An Incredible Mix of Power & Portability
Review by Michael Corsentino
Following on the success of their ELB 400, Elinchrom recently announced their new flagship battery-operated portable pack and head system, the Elinchrom ELB 1200. With oodles of power and a shockingly low weight, the ELB 1200 is ready for whatever adventures you throw at it. For me, that might be a fashion shoot on the streets of DUMBO in Brooklyn, or an environmental portrait shot on location. For someone else, it might be capturing extreme sports images on the side of a mountain. The ELB 1200 is ready to handle all of it with ease.
Elinchrom really has thought of everything with their new ELB 1200 pack and head flash system: 1200 W/s of power; a feature-rich digital interface; wireless control; two different types of batteries, one that’s TSA compliant (included) and a second higher-powered version intended for local use (optional); high-speed sync capability for lightning-fast shutter speeds; three new strobes to pair it with—Action, Pro, and Hi-Sync (each with 4000 lumens, daylight-balanced modeling lights, which can do double duty as a continuous light source); and all in a highly portable, lightweight package. The ELB 1200 weighs in between 9.48 and 10.38 lbs., depending on the battery used. Given that only a few years ago similarly powered analog battery packs weighed more than two and three times as much, creating a system with this much power and flexibility at this weight is quite an accomplishment.
The ELB’s Li-Ion batteries provide the juice you need to get the job done, with the TSA-friendly model providing 215 full-power flashes and a full charge in approximately 1.5 hours, while its non-TSA compliant counterpart delivers up to 400 full-power flashes and reaches a full charge in approximately 2.5 hours. Both are very respectable numbers. ■
