Photography News Issue 51

Photography News | Issue 51 | photographynews.co.uk

32 Accessories test

Lights fantastic Start the new year with some fresh lighting gear and see how it can improve your photography Buyers’ guide

ElinchromD-Lite RX 2/2 Umbrella kit Providing a complete and classy flash set-up straight out of the box, Elinchrom’s D-Lite RX 2/2 Umbrella kit comes with: two RX 2 heads; two stands; two 85cm umbrellas (one a silver bounce type, and the other a shoot-through model); two 16cmreflectors; a translucent deflector; a Skyport Plus trigger; cables; anda bag to store it all in. Phew! Andof course, there’sElinchrom’s huge rangeof light shapers toexpand into, too. TheRX2heads themselves have a robust design and cover five stops of power, taking you from 12 to 200Ws in variable steps (from 1/1 to 1/10), while recycle time at full power is a respectable 1.2secs. A built-in EL-Skyport receiver is used for wireless triggering and in Speed Syncmode you can shoot at up to 1/320sec. £599 elinchrom.com

GodoxWitstro AD200 The Witstro AD200 is a location flash system with plenty of exciting features. Available for Canon, Nikon and Sony cameras, it’s powered by a lithium-ion battery giving a maximumoutput of 200Ws. It’s adjustable down to 1/128 power in 1/3 increments and can fire up to 500 shots at full power. There are three main flash modes: TTL, manual and stroboscopic; and high speed sync (HSS) is also offered up to 1/8000sec, while flash duration is as fast as 1/13,000sec. For triggering there’s a built-in Godox 2.4GHz X-system receiver, allowing you to fire it from up to 100m when using Godox or Lencarta radio triggers. The head of the flash can be used as a bare bulb, givingawide spreadof light, or a fresnel attachment can be added for spotlight effects. Other modifiers are also available. £267 godox.co.uk

Profoto A1 Dubbed ‘the world’s smallest studio light’, Profoto’s A1 flashgun uses a distinctive rounded zoom head that gives a natural looking light with a smooth and soft fall-off. Other light shapers can be addedusing amagneticmount, and a dome diffuser, wide lens andbounce cardare included. The light has aProfotoAirRemote built in so it canbeused at ranges up to 300m; it also integrates perfectly with other Profoto lights like the B2, and as well as full manual control, can be used in TTL or high speed sync modes. Using a Lithium-ion battery, it has a maximum output of 76Ws controllable across nine stops in 0.1EV steps, a recycle time of up to 1.2sec, and delivers up to 350 flashes at full power. £849 profoto.com

Pixapro Lumi 400 II Twin Softbox Kit If you want an ideal studio lighting starter set, look no further than Pixapro’s Lumi 400 II twin kit. The kit contains two Lumi 400 II flash heads, two 200cm lighting stands, two 60x90cm softboxes, a trigger, bulbs, cables, and a rolling case to put themall in; perfect for events, portraits, baby shoots, still-life and product work. A set with one softbox and one brolly is also available. The 400Ws heads give plenty of punch and have a minimum flash duration of 1/2000sec if you need to freeze motion. Power is adjustable across six stops (1/1-1/32) in 1/5 increments and the recycle time is a respectable 1.2secs at full power. You can fire the flashes using an old fashioned sync lead, in slavemode, or wirelessly using the included ProACWireless flash trigger. £385 essentialphoto.co.uk

Hahnel Modus 600RT Hahnel’s Modus 600RT kit is a speedy, full-featured and affordable flashgun. Thanks to its powerful Hahnel Extreme lithium-ion battery, the 600RT has a guide number of 60 (ISO 100, 200mm), a recycle time of 1.5sec at full power, andwill give up to 600 shots at its maximum output, or over 1000 at half power. The flash has a built-in 2.4GHz wireless receiver/transmitter and a Viper TTL trigger is included with the flash, so you can fire it from up to 100m, or use it to control other flashes. The 600RT can be firedmanually, using TTLmetering, or in stroboscopicmode, on or off camera, and it’s available in Canon, Nikon and Sony fits. £269 Hahnel.ie