Wireless Flora Lightbank ~ Review
Back in September 2011 I reviewed the Flora Light Bank from Linco and found them to be excellent for video work and not so bad for photography too. Now the people at Linco have come up with a new wireless version. So lets find out if the addition of a remote control is a revolution or just a gimmick.
The most obvious change from the old Flora to the new is snappy new colour scheme. White and green have been replaced by black and red, which looks very smart indeed. The colour may have changed but the design has not. The Flora was and still is a well designed and well built piece of equipment. The main body is made from flame proof heavy duty plastic and the lamp holders are ceramic.
In fact the only significant improvement that I could find was the addition of a foam handle that doesn’t fall off, a marked improvement from the original
So if you’re in the market for a Flora Light then the question must be do I need the wireless feature?
You get two remote controls with each light bank. Each remote has the same two buttons and each button switches three of the six bulbs on or off. They work even if the main switch on the back of the Flora is turned off.
Personally I would have liked to have seen the ability to switch on the bulbs one at a time, via the remote. This would give a lot more control over the lighting for us photographers and I dare say for videographers as well.
Perhaps the biggest issue you might have with the remotes is that they’re tied to the light bank they came with. The idea being that you can separately control multiple light banks. However if you lose or break the remotes then you’re stuck. Also if you have multiple lights you’ll need to carry around multiple remotes which all look the same, but only operate one light bank.
So which would I recommend, wireless or original? For me in my little studio with just one or two lights the original light bank is best suited. However if you have a video setup with the lights in less accessible heights, then I can see the sense in going wireless.
Flora Light Banks are available from www.lincostores.com Linco ship to US addresses only.
The correct site is http://www.lincostore.com (not stores that goes to a different under construction site)
For the DIY lighting enthusiast it seems pretty easy to make one of these light banks for a lot less money. A 125W (500W equiv) bulb can be bought for £24.49 http://www.smick.co.uk/sonline/125w-daylight-bulb/prod_306.html and a holder for it for just a couple of quid. Do you foresee any problems with doing this? Wire up a bank with individual light switches in a quantity to suit your budget and I think its very possible to create something effective. All you need is to buy the light modifier (softbox/brolly) and away you go :o)