Overview of Elinchrome EL-Skyport Radio Synchronizers

For a long time I used Cactus v2 as a radio synchronizer . They are relatively inexpensive, small in size and quite suitable for studio shooting. But as I already wrote, their reliability at low temperatures leaves much to be desired. A lot of the best.

When the question arose of buying something more practical, I first looked at PocketWizard for a long time . They are super-reliable, work at a distance of up to 500 meters. But there is one “but”: the price is about 6,000 rubles. And they need at least three, and preferably four.

At this moment, I drew attention to the EL-Skyport synchronizers from Elinchrom , which cost about 3,000 rubles apiece. I will briefly talk about them.

Dimensions

I'll start, perhaps, with a comparison of sizes. This says a lot:



Not only are PocketWizard's larger than all of them combined, they also have a huge antenna. Skype also has an antenna, but it’s foldable and is only five centimeters long. True, and their distance is less: 120 meters on the street, not 500.

Receiver

The receiver is a black plastic box that weighs unexpectedly a lot for its small size. This creates a justified impression of strength and solidity. At the front there is a work and charge indicator, a power button and a channel selector. The on / off button is very slurred: you press and can not turn it on, then it turns on the first time.

At the top end is a connector for the charger. The receiver has a built-in lithium-ion battery. One charge was enough for me for about a month and a half of work. Now the second one is still holding. Charges unreasonably long: about 4 hours.

On the left side there is a group selection slider. I will talk about him later. On the right side is the antenna, which in order to improve reception quality should be parallel to the antenna of the transmitter.

Each receiver comes with a convenient strap, a bunch of adapters for various connectors and a huge case, which fits into three receivers and a transmitter. Among the adapters, there is no wire for PC connectors: the studio orientation of the device is noticeable here.

Transmitter

The transmitter is about one and a half times smaller than the receiver. On the front panel there are buttons for changing the brightness of the pilot light, checking receivers and a channel selector. On the right side are the power and group selection switches. On the right, as on the receiver, is the antenna. The transmitter is powered by a large tablet battery. I have never changed.

Choosing a group turned out to be convenient autumn. For example, you can set the key light source on the first group, and the background illumination on the fourth group and independently check them during the shooting process. And you can translate switch to the All position and use all the groups at the same time.

If I have practically no complaints about the receivers, then the transmitter is executed much worse. First and foremost: there is no fixation in the shoe of the camera.



This led to the fact that one fine day I, throwing the camera over my shoulder, hit him with my elbow, he safely fell from 10 meters high and scattered into pieces. (I sat on the ceiling beam in the gym and photographed climbers). After that, he was safely glued with electrical tape, and then glued with glue. At the same time, I drilled the missing holes for attaching the strap: now it is securely attached to the camera and will not fly far.

Secondly, it’s very easy to touch the power switch by putting the transmitter in the bag and leaving it on. At some point, it may suddenly turn out that the battery is dead. (It will be necessary to put a spare in the bag).

General impression

Despite these shortcomings, the overall impression of the system is positive. I have never noticed a false positive or a false positive (a flash that didn’t have time to charge or a receiver not turned on doesn’t count). They are small in size, and, if not worn in the original case, easily fit into any photo bag.