Profoto has announced the release of the OCF Adapter, a new adapter that makes it possible to use all of Profoto’s OCF light shaping tools with any of its A-series flash units.
Image credit: Profoto
The OCF Adapter looks similar to many other speedlight to speedring adapters: it has a coldshoe mount for securely attaching a Profoto A-series flash and a mounting point for any of Profoto’s OCF light shaping tools, which the head of the flash fits into. Profoto has over a dozen OCF light shaping tools, including the OCF Magnum Reflector, a 24” OCF Beauty Dish, an array of OCF Grids and plenty of OCF Gel attachments.
The unit isn’t necessarily small (120mm (4.7”) wide, 280mm (11”) tall and 90mm (3.5) deep), but it’s certainly a more compact solution than carrying around a larger monolight when an A-series flash will get the job done with an OCF light shaping tool. Below is a hands-on with the OCF Adapter by Adorama:
Being Profoto, it shouldn’t come as a surprise the OCF Adapter isn’t cheap. The 750g (1.65lb) piece of plastic and metal will set you back $299 (Adorama, B&H). For a little context, Godox/Flashpoint’s Profoto A1 knock-off can be purchased, with accessories, for $229 (Godox at B&H, Flashpoint at Adorama).
Hasselblad used to try and sell a £60 basic usb 3 cable.
Once you see a brand overcharge so heavily for something you know the real value of then any faith that their expensive lenses or cameras must be superior because they are expensive is severely damaged.
For the price of a new A10, we have two AD300 Pro and a V1, enough to make a very nice external reporting light. With accessories at $300, Profoto is even more likely to shoot itself a bullet in the foot.
Hensel is not much cheaper, and if you think Profoto or Hensel are expensive take a look at Briese or Broncolor. These are the quality brands for professionals for decades and they are and always were worth their money that is why they stay in business. The brands that didn't survive were the cheaper ones.
If you don't need color accuracy and reliability, have clients that only are looking for cheap photos and don't care about quality at all, of course then these Brands will look expensive for you because you don't need what they offer. But if you do, Godox suddenly will look insanely expensive. Just imagine having to hire an additional graphic designer whose only job is to correct the colours of each shot you make. I could buy a Profoto studio head with accesoirs every month for that money...
This comment is just silly. Godox is seeing widespread adoption among professionals and they are certainly not having to hire extra people for color correction. In addition for scenarios where color really is that critical, Godox Pro line in color stable mode has been shown to at least as consistent as Broncolor and Profoto, none of which are perfect. In HSS the gap widens some, but it does so for all and that sort of color-critical work is rarely going to be done in HSS anyway.
Well yes, anybody who does register Photography as business does technically count as a professional. But that is not what the Pro term reefers to. I don't know anybody who is at a level where equipment is critical who dares to use Godox, and I know why because I tried their products so I don't give a darn what is written on the internet or what their marketing says when I see a green tint in the light created by the Godox flash then it is freaking off colour. Well yes again: technically it is as consistent as Profoto because every shot has an equally bad light spectrum and that is why I try products myself and don't go for marketing promises. Also while portraits usually don't have to be colour critical I still consider healthy skin tones as a minimum requirement. Godox is a classic example of you get exactly what you pay for, so is Profoto, Hensel and Briese. Broncolor and Elinchrom not so much, both are overpriced for what they deliver, but hey, they are Swiss...
hilarious. every time profoto release something new at their ridiculous prices posters every site throw a monkey wrench into their plan and bring up godox.
the price difference is unreal. Ive not seen any photographer in weddings use profoto gear. godox and yongnuo, at least 80%. the rest use oem, a few have used pixel or even shanny.
Ive never heard from a photographer in my country that godox has let them down. I have $55 yongnuo 560III/IV flashes (used on stands at edge of dance floor) that have never let me down. theyve even been tipped over..needed some surgery but work.
I use a Profoto A1X and B1X and it is indeed a very reliable equipment that I can rely on. On the other hand, for 1100$, you can get a great Godox V1s equipment + 2 Ad300 pro. For me, personally, it really makes me think about it. If I hadn't invested so much in Profoto lighting and accessories, I would go to Godox without any second thoughts because it's also very good equipment.
The price difference is not that unreal although yes Godox is insanely overpriced for what they deliver.
Therefore as a professional, I couldn't afford working with Godox and Profoto and Hensel because it's so much cheaper in the long run. If I bought Godox gear I could do one job with it, 2nd Job I'd already lose money compared to Hensel or Profoto gear.
This adapter is indeed a very good idea ... but this price level is just crazy (300€ in Europe with VAT). Profoto marketing department is just going nuts!
This adapter should cost quite less than 10$ to produce (with transport from Asia). So even at 50% "discount", this would be too expensive.
But the most funny thing would be that Godox copy this (once again) and sell it for 1/10 of this suggested price ;-) !
Godox has had brackets that do the same thing (but better), for 1/10 of the price, for years now. They also had a seamless speedlight/monolight ecosystem that worked great long before profoto did.
Well, it's hard to assess that Godox did some innovation in case of their "V1" speedlight flash: - Godox "V1" release: March 2019. - Profoto "A1" release: September 2017. Godox did copy every single detail ... up to the product name style!
Regarding the bracket, you are perfectly right, they have the product below (made in plastic though), which was released in February 2014. It is indeed sold at 25$ on Amazon (1/12 of the Profoto price!): http://www.godox.com/EN/Products_S_type_Speedlite_Bracket.html
Profoto A10 is $1,095, Profoto OCF adapter $299, for another $300 you can have the B10 with more power and no bulky adapter to keep up with! You will also be able to use both OCF and Rfi modifiers. I can deal with the high price of their strobes and speed lights; but their light modifiers and accessories are no longer my go to light shapers, the cost/value comparison no longer works for me.
At $299 I'm not sure why you would buy this. There are so many options at near 1/10 the cost. Even if you are vested in the ecosystem there are adapters that will work.
I am baffled. Surely it would make more sense for Profoto to hire Godox to make a Profoto mount version of the S2. Even if Godox charged Profoto a 50% premium over the retail price of the S2, wouldn’t Profoto have been able mark the price by 150 or 200% and, at least in theory, would be able to sell more because of the lower price?
This speedlight bracket does have one USP - the native Profoto mount for modifiers, if that's what you have. But that aside, the price is in cloud-cuckoo-land, the Godox equivalent will accept any speedlight, has the popular Bowens modifier mount, and the umbrella shaft is as close as possible to the flash head axis. On the Profoto version, they could hardly be further apart and a long way from optimum.
We need to consider *where* outfits like Profoto are based. Look at the onerous tax burdens they operate under. Look at how well they compensate their Swedish employees. Then, compare their products to outfits like Godox under that same light (sorry, couldn't resist).
Yes, Profoto are expensive, as are; Phase One, Broncolor, Sinar, etc. there's a theme here.
On a side note, It always amazes me how that little (overtaxed) Australian outfit Blackmagic manages to constantly kick the big boys arses, over and over.
At Photosection.... I can respect a company wanting to pay their employees well. But we photographers, especially this year, are looking out for our bottom line too. And while Swedes have a heavy tax burden, it's offset by the socialized medical and education system. Besides, Apple is made in China and their phones still cost more than an entry level DSLR made in Thailand.
@m_black Scandihoovia is therefore uber expensive to live or visit, its a knock-on effect, even Mickey D's will break the bank. Most professional photographers I've known (full time pro's, no other income) have run Profoto, Bron, Sinar, etc. and run them into the ground, then had them repaired, and so on. Most these guys, back in the day also drove big cheap (old) Volvo estate cars by default.
As to Apple, they should be made in the USA, for the price they charge, but that's how they've become a trillion dollar company isn't it. At least the Scandihoovians are walking the walk, unlike Apple.
@Photosection Profoto design their products in-house, but you'd have to ask them who actually manufactures it. They've stated that there is no single manufacturer and that they use various suppliers in Europe and Asia. No doubt they move things around from time to time, according to the best deal. Some products are clearly marked Made in China.
Profoto's business model is very typical in that respect, giving them great flexibility. I wouldn't hold that against them for a moment, but it's safe to assume that actual manufacturing costs do not explain their high prices.
@Richard Hopkins This is a great topic for an article for you guys, more akin to something we'd see in Photo District News, but I'm sure you could break it down sufficiently. Why do the poorest photographers (full-time working pros) hold companies like Profoto in such high regard, and why do the well healed amateurs judge them with such disdain, what gives?
I don't think it's a question of professionals vs amateurs anymore, it's now simply about value for money and old attitudes are changing. Everyone agrees that Profoto produces very good products, and they've never been cheap, but just a few years ago Godox burst on the scene with a very strong range of high performance products at way more affordable prices. Godox has re-set the bar and a $300 flash bracket is just not on anymore.
I wonder when Godox releases an equivalent (copycat) of this. :)
This product aside, it's interesting to note that Godox's on-camera V1 flash is about $300, whereas Profoto's A1 (Godox seems to have almost copied the name too) was $1000 at release time. And the Godox is not bad, nor the quality of its light. There are some blind tests in which people prefer the Godox.
Sure, I get that Profoto is the Leica of lighting, flashes and accesssories, and that they're reliable and with very good usability etc.
Godox released the equivalent, allowing Bowens mount modifiers to be used with any speedlight (the S2 bracket) over a year ago. If anything this is a knock off of the S2 bracket but just ten times more expensive.
Godox had their S2 bracket launch over a year ago, and they had their regular S bracket well before that. It seems that Profoto has been playing catch up.
I use and have 2 S2 brackets and they're great, for about $20-smth, but the Profoto $299 one seems smaller and with magnetic attachements.
Oh, and I had almost forgotten that the Godox AD300Pro that I have is a literal knockoff of a Profoto-made similar, compact, cylindrical (300W if I recall well) flash with battery -- in a time in which Godox only had rectangular-section studio lights.
Godox had an awesome ecosystem of speedlights and monolights that worked seamlessly together (along with a bracket that accomplishes the same thing as this one for 1/10 the price) way before profoto did.
The S2 bracket is smaller and lighter: 18X15.3 cm, 414g vs 28X12cm, 750g I don't see any magnetic components other, of course, than the A1 magnetic modifiers.
Godox had an awesome ecosystem of speedlights and monolights that worked seamlessly together (along with a bracket that accomplishes the same thing as this one for 1/10 the price) way before profoto did.
The AD300 Pro is nothing like the Profoto B10s. Just because two companies make strobes doesn't mean one is copying the other. When Westcott released their 400W strobe, they didn't copy anyone, either; no need to accuse. The AD300 Pro came about to maximize Godox's new mount (found first in the AD400 Pro).
I don't claim in a serious way they were copying... but both the AD300 and the V1 were released shortly after the respective similar Profoto products came to the market, and they are very similar.
Godox did have that older, ultra-bulky flash with a flash bulb and round reflector, but the V1 is very similar to the A1, in a lot of respects, and I don't know of a camera brand name to do something similar (there aren't even many first-party on-camera flashes with something else than 4AAs).
I don't know exactly why Godox's V1 is a knock-off of Profoto (and how the later has accomplished it from being banned in Sweden), but for the price difference, I will stick to Godox.
I reply to myself, perhaps V1 isn't banned in Sweden, but Profoto "discouraged" any retailer from selling it if they wanted to keep selling Profoto equipment.
Godox released the V1 shortly after the Profoto A1, they are incredibly similar (the head for instance is friction (fluid) -locked, unlike Canon's, Nikon's flagship flasesh, which are push to rotate/tilt). At that time, there weren't any other "round head" designs. Both have magnetic round accessories, proprietary battery (not 4 AAs) etc.
catylyn - Godox had friction-head speedlights with lithium batteries before profoto. They both copied the magnetic modifiers from MagMod, and a round flash head is hardly original either.
Also, aside from the outer appearance, the main difference is the fresnel lens design, and this is where Godox outshines Profoto by far in terms of light distribution. Not sure about the current Profoto variant, but they didn't even have motor zoom for starters, while Godox has.
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