In early 2010 I created an in-home studio with purchase of Elinchrom lighting equipment, Avenger light stands, and Savage backgrounds. Specifically, bought four Elinchrom 600RX monolights, four large soft boxes, and four Elinchrom transceivers (plus a couple transmitters) to allow for wireless triggering of the studio lights from the camera hot shoe.
After a few months using this equipment I then purchased two different devices to allow for remote, wireless adjustment of all aspects of the lights (power, modeling light, sound, etc). One was an Elinchrom El-Skyport USB device one would use in combination with Elinchrom desktop software for connecting to a laptop. And the other was an Elinchrom El-Skyport Wifi device which when paired with Elincrhom’s iOS apps allowed one to perform all these adjustments right from an iPhone or iPad.
All was good with the world …
until a year or so ago when Elinchrom released new light models, a new wireless connecting device (Elinchrom Bridge), and new desktop & iOS software. But the new software does not work with the old devices. And Elinchrom quit issuing, updating, and supporting the previous software which worked perfectly well with the legacy devices. Hey Elinchrom – Last time I checked USB and WiFi are still a thing.
Ignoring an installed based this way seems to be bad form to me. Monolights (aka speedlights) are expensive. One does not replace them with same timing as a cameras. I expected the lights and associated wireless connectivitiy purchased in 2010 to last at least 20 years.
Last updated 23-Nov-2021.