Photography News 04

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MANFROTTO LIGHTING

Manfrotto Spectra LEDs light the way Manfotto’s range of LED lighting gear opens doors for creative photographers

For photographers, the lighting landscape has changed dramatically over the last few years. In the past, studio photographers were restricted to large flash units and videographers had to make do with bulky, unconvincing continuous light set- ups that made shooting on location more like military manoeuvres. Fast-forward to today and Manfrotto is leading the way with high-quality LED lighting and its Spectra series offers both still photographers and videographers the perfect universal tool. Why should you run the rule over the Spectra series? Well, let’s start with the most important feature of all – safety. Manfrotto has gone to great lengths to make the Spectra series the safest LED lights on the market. Laboratory tests have confirmed the safety of using Spectra lights with live subjects – stating categorically that Spectra lights do not damage retinas. What’s more, the Spectra lights have been designed to be cool to the touch. Any heat is dissipated away from the unit, which means you will never have to worry about burnt fingertips again – when was the last time you could say that about a studio flash unit? Safety is important, of course, but so is performance and this is where the Spectra series of LED lights comes into its own. The LED lights offer excellent colour rendition – you won’t need to spend hours messing about with white-balance settings trying to correct horrific yellow colour casts when you use a Spectra light. What’s more, there is no colour shift when the photographer dims the lights to whatever level they deem suitable. Each LED is guaranteed to perform to the same level, so you won’t be in a situation where one side of the panel is brighter than the other. Videographers will be pleased to hear that the Spectra lights are flicker free at any shutter angle or frame rate so no distracting flickers will be visible in your footage and the lights run silently, so audio won’t be compromised either.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect that will really make the difference to photographers and videographers is the size and portability of the Spectra LEDs. In days gone by, photographers would need extra cases to transport a continuous light set-up, but the Spectra series will slip into your photo bag alongside your camera and lenses. The compact designmeans that the lights are just 45mm deep, which is sure to appeal to videographers, especially those who need to squeeze their way to the front of a press conference. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the compact design compromises performance though – using alkaline AA batteries, the Spectra lights have an average lifespan of one and a half hours and up to a whopping seven hours with lithium batteries. Plus, there is an optional mains adaptor for extended studio situations. There are five models in the Spectra line-up – starting with the smallest, the 500S and topping out with the 900FT. The Spectra LEDs can be mounted to light stands for off-camera, creative lighting set- ups or mounted on top of the camera using the hotshoe adaptor for a more portable approach.

The Spectra lights offer excellent colour rendition. What’smore there is no colour shiftwhen the photographer dims them

π To find out more, go to www.manfrotto.co.uk.

IMAGES Flicker free, silent and compact – Spectras could be the ideal light to slip into your kitbag.

SPECTRA 500S

SPECTRA 500F

SPECTRA 900S

SPECTRA 900F

SPECTRA 900FT

www.photography-news.co.uk

Issue 4 | Photography News

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