Photography News Issue 43

Photography News | Issue 43 | absolutephoto.com

38 Accessories test

Buyers’ guide Lighting on location If you want to give your location portraits a lift, add some flash to the mix. Lighting outside of the studio has never been easier or more affordable, but you need the right gear to make it a success. Here’s a good spread of high-quality kit to get you started or improve results from the kit you’ve already got...

Rogue FlashBender 2 XL Pro Reflector (£50)

3 Westcott Rapid Box (£195) This pro-level modifier from Westcott gives beautifully soft and even illumination, even when you’re using your speedlight flash. The softness comes from the double layer of diffusing fabric (which is rated for lights up to 1000Ws), and the shallowness and the size of the box; at 65cm, it’s much larger than most portable modifiers. A screw- in reflector plate can be added for even more diffusion. The Rapid box is also quick to setup and easy to transport, opening and closing like a brolly, and with an aluminium build to keep weight at a minimum. It also comes with a protective, handled carry case. The incorporated bracket can be mounted to any lighting stand, and your speedlight is mounted on top, with height and depth adjustable to suit almost any model. fjwestcott.com Compatible with both Canon and Nikon systems, this speedlight is fully wireless and E-TTL (Canon) or i-TTL (Nikon) compatible, via those systems’ optical triggering. This means you can shoot on or off camera without needing to meter the flash power yourself. Off camera range is up to 15m outdoors and around 20m indoors. The KFL101 also supports handy features such as high-speed sync (HSS) flash – allowing you to shoot faster than the camera’s usual sync speed – and Flash Exposure Bracketing. It has a guide number of 58 (metres at ISO 100, 180mm) and a top recycle rate of 2.3secs at full power. It comes with a padded case, stand, and ‘softbox’ attachment. kenro.co.uk 4 Kenro Speedflash KFL101 speedlight (£95)

The source compared to the subject, the softer the light will look; but the lens on a typical speedlight is not very big at all. To enlarge the source you need a modifier, like the Rogue FlashBender 2 XL Pro reflector. This attaches to the flash by a secure belt and buckle, and when the flash is fired into it, the light is diffused. You can use it on-camera or when firing a flash remotely, and it can be sculpted to refine the throw of light. This XL version measures a generous 33x41cm, so it’s as big as some softboxes, but folds away and weighs only 272g for easy transportation. It’s also compatible with FlashBender XL Pro, including diffusers and grids. colorconfidence.com (£699) Need more power and performance than your speedlight? Then it’s time to upgrade to a pro-quality location flash like Lencarta’s Safari 2 system. The Safari 2 comprises a compact flash head and 600Ws flash generator, both of which are small and light. Power is adjustable over five stops down to 1/32 in 1/3 stop increments and you can get up to 400 full-power flashes per charge (and plenty more at lower settings). It’s triggered with the included Wavesync Commander system, wherein you can also set power. The flash generator is connected to the head by a heavy duty cable of about 3m in length and it uses common S-fit variety. The set also comes with a metal case and a padded carry bag. lencarta.com larger the light 2 Lencarta Safari 2 600Ws location lighting system

Manfrotto Compact Lighting Stand (£69)

Sekonic L-308S Flashmate (£179)

7 Calumet PowerPort Duo 1000 Battery Pack (£135) Speedlights can quickly chew through batteries, losing performance along the way. This can become frustrating as you wait longer and longer for lights to recycle. Try replacing the AAs with a rechargeable powerpack like Calumet’s PowerPort Duo 1000 and you’ll get more flashes and faster, too. Principally designed for use with Calumet’s Genesis GF200 and GF400 flashes, a simple £20 adapter cable (available separately) will connect the pack to your Canon, Metz, Nikon or Sony ’guns. With the Canon 580EX II or Nikon SB-900, the PowerPort Duo 1000 is rated at up to 1800 full-power flashes. Charging time is three hours, and the unit measures 159x133x20mm and weighs only 500g. calphoto.co.uk

Invest in a good quality lighting stand and you’ll be paid back by a lifetime of service. Manfrotto’s Compact Stand (MN1052BAC) is a great example; its maximum load of 5kg means you can support both monolights and regular flashguns, and thanks to the 109cm spread of its legs, it’s a very stable platform, too. The stand extends to a maximum height of 237cm, and at its lowest, it’s 101cm, so light placement is versatile. Strong twist locks hold each section securely, and much like a tripod, the leg angles can be set using a rotating selector. The closed length is 86cm and if you havemultiple stands they can be attached to each other for transportation using Manfrotto’s clever Quick Stack System. manfrotto.co.uk

When it comes to working out flash power, you can use trial and error via your digital camera’s screen and histogram, so lighting with flash is certainly a lot easier than it used to be. But for real accuracy you need a flash meter. This will save time both in setting up and editing. Sekonic’s L-308S Flashmate is pocket-sized, light (100g) and affordable. It offers both ambient and flash exposure readings and both incident and reflected light can be measured, with readings displayed full, half or 1/3stops, at an accuracy to +/- 0.1EV. Displayed apertures run from f/0.5 to f/90.9. To make it easy to read in low light, or a dim studio environment, the LCD display uses large icons, and it runs on a single AA battery. sekonic.com