Professional Lighting Equipment
Light is photography’s essential ingredient. We’ve come a long way since flash powder, and some of the most dramatic changes are taking place right now...
It seems the only constant in imaging these days is change, and there’s a fair bit of it happening in professional lighting systems right now. Our overview looks at some of the current trends and technological developments.
The reduction of size and weight has been driving the design of cameras since the pioneers struggling with big wooden boxes thought that there just had to be a better way. It’s been the same with lighting equipment, particularly since the early days of studio flash and power packs that were so big and heavy they needed wheels. Remember Strobe anybody?
A number of technological stars have aligned over the last few years to drive even greater changes in the design of photographic lighting equipment, especially in the move towards more portable systems. Of course, there are some that claim the ever-improving sensitivity of imaging sensors combined with more sophisticated noise reduction processing is reducing the need for artificial lighting sources, but the reality is that light in photography has never been just about exposure; there’s a creative element that Mother Nature often can’t supply. And having more light on tap has technical benefits too (faster shutter speeds, smaller apertures, etc, etc).
In addition to increased portability, being freed from the constraints of a mains power supply has seen significant changes in the areas of ‘traditional’ studio flash which, of course, is now no longer confined to the studio. In just a few years, battery-powered systems now dominate, especially in monoblocs, but also in the portable pack-based systems which have two or maybe more outlets displaysfor flash are heads. still Advancesquite bright.in battery Additionally, it’s technologyeasier to have more been preciselythe key adjust here, both the intensity enabling and smaller the and colour lighter temperatureunits which (for example,are both morefrom neutral efficient to and warm).can be Stability is also rechargedless of in an shorterissue – times. although the quality of the Consequently,power supply bulkyis still and importantheavy – and there studio is flashno warm-uppower packs time. are Furthermore,giving way theto much lifespan moreis much, compact much units longer– as largely– up to 50,000 pioneered hours by which Elinchromis typicallywith its ten original times that Rangerof a series halogen and source.later Quadra models, and Therenow takenare alreadyeven furthera numberby Profotoof flash monoblocswith its ‘crossover’ which B2 have systemLED modellingwhich is lightspart studio instead flash,of the part more ‘speedlight’ conventionalkit. quartz-halogenLikewise, battery-poweredlamps. The monoblocsmuch higher efficiencyare more numerousof an LED sourcethan the is studioparticularly beneficialbound mains-poweredwhen using battery models, power except as theyat the can entry-levelbe run for of muchthe market longer where rather thanlow coston shortis the timer-controlledpriority durations. Of course,The advantagesit helps hereof integratingthat LEDs needa DC power. battery However,pack are obvious,even with starting mains-poweredwith units, increasedthe arguments portability, for but switchingalso includingto LED the elimination of another cable following on from the move to remote
triggering and control over some functions via radio frequency. So, for example, the Profoto B1 is fully functional on location with needing any cables at all (including TTL flash control, but more about this feature shortly). It’s easy to see why this also has advantages in the studio situation where a myriad cables snaking across the floor are often a hazard.
Advances in capacitor technology are enabling shorter flash durations with faster recycling, so continuous shooting is possible at frame rates previously considered inconceivable. This is making studio flash equipment more attractive for shooting fast action, especially when battery power and greater portability allow it to be used in outdoor locations such as a mountain bike track or a skate board park.
LED Ahead
The ability to freeze high-speed motion is the key advantage that electronic flash still has over the increasingly popular LED-based lighting systems. LEDs (light emitting diodes) have taken over everywhere in lighting – film and theatre, automotive, domestic, personal devices such as torches and, of course, photography especially as the convergence with video continues.
Compared to other forms of continuous lighting, LEDs are extremely efficient – by up to 85 percent compared to halogen or incandescent sources – hence they don’t waste so much energy as unwanted heat and even fairly small
modelling lights – which can also be used as a continuous source when shooting video – are convincing, and ‘hybrid’ flash/ LED lighting products – such as monoblocs – are becoming more common.
Need For Speed
A growing number on-camera flash units (a.k.a. the speedlight) now also incorporate an LED source so they can be used for both photography and video. It’s the upsurge in the use of multiple speedlights as alternatives to monoblocs that no doubt spurred Profoto to put the time and resources into developing the wireless TTL automatic flash exposure controllers for its innovative B1 and B2 portable systems.
In technical terms, though, this isn’t as easy as it looks, which is why there hasn’t exactly been a rush of competitor models, even though the B1 has now been around for well over two years. However, the convenience of TTL exposure control combined with the flexibility of a wide power range (and greater control over effects via light shapers) would seem to make following this route an inevitability for Profoto’s key rivals.
The last time we looked at the professional lighting market, we asked whether the era of the big and powerful traditional flash floor pack was over. As the flexibility and convenience associated with better batteries, high- efficiency LEDs (or a combination of LEDs and a flash tube) and wireless TTL exposure control make the various portable options steadily more attractive for a whole range of applications, it’s hard not to conclude that this is the area of professional lighting that has undergone the greatest change. Of course, the natural habitat of the big pack – the big studio – is also largely gone, except for rental complexes which usually have rental lighting equipment available too. There is always going to be a need for big lighting set-ups, but most photographers now service such requirements via the hire of studio space and appropriate flash equipment. And, in fact, it may not be flash equipment at all, as TV/film continuous lighting – including big LED panels – is a viable alternative when shooting a static subject. Nevertheless, the design of studio flash packs continues to advance too, again with the goals of enhanced portability, speed and operational convenience.
As noted earlier, the pack-and-heads configuration has migrated through to a new generation of very compact battery-powered units which trade on the inherent flexibility of having two or more flash heads powered from the same generator – which also centralises the control operations. Both Elinchrom’s ELB 400 and Profoto’s B2 TTL are good examples of such products and, with maximum outputs of 400 joules and 250 joules respectively, are actually less powerful than many monoblocs. However, because both systems are very compact and use lightweight flash heads; in reality they’re as portable as carrying a couple of monoblocs.
The speedlight option is also an increasingly popular one, not just because carrying even four or five units isn’t especially onerous, but because sophisticated wireless TTL exposure control makes such multi-light set-ups easy to manage. Additionally, there’s now a wide choice of accessories, including light-shapers and softboxes, for such set-ups, helping to overcome the limitations of a comparatively small-area light source. The growth in this market has seen a number of new ‘third-party’ brands – most notably from China – arrive to compete with the established camera brands such as Canon and Nikon, in some cases offering matching features and functionality at a distinct price advantage. This difference starts to become more marked if you’re buying two or more units when the total cost of a camera-branded speedlight system can then start to match that of battery-based studio light kit.
Professional lighting equipment has always been about balancing power and portability, but you generally had to sacrifice one for the other to some extent, especially if you wanted to travel light. To some extent this is still true, but today’s portable systems are much less compromised – especially when combined with the sensitivity ranges of the latest imaging sensors – and, indeed, the various technological developments of the last few years have all contributed to a great scope for creativity and the capacity to solve many more lighting challenges.