Buyers’ guide
See the lights
Flash or continuous, investing in lighting kit canmake a huge difference to your photography. Here are some great options that will see you right
ADDING YOUR OWN light to a picture is one of the biggest steps you can take in photography. It’s all about taking control and achieving your creative vision. With lighting, whether it’s flash or continuous, the results you can achieve are only limited by what you can imagine. You can use it subtly, to augment the available light, or with greater impact, so the look of the image is determined only by the light you push into it.
Either way, lighting doesn’t need to be difficult. Digital cameras make it easy, because whether you’re looking through an EVF to see the effect of LED lighting, or checking results on screen with flash, it can be a simple matter of trial and error until you get the look you want – many of the models listed here even come with automatic control of flash power through TTL metering. So, take a look to see what you can add to your photography.
Price: £199
rotolight.com
Once leagues apart, Rotolight’s Neo 2 brings flash and continuous lighting together in an ingenious, easy-to-use and lightweight package. In a single unit, you get all the advantages of working with continuous light, where you can shoot just as you would with available lighting, but with the flick of a button you can switch into High Speed Sync flash mode, giving up to f/8 at ISO 200 and a distance of 1m. That means there’s no recycle time to speak of and, just like a regular flash, you can work with the unit off-camera, triggering up to a range of 200m. The Neo 2 comes with a range of modifiers, including gels that slip easily into the front of the unit, but the LED lighing is also controllable between 3150K and 6300K in both continuous and flash mode. Running off the mains, six AA batteries or a DTaP cell, it weighs only 354g and measures 14.5x5cm, so will slip easily into most camera backpacks, despite having a handy hotshoe and tripod mount built in. Rotolight Neo 2 LED
Price: £1795
profoto.com/uk
Price: £699
bowens.co.uk
Bowens XMT500 flash
Want to get creative with flash on location? Then take a look at Bowens’ XMT500. Its maximum 500Ws output can be controlled across nine stops of adjustment in 1/3 stop increments, and as a battery-powered, all-in-one flash, it needs no external power supply, meaning there’s no large battery pack to lug around, but you’ll still get up to 500 full power flashes from a single charge. The XMT500 includes full TTL control, so you can shoot quickly without manual metering, and a High Speed Sync mode up to 1/8000sec, compatible with Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras. And with flash durations as fast as 1/10,309sec, you’ll be able to freeze motion with ease. Recycle times are rapid, from just 0.01sec to a maximum of 2secs, and the Strobe mode fires up to 100 flashes in a single burst. It also comes with a foldaway stand mount and an integrated reflector, so you can shoot with no additional modifiers.
Profoto B10 Plus AirTTL
The Profoto B10 was a genuine breakthrough in flash, providing superb quality and plenty of power in a cordless package not much bigger than a camera lens. And now Profoto has followed up that success with the B10 Plus. At 23.5cm and 1.9kg, the new light is only slightly longer and a little heavier than the original, but delivers twice the power, with a 500Ws output adjustable over ten stops. Recycle times are 0.05 to 2.5s at full power, and you’ll get up to 200 flashes off a full charge, or well over 1000 in general use. Using Profoto’s AirTTL remote, the B10 and B10 Plus offer TTL and HSSmodes, with full wireless control, and there’s also a 2500 lm continuous light with 10-100%power adjustment and colour temperature control from3000 to 6500K in 500K steps. But best of all, it’s really easy to use, so even complete novices can be up and running inminutes.
30 Photography News | Issue 74
photographynews.co.uk
Powered by FlippingBook