I remember when the very first Elinchrom Skyports were launched back in 2007, they were my go to remote for the start of my flash photography. Fast forward to 2016 and Elinchrom have totally redesigned the Skyports in the form of the new Elinchrom Skyport Plus – so what’s new and how do they compare to the older speed units? Luckily I’ve been able to purchase a pair (these things are quite hard to find at the moment!) to try them out and see what’s what!
The Refreshed and Updated Elinchrom Skyport System
Last month I updated my lighting equipment to the new Elinchrom ELB with HS head and their brand new HS remote for Nikon. This allows me to now shoot at 1/8000th with ease! Nothing to set-up just pop on the hot shoe, turn on the ELB and remote, then you’re good to go. Simple has never been so easy. However one thing I didn’t allow for when I bought into the Elinchrom system again was how I was going to fire my Nikon SB-910s?! On my very shoot with the ELB I tried to simply but the SB-910 into SU-4 mode (a built in optical slave mode on the Nikon system) this kind of worked however I was so used to using a faster flash duration for shooting skateboarding, I didn’t know at the time to turn the flash to 1/1 power as you need to have a longer flash duration for hi-sync photography.
Once I worked out how to add my smaller speedlights into my hi-sync photography, I still needed a way to fire them, especially when out on location! When I took a trip to London in February I paid a trip to the guys at The Flash Centre and bought an Elinchrom Skyport Speed receiver. The perfect tool to finally fire my speedlights without using line of sight. However after using the Speed receiver for a while I was getting frustrated with the unit! Unlike my PocketWizards I used to use before switch my main flash lighting, the Elinchrom receiver has an on/off multi press button that also enables speed mode……could I get the unit to turn off after a shoot!?! I would press the button twice, three times, enable speed, back to normal then finally it would turn off! Maybe it was something I was doing, however it used to drive my a little crazy, you’d think the units off but then that green light starts flashing again! Good job Elinchrom a month later launched the Elinchrom Skyport Plus, a new improved receiver and a completely overhauled look.
First Impressions of the Elinchrom Skyport Plus Receiver
Seeing as what everyone loves to see when a new product comes out is an unboxing video, I thought the other morning I’d film a quick little timelaspe so the unboxing it’s over and done with! The box itself is very much the same the Skyport HS transmitter box, white with a very clean design with the unit sitting in the middle taking centre stage. For the quick unboxing here’s the Instagram post showing what’s inside.
As you can see briefly, you have a few leaflets which are the Warranty, Safety Instructions and Quick Start Guide. Below that is the main unit and underneath Elinchrom provide you with a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, a 3.5mm to 6.35mm adapter and wrist strap. The Elinchrom Skyport Plus Receiver also has a nice hot shoe cover so when you’re not using it can protect the contacts, it’s those little attention to details that Elinchrom really think about!
Features
Compared to the original Skyports the new Elinchrom Skyport Plus Receivers have added soo much more but without going over the top. The unit is a lot more visual – turn on the Skyport and you have a flash of colour along the side of the unit green then red then you’re ready to go. Changing the group and channel is a simple button press and again you see it visually on the remote. To change the mode to SPEED hold down the mode selection and now the unit flashes red, telling you the Skyport is set into the speed mode, hold it down again and you get a green flash back to normal.
The bottom of the Elinchrom Skyport Plus Receiver has a metal mounted 1/4″ thread so now you can just screw the unit directly onto a lightstand or tripod if you’re mounting a speedlight flash to the remote. You can as well if you’re using the remote with a different flash hang the Skyport via the wrist strap cord as you could previously. As this is a totally universal remote as long as you’ve got the right cable, any flash unit or system can work.
Another massive plus and something that Elinchrom have really thought about is adding a USB port to the side of the unit. Like on the ELB pack and Skyport HS everything is fully update able. No matter if new units come out or Elinchrom change or add a new feature, this remote is able to be kept up to date again using the Elinchrom EL Software.
Real World Performance
I’ve been using the Elinchrom Skyport Plus Receivers on the last few shoots I’ve had and I must say I can’t fault them! Never missed a flash, so easy and simple to set up plus now I can add my extra Nikon SB-910’s into hi-sync photography – it’s opening up a massive world of flexible shooting. Compared to the older Skyport speed remote it’s no contest which is the better unit.
Below is an example shot from a recent fitness photo shoot shot down at The Gym in Gloucester. The main light was an Elinchrom ELB in a 70cm deep octa box and then one SB-910 as a rim light.
Conclusion
Overall I’m so happy with everything Elinchrom has developed and thought about in the new Skyport Plus remote. Those little touches make all the difference to the complete package and producing a universal flash remote that performers right when you need it!
So thank you Elinchrom as you’ve made myself one very happy customer. Now to get out and push this flash photography more and see where the creative takes me.
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Hi Matt,
Do you know if the Elinchrom D-Lite 4 will work with the Nikon D750 in Hi sync mode? Any any downsides, if so? Elinchrom mentions it’s camera dependent, but couldn’t find which ones were compatible. Plus I assume I would need the Skyport Pro as you previously mentioned.
Thanks again
Can you get HSS for the SB800 using the Transmitter Plus and this receiver or does it have to be the HS version.of the transmitter?
The only way to get HSS is via the Skyport Pro transmitter. You’d have to make sure you have the correct one for your camera system as Elinchrom do specific models per camera brand
Hope that helps
Thanks
Matt
Many thanks Matt, that’s great..🙂
Hi there, very nice review
My concern is iv I equipped the skyport plus receiver with another trigger will it trigger the flashes connected to that trigger
For example I put Canon trigger st-e3 on elinchrom plus receiver will the signal from elinchrom trigger on camera to receiver trigger the other flashes by that trigger on receiver plus
I hope you try that theory and feed us back as it will open a lot of creatively and we can use other brands that we already have
Thanks
Thanks for the comment, I’m just trying to work out what you’re trying to do with the triggering. So you want a receiver to have the Canon ST-E3 on top to then fire Canon flashes?
Let me know so I can hopefully figure out what you’re trying to achieve
All the best
Matt
Yes that right, as I already have the Canon trigger st-e3-RT and have Canon flashes. so by adding Canon trigger on skyport plus reciever can I integrated both system and use both of them
by the way I already try the Canon st-e3-RT on my camera and put the elinchrom pro trigger on yongnuo receiver that compitable with canon st-e3-RT and it works
Imagine if I put all my other triggers(canon & godox) on skyport plus reciever and they work it will let me use different brands alltogethr
Hello Matt, really glad to read your great review. Btw can godox speedlight and yongnuo speed light work together with elinchrom ranger quadra/elb400 if i use el skyport receiver + wl skyport plus HS? Thank you
Hi,
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment! You might be able to use the Godox and Yongnuo speedlights however, as I found with my Nikon SB-910 I had to fire these at full power 1/1. The reason for this is due to the fact the HS needs a longer flash burn (duration), which when you’re shooting with speedlights, tends to be at the max power. The Elinchrom HS head has a longer duration is 1/600th – comparing that to Nikon SB-910’s duration – 1/880 sec. at M 1/1 (full) output
I hope that helps? If you have anymore questions then feel free to get in touch!
Thanks
Matt
Hi Matt,
Can you advise how to put the EL Skyport Receiver Plus into Update mode as I’ve searched online and on the Elincrom site without success.
Hi Anthony,
I’ve never seen a firmware update for the receiver only the Plus HS transmitter – http://www.elinchrom.com/support/firmware-release-notes.html
I’ll try and plug my receiver plus units into the Elinchrom software tonight. Just seen there’s a new Plus HS update :D
Thanks
Matt
Hi Anthony,
I’ve just tried connecting my Plus receiver to the Elinchrom software and there are no updates on offer. All I did was connect the unit via USB, power on the receiver, loaded up the Elinchrom software and it found the unit – no issues. Hope that helps you out? If you have any other questions then please let me know.
Thanks again
Matt
Hi Matt,
I am using new skyport plus HS transmitter with my elinchrom lighs and would like to trigger other brands speed lights.
Can you adjust speed ligt power from sky port plus HS, as receiver have only one pin?
Hi there,
Unfortunately you have to control the power from the speed light itself. The Skyport HS receivers don’t appear on the HS transmitter, and the receiver is only there to fire whatever is on top.
Hope that helps you out. If you have any other questions then feel free to get in touch.
Thanks
Matt
Second question, do the receivers use AA or AAA batteries? All the specs on their site says AA, but a reviewer on B&H Photo stated that this is incorrect and they actually use AAA batteries. Can you confirm? Seems like a small point, but to me it would be a huge pain in the butt to have to carry a second type of battery with me when everything else uses AA!
I can 100% confirm it’s 2x AA batteries. Same as the Skyport HS transmitter. I’ve had a set of Eneloops in since had mine and never needed to replace them so far.
Hope that helps and clears up anything you’re unsure about
Thanks. That’s a shame, I hope they add a bit more functionality to bring the two systems together a bit.
Do these new receivers show up on the screen of the Skyport HS trigger?
Hi Dan,
At the moment the new Skyports don’t show up on the HS LCD screen. It’s something I’ve asked Elinchrom about. I know the older universal Skyport Speed used to appear on the LCD, however you can’t control anything it just says the units on.
Maybe in an update they might change this seeing as the HS remote has a built in USB.
I hope that helps you out.
Thanks for the review! I have a sb900 and sb600. Do you know if they’d both work in high sync with this receiver? Before I bought the ELB400 kit I used yongnuo triggers and receivers and they worked. Thanks again!
Good Afternoon, as long as you have a slow flash duration both those flashes should work fine. I’m using the SB-910 at the moment and to use with hi-sync you have to fire the flash at 1/1 power.
Hope that helps you out. Any further questions than please get in touch.
Thanks
Matt