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New Profoto Pro-8a Power Packs!

T

TMARK

Guest
This pack will do well in NYC. Keep in mind that the practice in New York (as opposed to other places I've shot) is to have one pack per head. Its how i learned and how I still shoot. This pack brings the Pro line Profotos in line with, and surpasses, Broncolor.

I'm sure I'll get one just before the Pro9 is introduced!
 
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L

LJL

New member
fotografz said:
How did Multi shot shooters do it before this came out? I can't recall a single ad I've had done Multishot that suffered from the issues this pack supposedly solves.
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Marc,
Not saying that it solves all problems. I was thinking "multi-pop", but that may not be such and issue with the amount of power it can put out. Actually, both multi-pop and multishot would be the same....needing more than one fire to match the multiple exposures of a multi-shot back.

I do not think that it was ever really a "problem" before, as you aptly comment. This new pack just seems able to deliver a very high level of consistency, from what the specs are showing. That may matter for some, but like you, I think it is a bit overkill for something that most shooters never really had too many issues with. I am sure there are folks that will want this kind of performance, but man, at quite a price.

Still think this would be the ticket for fast action fashion type shooting, and maybe some other things along that line where recycle time could become a lot more important. Does not seem to be much the case for MF, except multishot, but other things in 35mm DSLR might take advantage of the speed.....thinking something like gymnastics and other sports where many frames are shot and composited.

Obviously, Profoto seems to feel that there is a "need" for this kind of performance, aside from bragging rights, and as Mark comments, it may do really well in NYC shooting. Guess we shall see how it is received.

As several commented, including me, the two head support does seem limiting a bit, especially given the price and power of this thing. The D4 can get you more for a lot less, and I really doubt most would ever need that much more, but that short flash duration at higher power outputs is impressive also. Most of us can get the shorter duration with lower power settings, but this baby can do it full on.

I could see building it into a kit.....if there was a huge amount of spare money laying around (year, right), or using it from the rentals houses if they can pony up for them, but there are too many other good, practical, and more affordable solutions out there right now.

LJ
 
J

jingq

Guest
Profoto and Broncolor were head to head in their various fields of expertise...Broncolor's a still-life number 1 choice and Profoto's unbeatable for all the commercial and fashion work. Now with Procolor sorting out their power dialing system to make it more accurate (Pro 7a was a pain to dial...and the click stops were not fine enough), and having faster flash duration, and more consistent color temperature and consistency in general (prolem with Acutes is that there will be occasions when the flashes don't fire off properly, and if you're using 5 packs there's a 5 time higher chance of the picture getting screwed up because of that)

For a rental house to buy a whole bunch of Pro 8a packs doesn't seem like such a big deal I think.
Frankly it seems like a better investment than a digital back, Iv'e been using my Pro b2 packs for years lugging them over countless airmiles and through bad conditions and they still work like a charm.
 
T

TMARK

Guest
jingq said:
Profoto and Broncolor were head to head in their various fields of expertise...Broncolor's a still-life number 1 choice and Profoto's unbeatable for all the commercial and fashion work. Now with Procolor sorting out their power dialing system to make it more accurate (Pro 7a was a pain to dial...and the click stops were not fine enough), and having faster flash duration, and more consistent color temperature and consistency in general (prolem with Acutes is that there will be occasions when the flashes don't fire off properly, and if you're using 5 packs there's a 5 time higher chance of the picture getting screwed up because of that)

For a rental house to buy a whole bunch of Pro 8a packs doesn't seem like such a big deal I think.
Frankly it seems like a better investment than a digital back, Iv'e been using my Pro b2 packs for years lugging them over countless airmiles and through bad conditions and they still work like a charm.
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Couldn't have said it better myself. I'm sure Splashlight will have them as soon as they are available, or at least a few to test the waters.
 
F

fotografz

Well-known member
Well, the point that many big studios use one pack per head is well taken ... and some of those places can well afford 11K per to make their studio tops in production values.

And the fact that all this Profoto stuff "takes a licking and keeps on ticking" also makes it a sound investment that pays off in the long run.

Sadly, for schlumps like me, 11K is out of the question. Business isn't all that hot right now.

However, just for my running friendly competition with Irakly, I do like Profoto kicking Broncolor's butt :ROTFL:
 
EH21

EH21

Member
I wonder if this means there will be an 8b too? I also wonder if there will now be a ton of used 7's flooding the market? Always wanted one for the flash speed but been really happy with my D4-1200.
 
G

Graham Mitchell

New member
There's no point in comparing the Pro 8 to Hensels. The flash duration on the Hensel is pretty poor and worlds apart from the Pro 8. If you're shooting still, then that's probably fine. I bought into the Profoto Pro series thanks to the fast flash speed which I consider very important for dynamic people shooting. Even my Pro 6 generators are faster than almost everything else out there. The 10 stop range and 1/10th stop increments are both important improvements over my Pro 6s and it doesn't hurt that everything else is even more consistent and faster than before.

So as usual, quality is expensive but if you need the fast flash duration then you don't have much choice.

I'm also a big fan of th new appearance. Not the the old ones look bad but this thing makes me drool :)
 
F

fotografz

Well-known member
foto-z said:
There's no point in comparing the Pro 8 to Hensels. The flash duration on the Hensel is pretty poor and worlds apart from the Pro 8. If you're shooting still, then that's probably fine. I bought into the Profoto Pro series thanks to the fast flash speed which I consider very important for dynamic people shooting. Even my Pro 6 generators are faster than almost everything else out there. The 10 stop range and 1/10th stop increments are both important improvements over my Pro 6s and it doesn't hurt that everything else is even more consistent and faster than before.

So as usual, quality is expensive but if you need the fast flash duration then you don't have much choice.

I'm also a big fan of th new appearance. Not the the old ones look bad but this thing makes me drool :)
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No doubt the 8A is the top of the heap. But world's apart? Maybe in price ;)

But just to keep the facts straight: the 8A 1200 w/s pack is 1/1600th flash duration at full power, compared to 1/2200 of the 1500w/s Hensel Speed. The 8A does rapidly accelerate as you dial down the power, topping out at 1/12,000th verses 1/7,400th duration of the Hensel. By then we are talking some pretty specialized applications ... and most certainly that doesn't include dynamic people shots ... unless you are photographing the human flash :ROTFL:
 
G

Graham Mitchell

New member
fotografz said:
But just to keep the facts straight: the 8A 1200 w/s pack is 1/1600th flash duration at full power, compared to 1/2200 of the 1500w/s Hensel Speed.
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Where did you see the figure of 1/2200 for the Hensel at 1500Ws? I had a look at the factory data sheet but the power setting wasn't specified so I assume that's the top speed not the slowest? If that's so then it doesn't compare to 1/12,000 for the Profoto.

The human flash? I guess you haven't shot much sports action with studio flash. You need all the speed you can get unless you like motion blur.
 
F

fotografz

Well-known member
Yes, it's the Hensel Tria Speed ... it's 300 w/s more powerful than the 1200 w/s 8A, and at full power has a shorter flash duration. The Hensel recycles in .7 sec @ full power, which is a nano second slower than the 8A. @ .5 sec. The 1/12,000 duration figure of the Profoto is at minimum power ... which is 5 w/s.

As I said, the Profoto is most certainly the top of the speed heap ... but it's also $9,825. verses $2,225. for the Tria.

BTW, my whole studio is Profoto ... and I use smaller Hensel boxes for location work.
 
G

Graham Mitchell

New member
If that is true about the Hensels then I should take a closer look, but I would still like to see a reference for that figure. As I said, I looked at the tech data on the website and the flash duration did not have a reference to any power setting so we don't know if it's the minimum or maximum. A bit strange.
 
D

dfarkas

Workshop Member
There seems to be some conflict with what is on the website and what I grabbed out of the Hensel Tria Manual PDF.

Note that all the specs listed are at 230V, which means faster recycle times than at 110V.

If you go by these specs and assume that the recycle speed is the same at 110V, the Pro-8a is 100% faster. If we go by the 0.7 secs figure, the Pro-8a is still 40% faster. And 1500 vs 1200 is just 1/4 of a stop (ie. less than the difference between f/10 and f/11), which I don't think affects recycle speed all that much.

David
 
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D

dfarkas

Workshop Member
Also, the Pro-8a 1200 has a 1/2200th of a sec duration at max power. The 2400 has a duration of 1/1600th at max. Again, from the manual.

David
 
S

Stuart Richardson

Active member
Their specs are confusing. I think the best thing to do would be to just email them and ask them. I am too lazy to do it, however. Also, I don't really care that much!
 
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