since I’m not capturing anything moving I don’t have a need for the faster A Heads.