Review: Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL
Thursday 13 December 2018, 11:45 by Michelle Peeters | 9,147 views | 7 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
The Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL is a flash pack that is ideal for outdoor use. Its built-in TTL system provides fully automatic exposure.
I was allowed to test the system for FotoFlits during a school photography session, both in the studio and outdoors.
The system is very easy to use. The ELB 500 is connected to your camera's hot shoe and wirelessly integrates it with the Elinchrom 500 TTL Flash.
The HSS function makes it much faster than the average speedlight. You can also generate a 500Ws flash, allowing you to produce high-quality images even with extremely strong backlighting.
First impressions
The ELB 500 TTL is incredibly light and compact. The battery pack weighs just 2.48 kilos and the heads weigh 250 grams each. The kit I received came with two lights. One with an octabox, the other with an umbrella as a light modifier.
At the moment, this is the most powerful portable TTL kit on the market, and I was very impressed by both the design and the sheer lightness of the kit. The heads are even light enough to be mounted on a camera bracket!
The kit is intended for people who want a more powerful option than speedlights, or for people who simply want a portable lighting set that offers powerful features without too much weight.
Features
- 500 Watt-seconds
- Fully asymmetrical
- No additional transmitter required
- 7 f-stop ranges
- TTL (through-the-lens light metering)
- HSS (high-speed sync, flashing at higher shutter speeds)
- High-quality daylight LED, generating the full colour spectrum
- Modelling light can be used as video light and is also dimmable
- Dimensions: 16.3x9.0x18.1cm
- Weight: 2.48 kg (unit + battery) / 1.74 kg (without battery)
- Flash duration - Action: 1 / 20000s
- Flash duration - Normal: 1 / 3400s
- Recycling times - 0.05 - 2 seconds
- OLED control display
- Suitable for: Olympus, Sony, Panasonic, Canon and Nikon cameras
I find it hugely impressive. It offers both TTL and HSS. This means it synchronises at speeds of up to 1 / 8000 of a second, and tests have shown that it is even up to 0.5 f-stops more powerful in HSS mode than the competition. It is also compatible with other Elinchrom Hi-Sync (HS) units.
You get around 400 full-power flashes from a single charge, with a fast recycling time of 0.05 to 2.0 seconds. One really useful feature of this kit is active charging, which means you can charge the battery while shooting.
This is a very clever idea, because there is nothing more frustrating than a battery that is completely flat after using the flash and having to wait for it to recharge.
The ELB 500 TTL has a built-in Skyport, Elinchrom's own wireless system. For photographers who already use the Skyport Plus HS transmitter, a firmware update is available to add the TTL feature set. There is also built-in functionality for Phottix Odin II transmitters.
The unit, with trigger and battery in one, has two ports, marked A and B, and you can power and control two separate heads at the same time.
Each port is completely independent, which means you can have both ports flash at the same power, 250 Watt-seconds each, for example, or you can have port A at full power and port B at the lowest power, for example.
The ELB 500 TTL has an easy-to-navigate OLED display that gives you full control over the unit, allowing you to activate and control each flash head separately.
The kit has an asymmetrical distribution, which means you can extend the available power range when using just a single flash head.
TTL
The main feature of this kit is its TTL functionality. This means that when you connect the kit to the flash for your own camera brand, the system automatically adjusts the power based on the light reading of the scene and the settings on your camera.
And because the set has HSS, the lamp automatically detects when the shutter speed falls outside your camera's synchronisation speed. In that case, it uses HSS to maintain the correct exposure for your shot.
Another clever feature of TTL is that when you take a shot in TTL mode, it determines which flash power should be used. When you switch to manual mode, the lamp remembers the power you used previously.
You can then activate manual power with that same setting. This makes it easy to adjust your settings, allowing you to shoot faster than with many other studio kits.
Conclusion
The Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL is a well-made and solid piece of equipment. I decided to buy a set for myself straight away. Quite an investment, but I think it will pay for itself!
I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a lightweight, compact and easy-to-use battery-powered system.
The TTL and HSS functions make this kit one of the easiest to use, while it still offers all the power and features you would expect. You can flash much faster than your camera's synchronisation time, usually 1/250 of a second, even up to 1/8000 of a second.
The lights are very light and small, so you can easily take them on location in a fairly small bag.
You really do get a beautiful colour spectrum with plenty of red tones. Skin tones and the colours of the clothing also come out perfectly. According to FotoFlits, the lights were set slightly 'bluer' so that the colours in the shadow areas would also look very natural.
Complete, large groups could be lit all the way, even against the sun, so I could compete well with the sun. Differences in contrast were completely eliminated, and even sections of background that had become blocked up were lit well. The substantial power of 500 W/s is clearly noticeable.
Reflections in glasses were almost no longer visible! This may be due to the small size of the round octabox and umbrella. In any case, this gives a much nicer round reflection in the eyes than a square or rectangular softbox.
The photos needed very little post-processing. Skin imperfections were less noticeable, and the children looked healthier, even the 'pale-faced' ones. I could also fire flashes in quick succession, as the recycling time is extremely short.
The photos are remarkably sharp! This will be due to the short flash duration and the extremely good modelling light, which can also be fully adjusted. The camera can focus perfectly as a result. You can also switch on AF Light (autofocus communication), which makes focusing even easier.
The lights can be adjusted together, but also independently. You can easily set up a key and fill light effect, or, for example, 'lock' the light on the background and expose your model using TTL. Everything can be set fairly intuitively, and you get good photos almost straight away without having to study the subject in depth.
One disadvantage is that the set, though I think this applies to all sets, is very sensitive to wind. The lights were blown over several times, immediately damaging the umbrella.
This can only be prevented by having an assistant hold the stand or by placing a substantial weight at the bottom.
As a second and final disadvantage, I noticed that the flash unit with the umbrella kept sagging downwards, as the handle had probably been stripped through frequent use. It had to be fixed in place with duct tape.
Price and extras
The Elinchrom ELB 500 TTL Dual To Go Set costs 1,641.81 euros. This includes two studio lights, the battery pack, cables and charger.
I ordered a 10-metre extension cable with it. The cables supplied that run to the battery are very, too, short. This means you cannot place the lights far apart and you trip over the cables.
I also bought a 100 cm Rotalux Softbox Deep Octa. This deep octabox produces beautiful shadows and less 'flat' images. It costs 205.79 euros.
This size of octabox appears to be the most popular. Hans van Eijsden often worked with a smaller size because he could 'shape' faces to make them look a little narrower.
For the second light modifier, I chose a 105 cm Deep White Umbrella, reflective, which you can also turn into a softbox with a translucent diffuser. The umbrella costs 82 euros and the translucent diffuser 24 euros.
The flash umbrella, not shoot-through, that I tested was slightly smaller and the flash was very bright. Children sometimes complained about it, especially when many photos had to be retaken. The problem was solved after fitting the diffuser. The light reflected back is then considerably weaker, however.
I also ordered the deflector set (silver, gold, translucent and frost) for 50 euros, allowing me to easily adjust the colour and softness of the light. The gold-coloured deflector set is said to work very well with people with dark skin.
And I also needed a new trigger, so I bought the EL-Skyport Transmitter PRO for Canon for 181 euros. This allows you to control your studio set remotely, which is very handy!
Want to learn more about studio photography?
At Photofacts Academy, our online learning environment for photographers, we have several courses on studio and portrait photography.
- Basic Studio Photography Course (Frederik Herregods)
- Advanced Studio Portraits (Richard Terborg)
- Portrait Photography Tips (Elja Trum)
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- Business Portrait Photography (Maurice Jager)
- From Image to Art (Micky Hoogendijk)
- Basic Course: Flash on Location (Piet van den Eynde)
You can take these courses for two weeks with a free trial membership.
About the author
Michelle Peeters is fotografe en oprichter van DeuxBleus Fotografie. Michelle herkent het bijzondere in het gewone en het gewone in het bijzondere. Ze heeft zich nooit willen specialiseren en is daardoor van alle markten thuis.
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7 comments
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anneketm
wrote on Saturday 20 October 2018 at 14:09
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By now I’ve also been working with the ELB500TTL for a few months and I’m really happy with it! Taking group photos is on my agenda, great to finally see the making of a group photo! I would have liked to see the final result and not just the "making of"!
Translated from Dutch. -
Michelle Peeters wrote on Thursday 13 December 2018 at 11:24
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@Anneketm: here's an example.
Translated from Dutch.
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Michelle Peeters wrote on Thursday 13 December 2018 at 11:35
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@Anneketm: I was fumbling around with the code for a bit, but I’ve managed it now! I hope this gives you a bit of an idea. In any case, I was able to light up a large group of children and also some of the (dark) surroundings. A huge difference compared to a little on-camera flash!
Translated from Dutch. -
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Michelle Peeters wrote on Thursday 13 December 2018 at 11:39
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@Anneketm: yes it certainly is, I'm also very happy with it and sales have never been this high! However, you do have to be careful with how you set it up, so that you don't make any mistakes with it, it is vulnerable material after all. You also need to make sure the wind doesn't get underneath it, because since it's so light it just blows over/away!
Translated from Dutch.
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