specialman
Suspended / Banned
- Messages
- 8,193
- Name
- Pat MacInnes
- Edit My Images
- Yes
Saw this today on the Viewfinder Photography stand at Focus2012. Seems to be a new product, as t's not advertised on their website, although they do have some existing Strobeam kits of another type.
What caught my eye was the build and features of the heads. Digital display, loads of power adjustment in 1/3rd steps and wireless triggering built-in.
The guy on the stand gave me a good demo. The wireless controller is fantastic; it not only fires the flash heads it allows you to remotely alter power and ID number within groups. We tested the range from 30 metres away too, and the adjustments were implemented wirelessly and the flash fired.
They run off a battery that is claimed to do over 1200 full power flashes off a charge (which take 4hrs off the mains) and it'll power two heads at equal powers for 500+ flashes at full power.
there's also an FP function. I asked about this, thinking it was going to be some high-speed sync mode for fast shutter speeds but it's actually to allow the flash to fire on something like 14fps if required, albeit at a lower power. I think he said it was 1/16th but can't be sure. It worked as he showed me, so it could be a good function for sports togs. How it works in real life I don't know.
There aren't any current modifiers available - you have to move up to the larger 500 head for that apparently - but the head features a built-in angle tilt and brolly slot so modifiers like shoot trough brollies and umbrella soft boxes will work fine.
It didn't appear to have a modelling light and comes with a cone on the front.
I didn't catch the price for every different package but a basic one head set with battery and cables is about 600 inc. VAT. Good price I thought, although it's a bit of an untested brand I think so not sure about longevity.
Build quality is first rate though and there are user-replaceable flash tubes available according to the brochure. The power cords all looked heavy duty and the plug was locked in by a metal mount.
Spare batteries cost about £90 and you can get a different cable to use the battery to power speed lights if required.
A few details from the brochure so people can judge whether it's good or bad:
* 250-watts
* f-stop measured distance at 1m T=1/125th ISO 100 - F22 @ 1/1, f4 @ 1/32
* 7.0 f-stops of adjustment
* Recycle times: 0.2sec - 1.9sec (can be fired before 100 per cent recycle is reached)
* flash duration of 1/9600th FP mode at half power
* 3G trigger has a range of 100metres
* Colour temp is 5500K (+/-200K)
* 75000 flash lifespan
* Li-On battery gives 1200 full power flashes, 20000 low power flashes
* 4-hour charge time
* Diecast housing with titanic aluminium
* Fits standard spigots up to 5/8
* 7-9mm umbrella shaft
* 885g weight
Excuse the pic - I'll get a better image tomorrow when i go back for a close inspection.
http://www.strobeam.us/es/
What caught my eye was the build and features of the heads. Digital display, loads of power adjustment in 1/3rd steps and wireless triggering built-in.
The guy on the stand gave me a good demo. The wireless controller is fantastic; it not only fires the flash heads it allows you to remotely alter power and ID number within groups. We tested the range from 30 metres away too, and the adjustments were implemented wirelessly and the flash fired.
They run off a battery that is claimed to do over 1200 full power flashes off a charge (which take 4hrs off the mains) and it'll power two heads at equal powers for 500+ flashes at full power.
there's also an FP function. I asked about this, thinking it was going to be some high-speed sync mode for fast shutter speeds but it's actually to allow the flash to fire on something like 14fps if required, albeit at a lower power. I think he said it was 1/16th but can't be sure. It worked as he showed me, so it could be a good function for sports togs. How it works in real life I don't know.
There aren't any current modifiers available - you have to move up to the larger 500 head for that apparently - but the head features a built-in angle tilt and brolly slot so modifiers like shoot trough brollies and umbrella soft boxes will work fine.
It didn't appear to have a modelling light and comes with a cone on the front.
I didn't catch the price for every different package but a basic one head set with battery and cables is about 600 inc. VAT. Good price I thought, although it's a bit of an untested brand I think so not sure about longevity.
Build quality is first rate though and there are user-replaceable flash tubes available according to the brochure. The power cords all looked heavy duty and the plug was locked in by a metal mount.
Spare batteries cost about £90 and you can get a different cable to use the battery to power speed lights if required.
A few details from the brochure so people can judge whether it's good or bad:
* 250-watts
* f-stop measured distance at 1m T=1/125th ISO 100 - F22 @ 1/1, f4 @ 1/32
* 7.0 f-stops of adjustment
* Recycle times: 0.2sec - 1.9sec (can be fired before 100 per cent recycle is reached)
* flash duration of 1/9600th FP mode at half power
* 3G trigger has a range of 100metres
* Colour temp is 5500K (+/-200K)
* 75000 flash lifespan
* Li-On battery gives 1200 full power flashes, 20000 low power flashes
* 4-hour charge time
* Diecast housing with titanic aluminium
* Fits standard spigots up to 5/8
* 7-9mm umbrella shaft
* 885g weight
Excuse the pic - I'll get a better image tomorrow when i go back for a close inspection.
http://www.strobeam.us/es/
Last edited:
