In 2016 I made a video comparing the Profoto B1 and Godox AD600. Since then both models have had an updated release and Broncolor has also released the Siros 800 and 400. I decided to put all three models head to head to help people decide which is the best option. I compare these 3 models because they are very high powered lights that feature an attached battery, remote power control, and all of the features that photographers look for in a strobe designed for location-based work.
Why I switched from Profoto to Godox
It was time to upgrade my entire lighting system. My Profoto Compact heads {in perfect working condition} we coming up on their 10th anniversary. In my Profoto arsenal, I had two 300 w/s heads, one 600 w/s head, and an Acute B600R. Advances in flash technology in the past years have brought HSS, TTL, {wireless} radio triggers into the mainstream {no more need for Pocket Wizards} and portability and long battery life in the form of Lithium-Ion battery packs.
Only two years ago Godox was still taking baby steps in the strobe arena. Today, they have, IMHO, the most affordable and comprehensive cordless, radio triggered, strobe and lighting ecosystem on the market.
How to get that $10,000+ lighting setup look with a $425 speedlight kit
I’m in a lot of flash and lighting groups on Facebook, and the amount of gear lust shown in them often surprises me. As do the excuses people come up with as to why the light in their images doesn’t look as well as it could. The vast majority of the time, the lighting inadequacies aren’t down to the gear they use, but the application of it.
Sure, there are times when the lighting gear absolutely matters. Just as the camera & lens used are equally as important. But having cheaper equipment is not an excuse to not get great shots. This video from Patrick Hall over at FStoppers proves this extremely well, putting $10,000 worth of Profoto gear up against $425 worth of speedlight kit.
2017 DIYP Gift Guide – Lighting
So, you’ve got your camera and your lenses, but now what? The days are getting shorter, and darker, potentially limiting what you can shoot, and for how long. Even when the weather is great and the days are long, the available light doesn’t always give you what you want and you want to augment it or obliterate it completely.
So, here we’ve put together some of our favourite lights and lighting accessories, including quite a few that we use ourselves on a regular basis for both photography and video work.
Hands on review of the new Profoto A1 – Natural beautiful light. Easy to Use. Never miss a shot.
We all know and love the legendary lighting manufacturer that is Profoto. For decades, they have produced and supported the most durable, powerful, and consistent lighting equipment for professional photographers around the world. In recent years, they have pushed the lighting industry forward with the introduction of the B1 and B2 and their OCF system.
These new lights have changed the way photographers work by allowing for unheard of flexibility and mobility. Ever the innovator, Profoto has given us something we’ve always wanted, but never thought to ask for.
The $995 Profoto A1 speedlight is now official and here’s the first review
The Profoto A1 speedlight we told you about a few days ago is now official. And yes, it’s just as expensive as we expected. At $995 buyers will have a pretty high level of expectation from this little flash. But it looks like it will stand up to the job just fine, and fits nicely into the existing Profoto ecosystem.
It looks to be about what you’d expect from a speedlight made by Profoto. But, what’s particularly interesting about it, is the shape of the head. But not only the shape, it appears to essentially have its own built in MagMod style accessory system. This review from photographer Neil van Niekerk walks us through the unit, its specs, features and capabilities.
Photos show Profoto is expanding their range with first ever speedlight
Well, this is an exciting bit of news. It looks like Profoto will soon be announcing their first hotshoe flash. Yes, that’s right, a Profoto speedlight. It’s a bold, but inevitable, move, I think. The existing flash companies have to do something to survive and compete, or they disappear. There’s so much more gear available now, and a lot more pressure on companies to innovate and really deliver what users want instead of what the company simply wants to sell.
Profoto teams up with Fujifilm to bring TTL & HSS to Fuji cameras
Well, they may have been lagging a little behind Godox and Cactus, but Profoto have finally caught up. Profoto have announced a new Fuji compatible Air Remote TTL-F trigger. And whereas Cactus and Godox had to reverse engineer their compatibility, this trigger is made in collaboration with Fujifilm themselves.
The Profoto AirTTL system was first announced in 2013. It was a pretty fantastic thing back then. Now that cross-compatibility outside of Nikon and Canon is well and truly here to stay, it’s nice to see Fuji getting some love from the higher end names in flash.
Profoto’s new B1X offers bigger battery, brighter modelling light, and full range of power in HSS
Profoto are calling the B1X the “new benchmark for on-location lighting”. And if it’s true, then it’s about time. Given that the $600 Godox AD600 seemed to keep up with the triple-the-cost Profoto B1 just fine, they sure needed to do something. And so they have.
The new Profoto B1X has a bigger battery, brighter modelling light and increased power range when shooting high speed sync. And it keeps the same price as its B1 predecessor.
How to use gridded strip softboxes as your main light source
When it comes to setting up flash for a portrait, one might usually grab a big octabox or beauty dish. Normally, we wouldn’t consider something like a strip softbox. Strip softboxes are typically relegated to rim light duties. But they can also be extremely effective as a main light source.
In this Profoto Tiny Talk, photographer Neil van Niekerk talks us through how he uses his gridded strip softboxes for lighting portraits. He describes it as the most powerful tool he has both on location and in the studio. And, indeed, it is an extremely versatile modifier.
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