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Profoto’s Powerful B20 and B30 Flashes Add LED for Hybrid Creators https://petapixel.com/2025/06/10/profotos-powerful-b20-and-b30-flashes-are-built-for-demanding-pros/ #portableflash #portablelight #profotob20 #profotob30 #Equipment #monolight #Lighting #lighting #profoto #flash #News

Godox’s New Monolight for Photo and Video Promises Power and Portability https://petapixel.com/2025/03/17/godoxs-new-monolight-for-photo-and-video-promises-power-and-portability/ #Equipment #monolight #Lighting #KNOWLED #m1000r #godox #rgbww #News #rgb

Profoto’s New D30 Studio Flash Is Built for Demanding Pro Photographers https://petapixel.com/2024/10/29/profotos-new-d30-studio-flash-is-built-for-demanding-pro-photographers/ #monolights #profotod30 #Equipment #monolight #Lighting #profoto #News #d30

The Lume Cube XL is a 60W RGB COB LED That Fits in the Palm of Your Hand https://petapixel.com/2024/09/25/the-lume-cube-xl-is-a-60w-rgb-cob-led-that-fits-in-the-palm-of-your-hand/ #lumecubexl #Equipment #monolight #Lighting #COBlight #lighting #lumecube #News #COB #rgb

Profoto’s New $4,000 Pro-D3 1250 Monolight Packs a Serious Punch https://petapixel.com/2024/05/07/profotos-new-4000-pro-d3-1250-monolight-packs-a-serious-punch/ #profotoprod3 #Equipment #monolight #Lighting #lighting #portrait #profoto #studio #News

Unlock Extra Portable Power: Profoto B10X Review

#lighting #monolight #photography #profoto #profotob10x #rechargeablemonolights #strobe

A Guide to Studio Lights in Photography

#educational #equipment #lighting #101 #basics #briantremblay #continuouslight #introduction #learn #monoblock #monolight #packandhead #primer #speedlight #studiolights

Profoto B1X Review: Tough, Powerful, and Worth Every Penny

#equipment #lighting #reviews #b1x #flash #illyaovchar #monolight #profoto #profotob1x #review

StellaPro Reflex S Review: One Light to Rule Them All?

There have been a lot of interesting light solutions for creatives released in the last few years, but were either a slight improvement over a previous generation (like the Profoto A1 to A1X) or something to serve a niche corner like the Lumee from Spiffy Gear. Nothing has been really groundbreaking… except perhaps for the [StellaPro Reflex](https://www.adorama.com/lm85522a.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) from Light and Motion.

Released earlier this fall, the StellaPro Reflex is a 100-watt equivalent hybrid LED monolight and strobe that was designed to be useful for both photographers and videographers at the same time through a single high-powered source.

The system is modular, very portable, and capable of putting out light continuously for up to 10 hours (or 15,000 full-power flashes) on a single charge, and can capture up to 20 frames per second (fps) with the Reflex S as a strobe without missing a single frame. While it is not the most powerful light of its size on the market, it definitely has some of the most variable and versatile uses, arguably making it one of the most well-rounded light solutions for sports, action, events, and weddings since it can be used as a one-light setup for both video and photo situations, swapping between both use cases quickly and seamlessly.

Design & Build Quality

The new Reflex and Reflex S lights are impressively small and lightweight which makes them ideal to travel with. The light head itself can fit in the palm of your hand and just needs a USB-C connection to power it up. Below the light head is a sort of cold-shoe mount that can be adapted in several ways for a variety of different mounting solutions, from a camera hotshoe, to a variety of lightstand combinations.

It works well, but the only thing that concerns me with the design is it is pretty much entirely plastic. While this keeps the weight of the product down, the mounts require a perfect fit to ensure it has "clicked" and is locked in, and in more extreme temperatures (hot or cold), this could prove to be problematic. Especially with heavier modifiers attached to the system, it feels as though the system is a bit precarious and could come tumbling down.

That said, the company promises that the light is incredibly durable, capable of withstanding drops of up to one meter without incident. While I did not want to personally test this feature, it is a bit reassuring to know that if there ever was an issue it would likely survive the fall in most situations. And while I had fears of collapse, none ever presented themselves in real-world use cases.

Another element that I was less of a fan of in the product design is the way the adapter works for mounting the light onto a light stand. You have to put the system together and then screw it on using a supplied hex tool. My issue isn't the stability or security, but with the workflow. Ensuring the battery is securely mounted to the light stand isn't exactly fast, so if you have to make quick changes, this will pull you out of your zone for a moment -- especially since the screw can be easily dropped and lost.

The company also states that the lights are IP65 rated for weatherproofing, meaning you could potentially use these lights in a heavy rain or snow situation. This is something I was unable to test, but it does have me wondering how accurate this is and I'd love to see some actual footage from people using it in wet scenes. The light has exposed grates for a fan and cooling, and while my initial thought is to hide these lights from anything weather-related because of them, Light and Motion's promise of weatherproofing has me wondering if the way they work is akin to air conditioners, which have external fans that sit in the weather without issue despite all the electronics.

The Reflex and Reflex S are designed to be used with a variety of modifiers and accessories, and are capable of working with nearly any shooting scenario. For this review, I simply used the light bare-bulbed or with a Chimera Beauty Dish that was provided by Light and Motion. In my testing, I found that mounting and adapting these accessories was very fast and easy perform.

One thing to keep in mind is no matter what setup you plan to use, ensure the magnifier (fresnel) accessory is placed back on the light once you've attached whatever modifier you plan to use. The lens is critically important when it comes to overall light power, so it's a must. The instructions do not explicitly say to do this, so in my first tests with the beauty dish I left the magnifier off and the light output was surprisingly low.

The last major concern I had with the Reflex light is the size and positioning of the power switch and menu buttons. The power button on the battery pack is small and positioned very close to the cold-shoe mount which I found makes it awkward to get to when the whole setup is mounted on a light stand. Additionally, the dial/button for making changes to the strobe or continuous power levels is somewhat awkwardly placed and can therefore be cumbersome to make quick adjustments to the power levels.

All these quibbles are relatively minor, but still worth pointing out.

Color Temperature and Brightness

As a moonlight, the Reflex S can output about 86,000 lux at a one-meter distance while using the spot optic with a color temperature of approximately 5,600 Kelvin. The light (when used as a continuous source) can be dimmed all the way down to 100 lumens making it useful for controlled ambient light sources in the video as well. Especially when paired with gels to recreate daylight temperatures or certain mood colors for the theme of a video. That is a good point to make: the light's color temperature is not adjustable.

Continuous Light Strobe

Gratefully, I did not notice the color temperature of the light change with variations in power. If there is any change either warmer or cooler, it's to such a minor degree that it doesn't affect real-world use.

Performance

As mentioned above, the StellaPro Reflex and Reflex S can hit speeds of 10 and 20 frames per second respectively. The system is capable of firing continuously without any dips in power even in high-speed sync, which ensures that during action moments, you'll never miss the shot.

To test this, I left the Reflex in strobe mode and started firing in high-speed burst for about 70 frames with my Nikon Z6 (see gif above) and not once did the Reflex miss a shot. Seriously, not one single frame dropped. While the light may not be as bright (on its own) as some other systems on the market, it is wildly impressive in its consistency in burst fire. This is performance that no other brand of lights I have tested so far have been able to do.

Using the Reflex S, it is possible to get over 15,000 full power strobes on a single battery charge, or up to ten hours of continuous light. Additionally, the lights can be powered with any 100W USB-C power source meaning that if the supplied battery happens to run out, you can keep going by using another USB-C source.

Another feature of the new Reflex system that had me very impressed was its ability to work well with other brands of lighting, including Godox and Elinchrom (we expect support for Profoto in the future as well). Meaning, it is possible to set the light to be triggered using any of these brands of RF remotes and have the light work in tandem with those respective brands. This makes it extremely easy for creatives to expand their already existing light kits with the Reflex and avoid the issue of feeling as though they have to start over from scratch.

It is also worth noting that when operating the light in the 4,000 lumens and above, the cooling fan will kick in and it is surprisingly loud for such a small system. It is comparable to a gaming laptop fan when kicked into high gear, and the high-pitched "whirr" can sometimes be difficult to ignore, especially indoors. This is not really an issue for photographers, but videographers might find it annoying to work around when filming in a quiet environment.

Below are a few images I captured using the Reflex S as the light source.

Jack of All Trades: A True Hybrid Light

Light and Motion have managed to make a pretty impressive light that does a lot of things very well, but doesn't quite excel as the best in the category. Its strobe performance is really good and offers incredible reliability, but is underpowered compared to high-end strobes or speedlights that rely on a classic flash tube. Conversely, the light output for video is great, but the sound of the fan can be a hindrance.

It's the classic jack of all trades, master of none situation, and for many that's is going to be more than ok. What makes the Reflex system so desirable is that it's both a stills and video lighting system in one. No continuous light that gets as bright as the Reflex also offers the ability to strobe and stop action like it does, and no speedlight or strobe offers the ability to assist video productions to the level it does. Usually, a hybrid shooter has to carry a system for both situations, but the Reflex is really the first time a product effectively solves that problem without making too many sacrifices to get there.

All the issues I had with this light centered around minor issues with the build quality, but I don't think these should deter anyone who wants the performance that these lights provide. Perhaps Light and Motion will make some hardware adjustments in the future to address my concerns, but it's hard to argue with what the lights let hybrid shooters do. From that perspective, these are a win.

As a reminder, there are two versions of the StellaPro Reflex: the standard and "S" versions. The standard version is able to fire at up to 10 frames per second and is [$849](https://www.adorama.com/lm85427a.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”), while the Reflex S ups that to 20 frames per second and costs [$1,096](https://www.adorama.com/lm85522a.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”).

Are There Alternatives?

The [Rotolight AEOS](https://www.adorama.com/rorlaeos2lk.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) and [NEO 2](https://www.adorama.com/rorlneo2.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) have been around for a while and both offering dual-use as strobe and mono lights, however, these lights require a [Rotolight Elinchrom EL-Skyport Transmitter Plus](https://www.adorama.com/rorlhsstxf.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) that costs about $250 USD (as compared to the cheaper $69 Godox triggers that the StellaPro Reflex can use). Additionally, they aren't a single light source, they're much larger, and the power of the Rotolight offerings is a lot lower than what the Reflex offers.

Godox and Profoto also have sort of similar offerings with the [Godex FV200](https://www.adorama.com/fplcffv200.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) that retails for $299 and the [FV150](https://www.adorama.com/fplcffv150.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) for $259. The [Profoto A1X AirTTL](https://www.adorama.com/pp901205.html?kbid=67085” rel=“norewrite sponsored”) costs about $695 USD. The Profoto A1X is a more powerful on-camera flash that does not offer the continuous light power the Reflex and Reflex S can, but it does keep up and "outshine" the light in strobe power and brightness. You'll have to decide what is more important to you.

Should You Buy It?

If you are a hybrid shooter who needs to be able to swap between photo and video applications quickly and often, absolutely yes. Anyone looking to perfectly solve the lighting needs of either a photo or video set will find things they don't like about the Reflex system, but those who need the flexibility it offers will want to work with nothing else.

#equipment #reviews #hybrid #led #light #lighting #monolight #photography #reflex #review #stellapro #strobe #video

An Intro to Flash Types in Photography, from 70W to 4800W

There are literally hundreds of different flashes on the market. With brands competing for attention and offering some very unique features, it is often hard to decide which flash to pick. What is more, buying a flash is sometimes like buying a whole lighting system. If someone buys Profoto they are likely to stick with it for a long time because it’s part of a lighting system , not just one flash.

In this introductory article, I will break down some common flashes and dive into their pros and cons.

There are three main types of flashes on the market: speedlights (AKA battery-powered portable flashes), monolights, and pack-and-head systems. They may be battery-powered or not, and of course, they all accept a range of specialized modifiers. Some are better on location, while others are a king in the studio.

Let’s go through these types one by one:

Speedlights

The first flash most photographers buy is a speedlight. It’s a no-brainer for beginners: with its compact size and considerably larger light output than built-in flashes, it seems like the next step in being more "pro."

A speedlight is always battery-powered, small, portable. Due to the size and battery power, it produces a fairly low light output when compared to studio strobes. Don’t expect to be able to light up a large scene using one speedlight. An average speedlight might have 70W of power, while a studio strobe can have 500W or more.

Speedlights (and some studio strobes) have TTL, which is Through The Lens metering. It allows setting light power automatically, which saves time in some cases. Another feature is zoom -- almost all speedlights have a zoomable head. This can be handy when you’re using a telephoto lens and need to cover a small area at 180mm rather than wide at 18mm

A great niche feature of the speedlight is its extremely short flash duration at low (1/4 or less) output. Still-life photographers may tape four or even six of them together to be able to freeze motion. What is less welcome is wild output and color inconsistency shot to shot. Interfaces can be confusing too.

Due to its small size and low output, it often doesn't make sense to use speedlights with light shaping tools. Small softboxes, bounce cards, or gels are among the only options you may have. More commonly photographers will bounce their speedlights against a wall, ceiling, or other large surfaces.

Pros

Small size
Low price
TTL mode
A lot more powerful than the built-in flash

Cons

Low light output
Color inaccuracies shot to shot
Little to none modifier options
Slow recycle times

Monolights

A step up from speedlights are monolights. As the name suggests: everything is in one unit. Battery-powered and mains-powered monolights are quite different, so we will consider them separately. Monolights are quite heavy, and booming them on a light stand requires quite a few sandbags.

Battery-Powered Monolights

Those are fantastic on location. They have large output, anywhere from 300 to 500W, which is plenty to overpower the sun. Battery capacity is enough for 200-300 full-power flashes. Broncolor’s Siros 800 can do 800W Because they are bigger lights with higher output, they will be considerably large and require a separate light stand.

On the other hand, battery-powered monolights will be able to accept all modifiers natively (given mounts are appropriate). Recycle time at full power can be quite short. For example, Godox AD600 will recycle in 0.9 sec and full power. Color consistency is also much improved -- the Profoto B1x has a negligible color shift across the whole range.

Compared to speedlights and mains-powered monolights, these can run quite expensive.

Pros

A lot of power on-location
Modelling lamp usable for video
Portable
Hundreds of modifiers are available
TTL in most new lights
Can be used over long distances

Cons

Need stands and remotes to work
Take up more space in a camera bag
Battery life can be short
Recycle times at high power can be above 1s.
Spare batteries required
Stands are top-heavy

Mains-Powered Monolights

Take the battery away, and you get a mains-powered light. These are the first choices for photographers working in studios. Compared to battery-powered lights, these will have faster recycle times, shorter flash duration, and be lighter. The size will be pretty much the same -- a lot of battery-power monolights have mains siblings.

Some mains-powered monolights can go all the way to 1200W of power, which is a welcomed addition when using large modifiers or needing to cover huge sets. With the benefits of mains power comes the biggest disadvantage: portability. You can’t grab and go.

Pros

Faster recycle times than battery-powered monoligjts
Modifiers available
Powerful modelling lamps
Everything in one package

Cons

Need mains power to work
Stands are top-heavy
Hard to control as dials are on the light itself – need to climb up if the remote doesn't offer a power adjustment option

Pack and Head

A classic among many seasoned pros. The power output is often 1000W to 4800W. These packs are the most expensive option, but again there are two choices: mains or battery powered. A pack-and-head system is the bulkiest one you can have, but with large size come large benefits (if you don’t mind the size of course).

Battery-Powered Pack-and-Head

A battery-powered pack-and-head system is one of the best on-location choices if you want to have decent power and no heavy lights up in the air. Some great options are Broncolor’s Move pack that has 1200W of power.

Because the head is lighter than a speedlight, it isn't a problem to hold for long periods of time. Moreover, compared to a similar monolight system, the pack-and-head will recycle a lot faster.

A drawback would be a lack of range. If you’re using multiple lights from one pack, the cable length will restrict how far you can have them. Batteries tend to be very heavy for these too, but if you are shooting at half the power (600W), you get an impressive amount of flashes compared to a similar monolight system.

Another drawback is that adding lights eats up power. For example, if a pack is rated at 1200W and has two sockets, it will distribute that power over the number of lights connected. One light at full power can output 1200W, but add a second one, and that 1200W is cut into a ratio you pick. Suddenly maximum power from each socket is reduced.

Pros

Long-lasting battery
No unnecessary weight on stands
Controls on ground
Fast recycling times compared to monolights
Most have the option to trickle charge in from mains while in use.
Work with all modifiers and have enough umph for giant modifiers.

Cons

Bulky and heavy
Lack of range due to cable length
Extension cables eat up power
Expensive
Batteries are huge and take a long time to charge
Each head eats up power

Mains-Powered Pack-and-Head

While I can’t say that this is the most professional of them all, it is the most commonly found lighting solution for large productions, rental studios, and anything of scale. Mains-powered pack-and-head systems have incredible recycle speeds, the shortest flash duration on the market, and color consistency like no other. Some brands offer solutions to program them into lighting patterns.

Most pack-and-head systems offer two or three sockets. It has become industry standard to have anywhere between 1200W to 3200W of power in total with the full asymmetric distribution. As far as reliability goes, they are the best. Photographers can buy a pack-and-head system from decades ago and use it day in day out without major worries.

Pack-and-head lighting systems are very expensive and weigh a ton. For some, two or three sockets may not be enough. From experience, I tend to have two packs on set. That may not be enough, sets can get crazy with four or more packs. Due to the high cost, very few photographers own pack-and-head systems -- they are rented from rental houses.

Pros

Extremely reliable
Consistent
Fast recycling times
Controls on the ground
Heads are light – no unnecessary top-heavy stands
Work with every modifier
Great for big modifiers
Highest power available

Cons

Bulky and heavy
Lack of range due to cable length
Extension cables eat up power
Expensive
Each added light cuts power

So there you have it, a guide to flashes from 70W to 4800W. Now go forth and light!

#educational #equipment #101 #flashes #flashtypes #gear #illyaovchar #learn #lighting #monolight #packandhead #portraiture #speedlight #speedlite

Can We Please Stop Talking About Watt Seconds?

Photography is evolving -- Dramatically! I am talking about advances with smartphones, mirrorless cameras, and AI technology -- this is an exciting time to be a photographer. But there must be a better way than watt-seconds to compare lights.

The change that excites me the most is the evolution of the tools that we use for lighting. Traditionally, every new photographer was taught to purchase a speedlight. Then many photographers would graduate to studio strobes or monolights. Cinematographers used big, heavy, and expensive tungsten and halogen lights.

But in the last 15 years, as cameras have become much better at shooting at higher ISOs and photographers have started shooting video with the same cameras, the evolution of LED lighting has brought us lighting gear that is smaller and lighter and now even more reasonably priced. LED lights come in all shapes and sizes and are opening the door to a hybrid approach to lighting that opens so many creative possibilities.

So here we are with cameras and photographers who are working in both stills and video and we still don’t have a universal language for talking about and comparing the power or brightness of all these different lights. If you are like me, all the physics behind light measurement is just out of the question -- I gave up on math in seventh grade when they added the alphabet and squiggly lines to the equations.

Terms like guide number, watt-seconds, lumens, and lux all involve physics and those alphabet equations and when it’s all said and done, they don’t give us a useful way to compare the brightness of different types of lighting gear. So, let’s look at what those terms mean to photographers and how we might better compare light sources.

Speedlights: What is a Guide Number?

Speedlight manufacturers use a guide number system that can be misleading because they don't all use the same distances or zoom head settings. So, guide numbers don’t translate into a useful measurement of light for continuous “always-on” LEDs.

Strobes and Monolights: What is a Watt Second?

Studio Strobe and Monolight manufacturers traditionally use " watt x second" or " watt-seconds" as part of their overall product specifications. This number is even more unreliable because watt or watt x second is not a measure of light, it is a measure of energy. It is simply how much energy is stored and made available for the capacitor to power the flash tube.

In the 1930s, Dr. Harold (“Doc”) Edgerton invented the strobe. To fire a strobe, you need a very high voltage charge which in turn ignites the gas to create a lot of heat and light, including levels of light that the human eye cannot see. This is why strobes are known to quickly overheat. They generate a lot of heat as a by-product of the gas ignition with no effective way to quickly cool them.

A capacitor, which can be described as two metal plates separated by an insulator, is able to store up a big charge and release it all at once. That “charge” is measured in watt-seconds -- or put another way, the amount of power (watts) you can deliver in one second. At the time Dr. Edgerton invented the strobe, a watt-second was a measurable way to describe the energy dumped into the system from the capacitor, which in turn ignited the gas in the glass tube.

So, understand that when you look at a 200ws monolight compared to a 300ws or 600ws monolight for example, indeed, each one is more powerful than the other. But from one brand to the next, that doesn’t mean they will give you the same light output. Watt seconds is an unreliable number because different flash tubes have different energy efficiencies as do different reflectors.

What I can tell you is that the bigger speedlights on the market today have approximately 50 to 60 watt-seconds of power. Most monolights are available with power from 130 watt-seconds up to well over a thousand watt-seconds. So, monolights are considerably more powerful than speedlights.

Constant Lighting: What is a Lumen?

Now that we know a "watt" is actually a measure of power or energy use, and not light, we can talk about digital light-based LEDs, which actually use fewer watts to produce a lot more light.

We measure LED bulbs based on lumens because lumens equal brightness.

A “Lumen” is a unit created to measure the light that the human eye can see. Light energy that the human eye cannot see, such as ultraviolet and infrared, is excluded from the lumen measurement. LEDs, unlike flash tubes, have been optimized to only deliver light visible to the human eye and to not spend unnecessary energy delivering light that is not visible.

As our lighting technology is evolving, lumens are a standard measurement of light that photographers should care about and pay attention to.

This even impacts the lightbulbs that we purchase for our homes. Today, instead of the wattage of a lightbulb, labels display lumens as the brightness. To give you an idea of how they compare, an incandescent 100-watt light bulb consumes 100 watts of electrical power but most of that power is generating heat, not light. That 100 watts of energy might deliver 1,600 lumens of visible light. By comparison, a 1600 lumen LED chip can deliver that output with just under 20 watts of power.

So, we have established that lumens are the preferred measurement of light useful to the human eye.

There is another measurement that is useful for photographers and that is to measure the light that reaches the subject. Lux measures luminous flux per unit area or how much light is falling on a given surface. In simpler terms, lux will tell you how bright the illuminated subject is going to be. Since lux measures the light energy falling on a square centimeter (cm). If you measure the lux across a wall and capture every square cm where the light falls, you would be able to determine the total lumens falling on that entire wall. That is, if you are good at the kind of math that uses letters and fancy lines.

In short: lumens represent the brightness of the light leaving the source and lux is the brightness of the light as it arrives at the subject. Lux is very useful to photographers because it lets us know the amount of light reaching the subject.

While we generally use modifiers to decrease the power of a flash or strobe, with single-chip LED lights, if you want more lux on your image, you can magnify and focus the light with an optic. This delivers a lot more lux on the target, without changing the total lumens the light generates.

I could go on for hours with different examples and use case scenarios, but hopefully, you can see the challenge we have.

Especially with mirrorless cameras, photographers mix flash and LED lighting more frequently and that includes the fact that we see more LED lighting being used decoratively, especially in homes, offices, and event venues as well as outdoor settings at night.

A Possible Solution

Guide numbers won't work for LEDs. Watt seconds are ok for speedlights and monolights that put out an incredibly short and powerful burst of light and maintain the same f-stop regardless of the shutter speed. Lumens and Lux are more practical measurements for constant LED lighting that is always on.

One way that we could begin to evaluate light and potentially deliver the most accurate measurement is “Lux-Seconds”. A Lux-Second is a unit of the quantity of illumination, or luminous exposure, in the International System of Units (SI).

As the term suggests, Lux-Seconds allows us to evaluate the total light the subject received over the period that the shutter is open. A powerful strobe is only on for a fraction of the time the shutter is open unless the strobe is operating in high-speed sync (HSS) mode. Any other light source will deliver the light for the entire time the shutter is open. Both can be measured in Lux-Seconds.

In one scenario, the lux-seconds could be the same from either source. A very short duration flash and a longer duration less powerful light can deliver the same illumination to the image depending on the shutter speed. Some of our current hand-held light meters are capable of measuring Lux-Seconds.

I have had conversations with several engineers as I collected the information for this article, and while they all offer advanced mathematical methods for being able to equate the power of one light to another, lux-seconds seems to be the logical bridge between the world of high-intensity flash, powerful continuous light and shutter speed that determines just how much light illuminates the image.

A Practical Approach

I would propose that maybe the best way to approach this conversation is to leave physics to the engineers and realize that it is time to change the way we, as photographers, think about lighting.

If raw power is what you are after, and you feel the need to over-power the sun at high noon, then flash is still the name of the game. With the advancements in camera sensors, however, most situations don’t call for all the power a xenon flash can deliver. Certainly, for portraits, weddings, and events, large 600-watt strobes are not practical and are rarely needed at full or even half power.

You can increase efficiency by using light from LEDs, which offers greater control by letting you place just the right amount of light exactly where you want it and see the results in real-time thanks to the electronic viewfinders (EVF) in mirrorless cameras.

Event photographers frequently find their venues are lit with brightly colored LEDs that are used to create an exciting fantasy-styled environment. Using a flash wipes out that color and creates dull and boring images.

Portable LED lighting allows the photographer to have a clean white light on the foreground subjects and still embrace the color-rich backgrounds without the problem of a flash being too powerful and forcing the use of very slow shutter speeds.

Even shooting colorful fashion portraits, I find myself using large screen LED TV’S as backgrounds more because of the cost savings and added creative possibilities. Working with LED lighting allows me to balance my light with the digital background and add rich colors with gels all while seeing the finished image in my EVF before I press the shutter.

I haven’t even scratched the surface of the creative possibilities LEDs offer us. There will always be scenarios where power and speed are desirable, and a flash of light may be the best solution. We have already seen some manufacturers try to combine a flash and LED light into the same unit, so it is exciting to think about what future technology holds for us.

One thing is for sure, it is an exciting time to be creative. While I don’t have a simple way to compare lights, I do hope that I have you thinking about the possibilities and if you are “math-challenged” like me -- maybe you have an idea of how to easily compare all these technologies.

Header image: On the left a StellaPro CLx10, a 10,000 Lumen LED. On the right a Godox AD400, a 400ws Strobe

_About the author: Joe Edelman is an award-winning Olympus Visionary photographer and photo educator. His educational mission: “To help photographers to develop a solid understanding of the HOWS and WHYS behind creating great photographs.”

In addition to being named a StellaPro Champion of Light and Tether Tools Pro, he takes great pride in sharing over 4 decades of experience to motivate and educate new and experienced photographers all over the world via his popular YouTube Channel, which boasts over 176,000 subscribers and more than 11.5 million video views. is videos are viewed by photographers in over 100 countries each week. _

#editorial #educational #features #technology #constantlighting #flash #flashphotography #guidenumber #led #lumen #monolight #speedlight #speelite #strobe #studiostrobe #wattsecond

Elinchrom ONE: Its First Battery-Powered, 131 Ws, HSS Monolight

Elinchrom has announced the Elinchrom One, its new portable off-camera battery-powered monolight that the company says has been requested for a long time. It features an integrated battery, 725 full-power flashes per charge, high-speed sync, and 131 watt-seconds (Ws) of power.

Elinchrom says the One is a "rugged and dependable" flash that is also small and lightweight. It weighs 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) and outputs 131 Ws of power from an integrated lithium-ion battery. The strobe is charged by USB-C and features both TTL and HSS capability that is integrated into what the company says is a streamlined touch interface and low-profile housing.

The strobe appears to be Elinchrom's attempt at mixing the flexibility of a speedlight with the usability of a studio strobe. In that sense, it's larger than the Profoto A1 but packs almost twice the flash power in return. Considering it the Elinchrom One is priced just $50 higher than the Profoto A1 at about $900, it will give photographers a lot to consider.

Engineered for peak efficiency, its 131 Ws of capacity generates a light output usually seen in 200+ Ws units. At 1 meter (3.3ft) and 100 ISO, the ONE can achieve F-11.9, with the Diffusion Dome attached, and when combined with the HP Reflector, the achievable F-Stop climbs to F-45.2.

The Elinchrom One is controlled by a mix of a dial and a touch interface.

Additionally, the Elinchrom One can recycle in 0.9 seconds at full power and the company claims that it maintains a +/- 150K color temperature over the entire power range. Speaking of color temperature, it is adjustable between 2,700 and 6,500 kelvin with an output of 3,000 lumens and a CRI of 95.

The Elinchrom One can be charged by USB-C when not in use and also actively, which means that the strobe can run on continuous wall power should it be placed in a studio situation. Regardless of the remaining charge on the battery, wall power will operate the strobe at full capacity. Elinchrom says that the lithium-ion battery that is housed inside the strobe is sealed for "enhanced protection" from the elements while on location.

The Elinchrom One uses a standard flash tube that is enclosed in a clear dome that Elinchrom says allows for optimal light spread. The front of the One allows it to be used in tandem with a varity of Elinchrom light shaping tools and is also compatible with "most" Profoto softboxes as well.

The Elinchrom One is currently available for pre-order for $900 and will begin shipping on August 27.

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