Portrait, Fashion and Glamour Model Photography, Lighting Techniques, Workshops & Teaching
The ELB 500 TTL – My experience with the new Elinchrom Flash
This post is also available in:
Dutch
Elinchrom just released their new flagship: the ELB 500 TTL. A new portable flash unit, to create absolutely stunning photographs. To me it’s just like a dream come true, and in this article I’ll explain why.
Disclaimer: I’m not getting paid to write this article. I think I have the most beautiful job in the world and I want to spread my enthusiasm, to make our world a better place by sharing my experience, knowledge and measurements. Just take the information to your advantage and be happy to live in such an exciting time period.
Why am I using a flash with portrait photography?
A flash enables me to accentuate the facial features of my model. It enables me to create beautiful jawlines and I can make the face and body to appear taller or wider by modifying the kind and angle of the flash light.
It also means that the better the quality of the flash light is, the sharper the pictures will be. In studio setting the effect will be more pronounced than buying the best glass: the shorter the flash pulse and/or the camera shutter time, the sharper the image.
With a good flash I can obtain a way better color rendition. Skin colors are spot-on, colors on the clothes are vivid and natural and color casts are gone, without the need of Photoshop.
When my model is in front of a beautiful landscape I can use flash to illuminate my model and I can adjust the camera exposure to darken the landscape. That way, the sky can be absolutely perfect blue and the landscape will be extra saturated, pushing those vivid colors to the viewer without the need of Photoshop.
In addition can the flash give the model a beautiful highlight into the eyes. This enables the model to communicate and to attract the viewer. I don’t like “dead eyes”, I want them to sparkle.
What makes the ELB 500 TTL a must-have to me?
The new Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL hanging in the Elinchrom Snappy on a Manfrotto stand
I’ve been waiting for a game changer in the world of flash light since 2006. I had some special wishes, because I wanted to have sharp pictures with perfect colors, with beautiful blurry backgrounds and captured at exactly the right moments: when I press the shutter.
But often I have to carry a lot of heavy equipment with me and I’m with 1m68 not that tall, so I needed to have a lightweight and portable solution. A solution which I can put on a tripod in high winds, without having to worry about it falling down because of the top weight.
The unit had to be powerful so I could work against bright sunlight, and it had to have a certain mode so I could use it during events in the field: TTL, so I could put my camera on semi-auto (Aperture Priority mode for example) without the need to worry about using my Sekonic light meter to measure the exposure of my subjects: on festivals and live events not practical of course.
In the past couple of years I have done a lot of investigation about my wishes and choosing the best flash light. But there wasn’t any flash which could deliver what I wanted. So I decided to test and measure the light quality of a lot of different brands for flash duration (shorter = sharper pictures), color accuracy (the better the spectrum, the better the skin tones for example) and I was also testing the light modifiers. Elinchrom became the brand-to-go for me, because they did something unique with the quality of their flash light, which I will describe later on in this article.
In 2009 Elinchrom released their Quadra unit: a small portable flash unit with a beautiful quality of light. In 2015 Elinchrom released the ELB 400 with an even better quality of light and new functionalities. But unfortunately it still didn’t fulfill all of my wishes unfortunately. Here they are:
- The unit has to be portable. I’m with 1m68 not that tall and I’m carrying a lot of heavy equipment already.
- Weight? Fine, but not on top of the tripod. I want to have a small lightweight lamp head on the top of the tripod and the heavier unit more to the bottom, so I can use it better on mountains and windy situations without problems.
- It has to be powerful: I want to overpower the sun, to create blue skies and to use a lot of different modifiers and color gels to create mood.
- It needs TTL: I want to use the unit at events and festivals to make great portraits, but I need to have the camera on semi-auto (Aperture Priority mode for example) to capture the moments. The flash then has to fill in the right exposure automatically.
- It needs to have HS (Hi-Sync) or HSS (High Speed Sync) so I can use short shutter timings and larger apertures, to create beautiful blurry backgrounds while using flash, without the need of ND-filters in front of the lens.
- I also want to be able to use the flash in my studio, as an extra light. It would be great to use it on mains electricity too, so I don’t need to worry about battery capacity.
- It needs at least 2 connections for the lamps, so I can use one as the main light from the front, and another as hair light from the back or as fill light. I want to be able to adjust those 2 lights precisely.
- I want to freeze motion during movement of my model, so the unit needs a short flash duration or enabling me to work with short shutter speeds.
- The system needs a good modeling light. I use that to see how the light interacts with my model, I use it for a better autofocus in difficult situations and, most importantly, my makeup artists love to use it to do the makeup, because the “what you see is what you get” effect. And in the future I want to do more with video so that would be great to use.
- The unit has to recharge fast: during fashion work I sometimes need to capture the moment, making 2 photos a second.
- The unit just “has to work”. I don’t want to focus myself on my equipment, I want to focus myself on my model.
But today the time has come. Elinchrom created my dream portable flash unit: in my opinion the flash unit that fits me the best. It has all of the above points and more:
- It has 500 watts (500W/s)! So it’s more than 10x more powerful than a Speedlite or other on-camera flash.
- I don’t need a new trigger: my current trigger, the Skyport HS, works with it after a software update. The Skyport HS then becomes a Transmitter Pro.
- It has that unique Elinchrom distribution of light. The angle of light performs miracles with the Elinchrom and Mola light modifiers. The central umbrella mount delivers even more symmetry to the light, and enables me to use deflectors for extra diffusion or an extra effect to warm up the light.
- The ELB 400 has 3 types of heads: the Action Head, the HS Head and the Pro Head. This new ELB 500 TTL has only one type of head because that can deliver all the goods: the ELB 500 Head. This simplifies my workflow even more.
- It has a big screen with a beautiful menu and easy navigation. Sometimes I’m in a lot of stress because of tight time schedules, and a good menu navigation is key.
But, is this really something new? TTL has existed for a long time, hasn’t it?
Yes, TTL (through the lens metering) has existed since 1960 and the first TTL light metering SLR was the 1963 Topcon RE Super. TTL enables the flash to auto adjust the flash exposure while taking the photo by measuring it through the lens, enabling me to work more efficient during events and festivals.
But it’s not only TTL, I was in need of a combination of other features: a high degree of color consistency, image sharpness and power. And it must not be top-heavy. Currently the ELB 500 TTL is the only light that gives me that combination, with a lot of other advantages.
It’s easy to use, it recharges quick in-between flashes, it delivers a lot of power, it’s small and it’s portable and all of that combined with TTL. I can’t wait to take it to some special locations, with some beautiful models, beautiful weather and happiness.
Portability
The ELB 500 TTL weighs about 1.7 kg (3.83 lbs) and the battery weighs about 0.73 kg (1.60 lbs). It’s easy to carry and the snappy makes carrying even more comfortable. The unit with battery attached measures to 16 x 9 x 18 cm (6 x 4 x 7 inches), so it fits perfectly in the carry-on luggage too.
Powerful
It has a flash capacity of 500 Ws/J. That’s a lot, allowing me to overpower the sun without problems, creating dark skies and beautifully lit subjects at every time during the day. When I connect the ELB 500 Head and turn it to maximum power on normal mode, I am measuring an exposure of a whopping f/64 on ISO 100 on my Sekonic L-858D light meter – om 1m distance through the 48º reflector. That’s almost skin-burning (I can actually feel the energy of that flash pulse). It’s > 10x more powerful than the most powerful Canon Speedlite flashes.
And, important, it delivers a lot of flashes on one battery charge. It charges the battery to 90% in 100 minutes. After that it will do slower trickle charging to 100%. This enables me to get more than 400 flashes on maximum power and almost 30000 flashes at minimum power. That’s more than I can capture at one day of shooting, but I think I’ll buy another spare battery in the future if I need to go to cold locations for several days, or to locations without good mains power. The battery doesn’t suffer from the well-known memory effect and it also has protection systems against things which always can go wrong with batteries, to get the most out of it. Elinchrom also improved their battery locking mechanism even more.
HS (Hi-Sync) and HSS (High Speed Sync)
Every regular camera has an X-Sync speed. This is unique to the type/model of the camera and the value of it is mentioned in the manual of the camera. Modern cameras with a small sensor usually have an X-Sync speed of 1/250s and cameras with a full frame sensor have usually an X-Sync speed of 1/200s. Medium format cameras with leaf shutter lenses have X-Sync speeds up to 1/1600s.
With a simple flash unit without HSS (or other equivalents) it’s not possible to use the flash with that camera on shutter speeds shorter than that X-Sync speed. It’s a technical limitation because of the speed of the movement of the internal camera shutter blades. So, if I want to use my 85mm f/1.2 lens outside in the sun, to photograph a model against a beautiful blurry dreamy background at f/1.2, it’s impossible to do (without the use of an ND-filter), because I need a shutter speed of something like 1/4000s: way too short to combine with a normal flash. I need something different: a flash with HS and/or HSS functionality.
HS lets the flash give a very long flash pulse, to the camera it looks like a continuous light so the camera can capture it without problems. And HSS lets the flash give a long series of very short pulses, with to the camera almost the same effect. Usually HS is a more efficient way, more powerful, but it can give a gradient in the image. But Elinchrom has made HSS as powerful as their HS, currently the most powerful HSS on the market, so HSS will be the way to go now. And there’s no need to think and worry about X-Sync speeds anymore because the Transmitter Pro trigger does the switching automatically.
Asymmetrical use: two connections
Combining multiple Elinchrom flashes: the ELB 400, the ELB 500 TTL with port A and the ELB 500 TTL with port B
The flash unit has two ports: A and B. It’s possible to adjust the power of port A and B to 1/10 of a stop, independently. So I can give my main light 80% of the power ad my fill light 20% of the power, for example. That’s neat, because the old units (the ELB 400 and other Quadra units) only have the possibility to deliver the power with a ratio of 66%/33%. And both of the ports deliver the same flash durations too, so I will always obtain maximum sharpness without having to worry about which port to use with which Head.
The unit also works together with the Phottix Odin II triggers. And if I configure the ELB 500 TTL for use with the Odin II trigger I can also assign a separate group to a separate port, for example the Odin Group 1 to port A and the Odin Group 2 to port B. This lets me control the output of port A and B independently from each other, straight from the top of the camera.
The ELB 500 Head
It’s nice! It feels even more solid than the previous generation, although that wasn’t bad either. It’s lightweight, sturdy and sweet. There’s no more connector at the back, the cord is fixed immediately to the Head. I think this will deliver better protection against weather conditions and no more need for fiddling with that screw connection which sometimes slightly annoyed me when I was in a hurry.
And, the ELB 500 Head also fits to the ELB 400! It has the same connector and because of that, extension cables also work, I’ve tested it with a 10m extension cable and it worked absolutely fine. Of course the ELB 500 Head will give only 400 W/s of output then, because the ELB 400 can deliver a maximum of 400 W/s.
I measured the (T0.5) flash durations of the ELB 500 Head connected to the ELB 400.
A-port, power 6.0 (max): 1/1560s, power 1.7 (min): 1/850s.
B-port, power 4.4 (max): 1/2660s, power 0.1 (min): 1/2040s.
The flash durations of the ELB 500 Head connected to the ELB 500 TTL unit will be in this chart soon. They are different because of the special HSS pulse the new unit delivers.
Menu navigation
The new screen is huge and bright. It’s a pleasure to use, with good navigation and pressing down the rotation knob will take me into the sub menus and accept values. The background color can be black or white, depending on how I feel that day. 😉
The color at the top of the menu changes with the assigned group number of the unit, so it’s easier to tell apart the units while using multiple of them in multiple groups. I only had one minor issue with one color: white text on a light blue color can be more difficult to read in certain situations, but only while using the dark background. So if I select the white background, all is fine. But I can always control the unit remotely through the computer software, or with my iPhone, with my Sekonic light meter or with my Transmitter Pro trigger on top of the camera.
Triggering
When I take a picture, the camera has to tell the flash to fire. That’s called triggering: the camera has to trigger the flash. Many years ago the only possibility to trigger a flash was using a cord between the flash and the camera. This is still possible, the ELB 500 TTL still has a flash trigger socket. It’s a 3.5 mm port with a sync voltage of 5 volts. It’s safe to use with very old flashes which are using a high voltage too.
After some years optical triggers came: a photo sensitive sensor, which delivers a pulse to a secondary flash when it sees a flash from another flash unit. The ELB 500 TTL also has a sensor for that, at the top of the unit. This enables the unit to act as a slave unit, so it will flash automatically along with other flash units. With Elinchrom units it’s even possible to adjust the sensor to ignore pre-flashes, being able to let it fire at exactly the right moment. The optical triggering distance with the ELB 500 TTL is 15m indoors and 10m outdoors within line of sight.
And then there’s the wireless radio triggering system: Skyport. There are also other wireless radio triggering systems like PocketWizard and Cactus, but I’ve got the best experience with Skyport because of the reliability and range: I’ve used it over several hundreds of meters outside (on normal sync mode). Inside the ELB 500 TTL there’s a Skyport receiver unit and on the camera I’m using the Elinchrom Transmitter Pro (the same as the EL-Skyport HS, but Elinchrom Transmitter Pro is the new name as of today with software version => 2.10).
The Skyport protocol has 20 different frequency channels and 4 groups.
It’s also possible to use the Phottix Odin II radio triggering system. This enables dividing the A and B sockets of the unit to separate groups and TTL also works.
Combining existing TTL Speedlites
Some of my students were still using on camera flashes: Speedlites. The world of professional larger flashes was too inaccessible and difficult for them, and they knew their Speedlites. Now I can finally bring them the good news: this new Elinchrom unit works just like a Speedlite, since it also has TTL. But it also has more than 10 times more power, a more even and more consistent light quality, a huge combination of light modifiers to enable hundreds of creative options and it recycles much faster than a Speedlite. It also delivers more flashes per charge, and it can be charged while shooting. It has more power for the weight, I like the user interface more and.. it works together with existing Speedlites. Yes, that’s right! Through the Phottix Odin II system. No need to throw the old Speedlites away, they can work together beautifully as secondary lights and also in TTL mode.
Color reproduction
There’s a lot of difference in the quality of the colors among different brands of flashes. And it’s not all about white balance: what’s not there cannot be reproduced. Think about the orange colored street lights: a person wearing a green jacket will look as having a dark grey jacket and it’s impossible to recover the green of the jacket: it’s simply not there, because the orange lights were only emitting light in the orange part of the color spectrum.
The same counts for flash lights: some of them emit more of the blue spectrum, causing more difficulties with reproducing red colors. Human skin tones can contain lots of delicate red tints, but certain types of flashes are less good within that part of the spectrum.
Inside every flash light there’s one or more large capacitors. After charging the capacitor discharges into the flash tube.
But we want to be able to adjust the power of the flash – how can we do that? Two ways: by raising or lowering the capacitor charge voltage, or by cutting off the power from the capacitor to the flash tube during the flash.
A flash starts with blue during the max voltage of the flash pulse, and as soon as the voltage from the capacitors lowers at the end of the flash, the flash emits the red tones of the color spectrum. But we want sharp photos so we need short flash pulses: Elinchrom has applied a special kind of gas combination inside their Action flash tubes so the flash will be short while emitting the full spectrum of colors.
Other brands were using the second principle: immediately cutting off the power during the flash. This also delivers short pulses and sharp results, but that’s less efficient and.. it doesn’t emit the red part of the spectrum that faithfully, resulting in different less natural skin colors.
Unfortunately, to apply TTL we need to cut off the power during the flash. That’s one of the principles of TTL. But Elinchrom did something new (to me), by modulating the flash pulse to emit all the parts of the color spectrum as evenly as possible. They confirmed it’s IGBT but with a twist. So now with the ELB 500 TTL we have the best of both worlds.. TTL, HSS, short flash pulses and a faithful high quality reproduction of all the colors. No more compromises.
Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL Spectral Distribution
Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL Color Rendering
Modelling lamp (LED)
Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL Modelling Lamp Measurements
Inside every Elinchrom flash head there’s a second light: the modelling lamp. This enables me to see how the light shapes the face of the model and how my lights are positioned. It also helps the makeup artist and stylist to make corrections because the result is immediately visible with the right light shaping like the final picture.
The modelling lamp is also useful with video. It emits a beautiful light, and the color reproduction of modelling lamp of the ELB 500 Head is even better than that of the ELB 400. The ELB 400 modelling lamp didn’t emit the red spectrum – it has a low CRI/Ra. So it was less suitable for good makeup evaluation and for video with delicate skin tones. While balance cannot change that, because those red tones simply weren’t there in the image.
But the ELB 500 Head renders also the red tints faithfully and consistent. It’s an ultra bright 14W daylight power LED with timer, free, prop and VFC options – equivalent to a 75W halogen lamp. It’s adjustable in 40 steps (4 stops), from a power level of 2.3 to 6.3.
Flash durations
The shorter the flash duration, the sharper the picture. I’ve written a big article about it already, so I’m not going to repeat it here. But the ELB 500 TTL has some very good flash durations, especially in Action mode and on low to medium power. I have also updated that article with this new product already so you can compare the results, but here are the measurements standalone.
The shapes of the ELB 500 TTL flash pulse, measured with the Sekonic L-858D
My simple workflow
When I’m working outside the ELB 500 TTL makes it very simple and efficient for me to use. First of all (with my model standing with her face in the shadow) I measure the ambient light, pointing the light meter to the direction of the light source (the sun, or the clouds on an overcast day). Usually I do that with a light meter as the Sekonic L-858D, but in a creative process it’s also possible to do it on-camera with Live View for example. Then I dial in that exposure onto the camera. When I take a picture the surroundings and landscape will be dark, smooth and beautifully saturated. My model will be too dark then of course, so I will point the flash to her and I will set the trigger on my camera to TTL mode by pressing the button on the left. For people with dark skin and/or dark clothes I will dial in -1 to -2 stops of exposure compensation on my trigger and for people with Caucasian skin I will dial in half a stop or more than that if the model wears bright clothes.
There’s an even faster way though! Perfect for festival and events photography for example.
First of all (with my model standing with her face in the shadow) I will put the camera to aperture priority mode (Av on Canon for example) and I’ll choose the lens aperture I want, f/1.2 for example. Then I will point the flash to the model and turn it on, with the trigger on my camera to TTL mode and I take a test picture.
Is the ambient light (landscape, surroundings) too dark? Then I dial in more exposure compensation on my camera. Too bright? Less exposure compensation on my camera.
Is the subject too dark? Then I dial in more flash compensation on my trigger. And too bright? Then less on the trigger.
So, with TTL it’s actually very simple: the exposure compensation on the camera controls the ambient light in aperture priority mode and the flash exposure compensation on the trigger controls the exposure of my subject.
Other things I want you to know
If I want to see how the direction of the light is interacting with my model or if I am pointing the light at the right angle, I use the modelling light. I enable it via the Mod button on the trigger at the camera, or by pressing the button at the ELB 500 TTL unit itself.
After taking a shot on TTL I can press the Manual button on the trigger. The ELB 500 TTL remembers the last TTL power value and takes that as manual value. Very handy because then I have already a good starting point.
There’s a possibility to use the modelling light or the flash light as a focus aid. That works great, but the Elinchrom Transmitter Pro also has an AF Assist (red light) to do the same. That works as well and it saves even more battery power.
The ELB 500 Head connected to the Mola Setti through the Mola Elinchrom adapter and the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra Reflector Adapter MK-II
My favorite modifier to use on location as main (key) light is the Elinchrom Deep Octa ø100cm. It’s portable, lightweight and relatively easy and quick to setup.
When I have more time and people around me to carry stuff, then I like to use the Mola Setti with Elinchrom mount and Elinchrom Quadra adapter so I can fit the ELB 500 Head to it. The Mola Setti gives a beautiful and special kind of light, even more remarkable than the already great Elinchrom Deep Octa.
But the quickest to setup is an Elinchrom Deep Umbrella. And the light quality of the Deep Umbrella can be great too.
It’s easy to see the battery level on the large display of the unit. But it’s also possible to see it directly on the battery unit itself, by disconnecting the battery and pressing the test button at the battery.
In the future there will be a big software update so we can give all our flash units a friendly name. It will be possible to do that with an Elinchrom iOS app and with a new app for the computer.
Elinchrom includes all the necessary documents to show at the airport to the customs. This saves a lot of time and it shows the customs exactly what kind of batteries and equipment you are carrying with you, so it will keep you and the batteries out of trouble.
It’s a little bit tricky to measure the HSS pulse with the Sekonic L-858D light meter in HSS mode. A lot of the difficulties depend on the way of triggering the flash to measure it: there’s a difference between triggering the flash from the camera and triggering the flash from the transmitter. The flash pulse also depends on the camera shutter speed setting (the trigger behaves differently on shutter speeds below and above X-Sync). Please experiment with it and let me know in the comments.
The new Skyport trigger, the Transmitter Pro, while using it in TTL mode only triggers the ELB 500 TTL. The ELB 400 and other non-TTL units don’t fire then, they only fire in manual mode. So if I want to combine the ELB 500 TTL unit with other non-TTL flashes, that’s only possible in Manual mode (at the Transmitter Pro).
When changing the power level to a lower value the unit doesn’t have to do any power transfer anymore, unlike the ELB 400. So, the unit is ready to fire immediately.
The ELB 500 TTL has IP20 humidity protection. It’s possible to use the unit in the cold and the heat, but I keep the unit in the shadow as much as possible. It also cannot swim, but an occasional splash will be fine I think. It’s robust and it can handle a lot of abuse.
Elinchrom has a nice Snappy, I use it to carry the unit on my shoulder or to attach it to a light stand (as low as possible to lower the weight to the bottom of the stand). The Snappy now has ports at the sides (with Velcro to close them) to connect the charger. This way we can charge the unit without removing the Snappy. Time saver.
Let me know your experience below. I love to share my enthusiasm and I like to see if I was able to share it indeed. The days are getting longer here, spring is coming, so (as the folks on DPReview always say in their forums) go out and shoot!
Fun times ahead. Longer days are coming and nice new equipment can give surprising and fun results
Thanks to Jennifer Sauer and Gerwin van der Kamp to survive that Dutch cold weather during the video!
There’s more about the ELB 500 TTL at www.elinchrom.com.
Nice a must have
But i think a liitle expencive for me 😜
Wow, very nice article. I have so many questions…
First and foremost, my biggest fear : since this seems to be based on a bit of Phottix tech, can you tell me if there’s any pre-flash when using the strobe in manual mode? Phottix Indra has that problem because it uses a TTL signal even in manual mode. It has the effect of screwing up the white balance, especially at low power levels.
Do you know if Elinchrom has plans to allow independant group control of the 2 ports in a future update, like you can do with Phottix Odin?
How well does the flash white balance mixes with other Elinchrom strobes (ELB400 and ELC Pro HD for example)?
Is the battery and pack the same size as the ELB400?
Is the battery easier to remove than the ELB400?
Very important : how low can the power level go? As low as ELB400 on port B?
I have a gazillion questions… but I’ll rest my case for now. 😁
Hi Guy,
Thanks for your reply!
Tomorrow I will get the Phottix trigger delivered. I will update this article with new measurements then.
Independent group control depends on the specification of the Skyport Protocol. I cannot say anything which is internal at Elinchrom, but I think there will be a good chance of supporting that independent control.
The flash white balance mixes perfectly with my other Elinchrom strobes, but my Mola Setti has a slightly warmer coating so I take that to my advantage too, to make shadows and/or ambient a little cooler.
The battery pack is different. It’s lighter, has better connectors and can be charged during studio use. And yes, it’s way easier to remove: no more hassle with listening to the clicks: firm locking handles are in place.
The power levels can go to 0.1 on both ports: as low as the ELB 400 on port B.
I hope my answers will help you out. Enjoy! 😃
Thanks for the details. Can you share more info on working with the Phottix Odin and speedlights? Can you control Canon speedlights and mix them with the ELB if you have a Phottix Odin II?
Hi Dan,
You’re welcome. Yes I will, these days I will experiment more with the Odin system and other Speedlights. And yes I can confirm: it’s perfectly possible to mix and control Canon Speedlights and mix them with the ELB 500 TTL through the Phottix Odin II system.
When you say you can mix and control Canon Speedlights and mix with the ELB 500, does that require one to use the Odin II receivers on the Canon Speedlights and ELB 500 (or do both the Canons and ELB 500 accept the radio signal from the Odin II transmitter directly without the need for attaching receivers to them?)?
Hans, first of all Your thread from dpreview disappeared – did You delete it maybe?
Secondly, the Elinchrom website clearly states the ELB400 is 2 kg + 0.25 kg for the head and ELB500TTL is 2.48 kg + 0.66 kg for the head 🙂
Hi Paul,
DPReview deleted the information. They also sent me the reason: I am a commercial photographer and not a hobby photographer. Because I’m making money with my photography by teaching and spreading my knowledge, links to my articles are not allowed (although I don’t run ads on my website and although I’m not getting paid for the article). So, the thread disappeared indeed.
About the weight: the Elinchrom website states the ELB 500 TTL weighs 1.7 kg and the battery 0.73 kg. See also here: http://www.elinchrom.com/battery/elb500ttl.html – As far as I know that’s also what I’ve measured here. But correct me again if I’m wrong, maybe yours is heavier. 😉
Aaah Paul, I think I understood you wrong. I mentioned in my article the weight of the unit and of the battery. That’s 2.48 kg together indeed, so we’re both right. 😉
Omg! I really enjoyed your post! I like many others have many questions, and find your technical expertise on all things Elinchrom.
My thought is to pickup a ELB 500 system with 2 Heads ( a new radio controlled light meter & The new Skyport controller) with the hope that I can incorporate my 3 Quantum Trio’s w/ Turbo3’s. I currently shoot Nikon camera but I’m thinking of getting a Sony a7r3. My hope is that all this is possible and they play nicely with each other. I love to get yours thoughts ?
Hi David, you’re welcome!
Currently the new Skyport for Sony is in development. The release shouldn’t take too long though. But you can already trigger the ELB 500 TTL in normal Manual mode with the current triggers on your Sony, afaik.
About the Quantums: I don’t have experience with them, but I think the easiest way to go is using the Phottix Odin II triggers and receivers. With that system you can trigger the ELB 500 TTL in TTL mode AND you can use the receivers to trigger other TTL flashes. And as far as I know, the Odin II is also available for Sony.
Hi Hans,
Really interesting read, I use Elinchrom lights (BRX500 and BX500Ri) in my studio and I’m looking for an upgrade because I need a shorter flash duration to get the action shots of our chameleons catching their food. Up to yesterday I was 99% sure to buy the Profoto D2 500 at the NEC photography show in two weeks time, now I’m not so sure anymore:-). Could you please let me know what the flash duration (t0.1) is with the following setup: We use a white beauty dish with a diffuser but the deflector in the middle has been taken out (customers don’t like the “donut” catch light effect). Settings in camera are f/18, ISO 160 and the shutter speed anything between 1/160 and 1/250 depending on the maximum sync speed of the customers camera. The distance between the subject and the strobe is anything between 100 and 150cm and we only use one strobe. Thank you very much in advance. Kind regards, Roy
Hi Roy,
Those BRX lights are nice, they simply won’t stop working. 😉 But yes, shorter flash durations are always welcome in the studio. I have the best experience with the Elinchrom ELC 500 and ELC 1000, check the graphs in my other article. With those flashes I think you will have a lot more light output while retaining shorter flash durations.
Personally I don’t like the Profoto lights because they are less powerful, especially at shorter flash durations, I don’t like their lack of colour accuracy, I prefer the wide angle distribution of Elinchrom light to their accessories and I can reach higher with a lightweight head (with a separate pack).
My Sekonic doesn’t measure the T0.1 flash durations of the ELB 500 TTL like it should, because of the “special” Elinchrom shaped flash pulses, I’m still experimenting with a lot of different firmware versions and combinations, until that time the T0.5 readings are better, but not exactly like the specifications (I measure better flash timings than Elinchrom specifies).
If I can measure meaningful T0.1 values I will update the article. Thanks!
Hi, (Hans, and Roy)
Thanks for a very intersting read. Have you managed to get any meaningful t0,1 readouts for the ELB 500 yet?
I’ve just got my ELB 500 unit and have been doing some initial tests and comparisons with my speedlite setup (2x EX 580ii). I couldn’t get my hands on a sekonic meter so I took a more home-made method of estimating t0.1 times – I took photographs of a spinning fan with the ELB and speedlites and compared the results to the known averages of t0,1 times for my speedlites. Oddly enough, the weird shape of ELB500 flash pulses is visible there – but I could still compare the “blur length”. It seems that at min power (0.1 setting) the flash practically approaches 1/6500s@ t0,1 equivalent for speedlites. However, with a slightly different blur gradient than the speedilites. The gradient is smooth for speedlites, and it seems more “stepped” for the ELB, making it possible to recover some detail in post) even though the blur tail is a bit longer for the ELB…Still, looking solely on the visible blur length I would have to indicate about 1/5000s as the t0,1 approximation)
At 5.0 power setting for the ELB, the blur seems slightly “longer” than what the 1/2 power output for the EX580ii delivers, so I’d estimate it at about 1/1000s – 1/1200s (vs reported 1/1400s for EX580ii at 1/2 power), which seems more or less in line with reports on what the competition offers (Profoto/Quadralite-Godox AD600pro/Bron SirosL)
Dear Hans,
I need to upgrade my Quadras (400ws) for additional HS Heads.You wrote that new 500ws are manually working on 400 generator,so maybe that could be something for me and bright future…My question now is:
-are 500ws heads so slow that they would offer me fully HS spectrum without black issues mostly at full power?
…and another IMPORTANT QUESTION would be…are the regulare Action 400Wh heads compatible with 500Wh generator in their ActionFreezing modes?
Hi Blanka,
That’s true, the new ELB 500 Heads are manually working on the ELB 400 flash unit. But be careful: it’s not officially supported by Elinchrom, as stated in the user manual.
The ELB 500 Heads are slow indeed, here they offered my the full HS spectrum without black bars, on the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (full frame, X-Sync 1/200s). But, of course with that typical HS-gradient.
The regular Action Heads of the ELB 400 are NOT compatible with the ELB 500 TTL unit. If you connect the older Quadra Heads to the ELB 500 TTL there’s a warning on the display and they don’t trigger. And I think that’s good, because the ELB 500 TTL can deliver a much stronger and larger flash pulse to the Heads, which can overload them.
I have the elb 400 now but there I need one head for the phase one and another head for the canon. Now with the elb 500 it sounds like there is just one type of head. It sounds smarter and I guess that it works better together then two light that use different flash duration?
But does it work well with all cameras so it would be better to get the elb 500 instead of the elb 400 I have now? FX does the elb 500 flash Sync up to 1/1600th sec. And work with canon and phase one with same head for what I have two elb 400 heads that cover?
What kind of heads do you use A,Pro/S,or Hs for Canon/Phase…?
Hi Per,
That’s right, the ELB 500 TTL uses only one type of Head, the ELB 500 Head. By modulating the flash pulse the unit can deliver the right length of effective flash pulse, it’s smarter indeed. My experience is it works better indeed.
Currently it works great and automatically on Canon and Nikon cameras. Sony will follow, then Olympus/Panasonic and then Fuji.
It also works on Phase One, with Leaf Shutter lenses, by putting the Skyport system in Speed mode. See here for the explanation: http://www.elinchrom.com/learn/what-speedmode.html
And yes, the ELB 500 TTL does support Speed mode indeed, enable it in the menu. That way you can use the same head for Phase One and Canon.
For Phase One and Canon I always used the Action Heads when possible. The only exception was outside with shutter times faster than X-Sync, then I switched to the HS Heads. I never used the Pro Heads, because they are “the best of both worlds” but to me a compromise. If I wanted to have short flashes, I wanted to have REALLY short flashes. And if I wanted to have long flashes for HS, I wanted to have REALLY long flashes for the best gradient.
Now with the ELB 500 TTL that will be a thing of the past for me.
Hi Hans!
Could you please confirm if you got the sekonic L-858D to measure the FD on the ELB 500 TTL ? And if so how ?
Thanx!
Hi Paul,
Thanks for your patience. Yes, I can confirm. Set the Sekonic to the FDA mode and trigger your flash. Then you will have the flash duration on the display. Tap the display once to view the graph.
Thanx Hans! A bit confused as you stated in another reply that you can’t measure a t.01 FD and not to spec at t.0 5 ?
Thanks Paul.
Yes I got the same head yous said for the elb. But I haven’t used them yet. So a bit strange to go and change it already.
I’d I had know they made the elb 500 at the time I bought the system….
It sounds much better with elb 500 and 2 light that works together a lot better.
But great that you tested and took time to help me. It sounds better. Thank you for that 🙂
Stay Hans not Paul 😁
Hi Hans,
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my question about the flash duration. When I spoke to Profoto the other day about the D2 the gentlemen did say to me that the colour turns more blue, confirming what you say about the colour accuracy:-) A friend of mine uses the ELC pro HD 500 you mentioned, for her they are ok doing portrait work but for me the flash duration is not short enough (1/1700 shortest flash duration) to freeze the tongue of a Chameleon hence I started looking at the ELB 500. Godox have the Pro QT600II selling for only £399 but from what Ive read that one suffers from colour accuracy in action mode as well. The Buff Einstein E640 from the States are another option but I dread it if something goes wrong having no customer support here in the UK. Maybe I need to look at the Broncolor Siros S series or rent the ELB 500 first and see what for results I can get, decisions decisions:-) Hans keep up the good work, always a pleasure reading your blogs. Kind regards Roy
Oh by the way Hans, how do you update your Skyport HS ?
Great article Hans and great presentation at the Allard Studio’s on March 5th! Based on your and Brett Florens advise I bought the unit and am more than pleased with it! It is perfect for my kind of work in almost every way. I hope you are right that the expected software/firmware upgrade for the Elinchrom Transmitter Pro will encorporate independent control of the A and B port. It is a bit of an embarassment for Elinchrom this is currently only possible with the Odin II trigger and not with their own trigger. Another issue I would like Elinchrom to fix is a bug with the Quadra system. If you connect your flash-head to the B-port and work with a very low power setting, you can use the trigger to set the power below level 2.0, however settings below 2.0 are only correctly displayed at the unit itself. The trigger itself falsely keeps jumping back to an indication of powerlevel 2.0. Finally it would be very helpfull if Elinchrom would make it possible to easily switch individual groups on and off on the Transmitter Pro in manual mode (like the way the Odin trigger works). My conclusion: Great system and extremely happy with it, but there is still room for improvement with a firmware upgrade for the Transmitter Pro! It should not be necessary to buy an Odin trigger for functionalities that Elinchrom cannot provide itself!
Seems there is some lack of understanding how the current Elinchrom ELB system and Skyport works.
Not sure what Elinchrom should be embarrassed about? Offering two radio protocols.. ?
The challenge here is to preserve backward compatibility and stability of the current Skyport implementation on all Skyport enabled strobes.
So naturally, Elinchrom won’t botch skyport for their whole lineup of strobes just to rush the individual group/port control of the new ELB 500 TTL.
It’s in the works, but as a professional, I rather wait and have full functionality with the rest of the Elinchrom lineup and in the meantime, i’ll just adjust the power on the pack.
Odin II works nicely if you want to use it, but it’s not as consistent as Skyport.
thank you for the great article review mister Hans.
i really like this ELB500 because had more power output (500ws) than my older quadra, full asymetric power control when use 2 head, and TTL.
btw mister, what i want to ask you is, can this ELB 500 TTL work together with elinchrom quadra ranger in HS mode to reach 1/8000 with el skyport transmitter HS in manual mode?
i heard if we update firmare our skyport transmitter HS to new firmware, that will be change our transmitter like a skyport pro so it can use for TTL and HSS fuctional, is it true?
if we had update that skyport transmitter to new firmware, can it still use for HS mode 1/8000 if we play with old quadra/ELB400? or cant?
thank you very much sir
Hi, Very nice review, thank you. I have one question regarding to power setting. Its possible to send power manually by trigger and still have HSS? I can imaging that in TTL mode I can go above X-sync (1/1000 for instance) and I will get some exposure. But in case I want still same exposure everytime but with shooter speed like 1/1000, It Is possible? Or it behave like normal speedlite (HSS only in TTL mode)? Thank you for explanation.
It can do HSS in either manual or TTL mode.
Hans
quick question. I have the unit. if I put it into TTL mode, speed or normal, then AV on Canon-5DRS, I get a shutter speed of maybe 13 seconds (dark setting). Obviously I am not in TTL mode. However the Skyport says TTL. in 5DSR menu-External Speedlite control, it shows manual mode, and am unable to switch to TTL mode. I’m not sure if that even makes a difference, but that is the only conflicting issues that I can see. do you have any insight? It seems at the moment I only am using Manual mode.. of which I am getting good results. But I should be able to have TTL as an option. thanks
Hi Hans, just bought ELB500 and thank you for all the good info. I have a question please: What is the advantage of using ‘normal’ mode? Seems to me it is best just to leave it in ‘action’ mode all the time? Thank you
Hi Pieter,
Thanks!
the advantage of using normal mode can be, in certain circumstances, a better color consistency. A more linear color spectrum. Sometimes it’s visible in skin tones, but not always.
Most of the time I use the Action mode. I only use normal mode while reproducing non-moving subjects.
Hi Hans, can you compare it with the Profoto B1X? I had ELB400, but I switched to Profoto because we have Profoto equipment in our newsroom. But B1X is sometimes too big to shoot outdoors:-)
Hi Lukas,
I don’t have a fair comparison with the B1X, because I only tested the colors. I didn’t like the colors of the B1X for certain skin tones, so I didn’t want to work with it it any further. But I hope you’re happy with it. 😉
Hi Hans great review but was wondering did you ever get a chance to test it with the Phottix Odin II trigger?
As i have the ELB500 and (two Phottix Odin II controllers) which stop controlling the pack after a fiew shots, if i turn the pack off and on again it works ok again for a few more shots
i do not have any problems when using the elinchrom trigger. I sent it back to my supplier and they sent it off to their service people but came back doing the exact same thing as before Any info would be a great help!
Hi Declan,
Thanks for your patience. I still gaven’t used my Odin II trigger, because my Elinchrom trigger still does the job, as far as there are jobs during these difficult COVID-19 times.
I have tested it just now, and don’t encounter those problems. I hope you have it fixed already, or another solution.
Hello Declan:
I use an Elinchrom ELB 500, Odin II trigger and several Phottix Mitros II + speedlites for Canon. I also experienced what you did. Sometimes the 500 would fire but the power level would not adjust uo or down with my trigger settings. Other times it would fail to fire. Restarting the 500 pack would sometimes work but the problem would recur.
The solution for me was to test various channel settings. By bad luck the one I was using was apparently getting a lot of interference. Once I found a clear channel it worked fine for the ELB alone, Mitros II’s alone, or both mixed together. I am quite happy. (I had even bought a second trigger to test it were an Odin II problem. Like you, the Elinchrom trigger worked fine. I am glad I had brought it as a back up on my shoot or I would have been up the creek!)
Phottix support was useless. Many emails were not understood or not answered correctly due to, I believe, translation problems. I think theirbemail support is in China.)
Hope this helps!
Hi Paul i tried all the channels but it is the same in them all i am waiting now on a response back from elinchrom . it has now been 4 months and i am a little annoyed to say the least thanks for your response and help.
Thanks for your input Paul!
Hi Hans.
I have a question about the elb 500, as I read that it would be a problem to use with medium format cameras as it does not have a fast enough flash duration to match the higher shutter speeds of a leaf shutter unless you get way down on the power.
So if you try to overpower the sun it’s a problem to get a fast enough flash duration to work with the leaf shutters.
Is that something you can confirm or what is your experience?
Hi Hans,
Thank you for your interesting article about your experience with the Elinchrom ELB 500. I have a quick question. I have been using my ELB 500 for sunset for a couple of months and recently I noticed that my trigger (Phottix Odin II) doesn’t sync anymore. For example when I set the trigger to 1/1 power it burst only have 1/2 or when 1/8 only 1/16 of the power. There’s something I mistakenly changed?
I would highly appreciated your advice in this matter.
Thank You,
Serge
Hi Serge,
You’re welcome! I’ve thought about your problem and there are two things which I can think of.
– Please check if your ELB500TTL unit has the newest firmware (currently version 3.0)
– Perhaps flash compensation is turned on on your camera and set to -1.0EV?
These are the only things I can think of, hopefully it will solve your issue. Good luck!
hreat article , admire the enthusiasm your one happy dude , and good for you . iv been looking for a pair of heads capable of true hss, and battery powered for the big outside , thanks for the review , 👍👍
Hello Hans! Been debating between pro photo or 500 TTL Elinchrome for over a year! this feed has convinced me! Thanks you Hans for your knowledge and sharing info ! Flash duration for catching action is my main concern! One question? Its says battery unit take an hour and a half for full charge! I love this unit a lot, but I shoot sometimes 1800 frames during a commercial shoot on location, (at least half shots on full power, and many low to medium mainly for best flash duration!! I can buy a separate back up battery! My question is while plugged into wall will it still drain battery to shoot many without draining ? Can it charge fast enough to keep up with more lengthy indoor plugged into wall? Lastly,Im confused about action head.HSS head and pro head? I read that pro head is most accurate colors but Im more concerned about HHS and action mode-Does the new 500 head cover both the HHS and ACTION mode that used to be in separate heads? Thanks so much! Making the investment- I have old school dinosaur speedotron explorer battery- I m use speed light nikon for outdoors and want the octa 39 and new system and going for it after reading this! thks xo
I really appreciate your spectral tests. This is exactly the data I was looking for. It’s a shame that he manufacturers nowadays don’t do the due diligence and it is left to the users to invest and do such tests.
Are you able to measure the spectral response deeper into UV and IR range? Have you tested other elinchrome lights, eg D-Lite RX4?