Pixiq

I have been using the Elinchrom’s Ranger RX Speed AS set up for a couple of years now with great results. The Ranger RX is a battery powered strobe set up that pumps out a maximum of 1,100 Watt/seconds of light. There are several versions of the Ranger packs with different designations, the set up I prefer is the Speed AS which means the pack recharges faster than the normal Ranger packs and also has an asymmetrical set up with 66.7% of the power going to the A outlet and 33.3 % of the power going to the B outlet. Even at full power the unit recharges in about 2.8 seconds. As it is rare that I have to blast away at full power the recycle rate is usually quite a bit faster.

Now I can hear many of you wondering why I went with the Elinchrom set up instead of the Profoto 7B or even the brand new Hensel Porty 12 system. There are several reasons. First off, the Elinchrom set up is much lighter than the Profoto 7B. At just over 17 pounds the Ranger RX pack is ten pounds lighter than the Profoto rig while the strobe heads are roughly the same size and weight. The Hensel Porty 12 power pack (which isn’t even available yet) is a few pounds lighter but the compatible strobe head weighs twice as much as the Ranger Free Lite A heads that I use so that negates the overall weight savings. I also much prefer the digital interface of the Ranger in comparison to the Profoto 7B. The interface allows incredible and intuitive control of the light in 1/10th stops. The digital display also lets me see exactly where I am at in terms of light output and battery power. Add to this the fact that the Ranger is weatherproofed much better than either of the competitors, produces the same quality of light and has some fantastic light modifiers and that pretty much sealed the deal. And last but not least, the Elinchrom Ranger, while certainly not inexpensive, is a fair bit cheaper than the Profoto 7B or the Hensel Porty 12. When it comes to choosing my tools, price is one of the last things I really think about but in this case it was a nice bonus. 

Another item that is really helpful when using the Rangers, especially for outdoor photographers, is the new Elinchrom Skyport radio triggers. With these puppies attached to the camera and the Ranger pack, I can adjust the power output of the pack with the Skyport transmitter on my camera instead of having to walk over and adjust it on the pack directly. It may not sound like a big deal but it has come in very handy several times when the pack and head are far away from my shooting position. I still own and use Pocket Wizards but the Skyports have become my new favorite radio slaves because of the control they give me with the Rangers and because they are much smaller and lighter than the Pocket Wizards.

Having used the Ranger kits a fair bit before I purchased one, the only real flaw I could see was the attachment system for light modifiers - or at least that was my first impression. The Ranger heads use a rotating collar and groove system that at first seemed a bit awkward. But after using the system for a few days I found the locking collar is easy to use and securely locks a reflector or umbrella to the strobe head. I have even used the Ranger set up in howling winds outdoors with one of Elinchrom’s massive octabanks and everything stayed locked onto the strobe head - though my assistant was leaning heavily into the wind!

Above is the Elinchrom Ranger RX Speed AS kit which comes with the Ranger RX Speed AS power pack, two batteries (which slip into the bottom of the pack), a carrying case, a charger, a Free Lite A or S head, two reflectors and the Varistar Umbrella. The carrying case is nice but it isn’t quite tough enough for my tastes so I load the entire kit and my extra accessories including the Skyport radio slaves into a Pelican 1610 rolling case. 

A note about the Free Lite heads that are available for the Ranger power pack, they come in two flavors: the Free Lite S and Free Lite A. The Free Lite A head (at right) has a much shorter flash duration than the S version. The A head has a flash duration of 1/3250 second while the S head has a duration of 1/1600 second. Since I shoot a lot of motion sports, I opted for the shorter flash duration of the Free Lite A head.

In use, the Ranger kit is simple to work with and the battery power lasted a lot longer than I would have thought. You can get up to 250 full power flashes but as it is rare that you actually need full power (at least for most of my shoots) I have had the power pack last all day shooting in excess of a thousand images and at various power settings including a fair bit of time at full power. 

One of the other great assets of the Elinchrom system is their own brand of softboxes specifically tailored for the Elinchrom strobe heads. When it comes to Octabanks, Elinchrom is the gold standard and they work extremely well with the Ranger kit. You even see a fair number of Profoto users with Elinchrom Octabanks mounted on a 7B set up if that tells you anything. The other nice feature of the Elinchrom softboxes is that they open just like an umbrella so there isn’t any complicated setup time trying to fit rods into a speedring. All you have to do is pop it open and attach it to the head which saves a lot of time. The only downside to this system that they are a bit more fragile than normal softboxes and care must be taken when traveling by air. Aside from that, they are pretty much as good as it gets in my experience. 

If you buy the Ranger RX Speed AS kit you also get an extra battery, a case and the Varistar Umbrella and reflector. The Varistar set up looks a bit funky at first but it is very handy for quick setups and acts as a small softbox. All of the portraits in this newsletter were shot with the Ranger kit and the Varistar Umbrella. After using this set up extensively I cannot recommend it highly enough. So far it seems very durable. And because of it’s rectangular shape, the pack and head (even two heads) fit into a LowePro back pack with accessories to spare which is another nice feature when you need to lug it into a location that isn’t right next to the road. For the outdoor photographer there is probably no better battery powered portable strobe system on the market that I have used.