Profoto has announced the launch of its new B1X off-camera flash, a model that follows the maker's B1 model. According to Profoto's website, 'This isn't an update, this is a significant replacement with improvements in three important areas; power, power and power.'
The Profoto B1X boasts an 80% greater light output, as well as a battery that has 50% greater capacity able to power 325 full-power flashes per charge. The company explains that its new model offers 'the widest HSS range available on any flash,' saying it is capable of sync speeds up to 1/8000sec with 9 f-stop power range. The B1X supports both manual mode and TTL, and likewise features a high-resolution display and a 3kg / 6.6lb weight.
As much as I like the top brands equipment, I am going away from Broncolor and loving the very useful Godox AD600. The super light weight remote head extension allows boom mounting or hand held over head lighting, which is not possible with any of these big mono blocks. So tired of the price gauging by the big brands. Example; Broncolor knows the Godox ( well whoever makes their products) transmitters are capable, they rebrand them and triple the price. Reflectors, long throw bowls, albeit better made, the big brands are like 5-10X the price. Grids, same. You could say supply and demand. Exactly why most new users will opt for the excellent Asian models coming out, demand is high and supply just right. While there will still be demand for big brands, it is going down, as the new options are appealing.
This phenomenon isn't unique to the lighting market. In many industries there's a big divide between high-quality high-priced big brands and the more generic and way cheaper (often Chinese) alternatives. And the price-quality relation between those groups is never linear. So you could argue, why pay 3x the price for e.g. 50% more performance?
But let's not forget this is often possible because the big brands put in all the R&D, and the Chinese brands just reverse-engineer the heck out of what they can get their hands on. If everyone bought only the "cheap" brands, innovation would quickly come to an end.
Very true. Colour consistency is thanks to Profoto and or Broncolor R&D, patented, and the real difference. I don't want to think that technologies are only reverse engineering, rather the opposite. In the east, where most hardware is made, they are extremely progressive in developing hardware in their own right. Godox, Jinbei etc are fine examples of that. The big brands that do R&D for perfecting their products beyond what the entry price level can provide still are buying technologies from the east. Example; Broncolor triggers are in fact made by whoever makes Godox, as they are as good or better than anything else. Problem though is Broncolor charges 3x the price for putting their stamp on the device.
Yes, but only at lower power settings and for a short amount of time. But that's just for fps per se - it hasn't got a stroboscopic mode for long exposures.
Good to see efforts being put towards monolights. The light-and-pack concept is antiquated and should've been put to pasture a decade ago. No one should have to shoot today with cords running all over the place, and the industry (looking at you Broncolor and Profoto) should be ashamed of itself for peddling lame battery packs with a cord running to the strobe all these years. Ridiculous!
Ok, so now we basically still have the same 500ws strobe, with a better modeling light and a higher capacity battery, etc.. At least improvements are being made, which I hope includes more rugged and reliable internals. Too bad no support for Pentax. Perfect real-world example of why it's great to have Nikon/Canon gear to fall back on. This is the kind of stuff Ricoh needs to be addressing if they want to produce and support professional cameras.
Could we keep a few cabled pack and head combinations? Please? Just for the times when I don't want a heavy head on top of a stand. Or more power from single head. Or tiny footprint. I own five monoblocs yet choose pack/head combos when required.
Would you rather hang a 4kg monolight on a boom extended 3-4ft, or a 1kg head where the pack can act as a weight to stabilize the light stand, and keep the controls close to the ground at the same time?
Pack/head are the norm on commercial ad work. It's not like sets aren't already messy. Putting a bunch of weight in the air isn't great for a lot of reasons - you don't really want to boom one of these lights. Even on a regular stand the top heaviness means you need to bag the stand with extra weight... kind of undoes the convenience. And its only 500 w/s... that's just not enough for a big set or outdoors and shooting through a scrim on a sunny day.
@nachos, I'm familiar with both packs and monolights. Each has it's advantage, and you're right, moonlights on a stand with their high polar moment can lead to expensive incidents (I know from experience). I agree with you on power... 500ws is puny on location unless you're relatively close to your subject unless you just need some fill. I'd like to think (hope) that these snap-in battery lights will get a good bit more powerful than the current 800ws Brons. I hope they sell like hotcakes to encourage innovation.
A 2400 or even a 1600ws light w/internal battery sure could make life easier on location for a lot of shooters. I'm sure the lights will get lighter, far more efficient and eventually make "sync speeds" essentially a thing of the past. I agree; Advantages with both types. I do think we'll see a time where packs are no longer relevant. Whether I live to see that day is to be determined.
Correction: "The Profoto B1X boasts an 80% greater light output at the equivalent of a 130w halogen,.
What was meant is that the new LED modeling light is as bright as a 130w Halogen. In terms of flash, at 500 w-s the B1 (and the B1x) at a shutter-speed of 1/125th put out approx. the equivalent of a theoretical 7500~10,000 watt Quartz-Halogen lamp.
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