A few years back Rosco were faced with a problem. With the rise of off camera flash use, many photographers discovered the free Rosco sample gel pack. What began as a service for studio owners and stage managers, soon turned into an “unlimited” supply of gel packs for photographer. Of course being a business Rosco could not continue and supply the world with free gels (impacting both their own operation and creating a shortage with paying customers). Rosco dealt with this situation pretty cleverly, creating the Strobist Gel Pack along with David Hobby. It was a very cool kit at a very affordable (~$10) price. It was one of those things that never left my camera bag (we did a short fun review here) we reviewed it here (and here).

While the kit was a great solution to a real problem, it was not a polished product. And this is what Rosco are fixing today. We met Frank Lambrechts, product manager for Rosco and he explains the change for us. Rosco Gel Packs are what strobist kit what might have been Rosco had more time to think about a solution rather than being overwhelmed by demand and needing to come up with a quick solution to satisfy the market. [Read More…]