Hahnel Module Creative Lantern Kit

www.hahnel.ie £59/$100. Module 360 Clamp: £10/$11; Module 600 Clamp: £10/$21 Add the Clamp, and this kit softens flashgun light effectively and enables creative colour effects

Hahnel is known for its third-party camera batteries and chargers, but it also makes accessories, including remote controls, flash triggers, flashguns and flash modifiers. The Module Creative Lantern Kit is one of the company’s modular flash modifier systems, and requires either the Module 360 Clamp or Module 600 Clamp to mount on a flash.

Key features

The kit comes in a smart wallet that holds the key components, including the Lantern Diffuser and a filter adapter that accepts any of the six included coloured gels. The Clamp needed to attach the kit to the flashgun is purchased separately and is available in two sizes. The Clamps also allow Hanhel’s other Module flash accessories to be mounted.

Both Module Clamps extend to fit over a flashgun head and spring back to hold firmly. The Module 360 Clamp opens to 35-64mm while the Module 600 Clamp stretches from 65-80mm. The two clamps have magnets within them to hold the Lantern Diffuser or the filter adapter in position over the flash.

When closed, the Lantern Diffuser looks like a U-shaped piece of plastic, but it opens to reveal a concertina-like structure made from what appears to be white paper, and it’s this that spreads and diffuses the light.

Hahnel supplies six coloured filters with the kit: blue, green, purple, red, orange and yellow; these cut out between 1 EV (yellow) and 1, 2/3EV (green) of light, and they’re intended primarily for creative effect rather than for colour correction.

Build and handling

The Module Creative Lantern Kit feels wellmade, despite being primarily plastic. The Clamp feels similar to a mobile phone clamp in use, with good tension, and feels reassuringly secure on the flashgun.

When it’s closed, the Lantern Diffuser feels robust, but the diffusion material seems quite delicate and needs to be handled with care to avoid creasing the structure. Meanwhile, the filter adapter feels durable, and the rigid colour gels snap in and out easily.

While the Lantern Diffuser can be attached directly to the Clamp, it’s also possible to mount the filter adapter first and then pop the Diffuser on top. When the Diffuser is used on the Clamp, the magnetic attraction is strong, but the Diffuser slides up or down. This is avoided by mounting it on the filter adapter, which has a lip to hold the Diffuser in position.

Performance

The coloured filters may be of occasional use for creative effects, especially background or rim lighting, but the Lantern Diffuser is likely to see the most use. As well as softening the light from a flashgun, the Lantern Diffuser spreads it further across the scene so that images have more uniform exposure.

With the Lantern Diffuser in position, the highlights are less harsh and the shadows look less dramatic as there’s smoother gradation,