Four years in development, the Profoto B1, which was announced today, is an entirely new kind of off-camera monolight flash for location and studio photography lighting. With a powerful 500 Watt Second output, the B1 is completely cordless, battery-powered and wirelessly synched and controlled via the new Profoto Air system with an operating range of up to 1,000 feet. An Air Remote TTL-C unit attaches to your Canon DSLR (the Nikon version is is expected in 2014) and it automatically adjusts output. Photographers can also switch to manual control by pressing a button.
Profoto is aiming to attract both studio and location photography professionals as well as photographers who use hot shoe speedlight flash. For hot shoe strobists, Profoto claims the B1’s strongest output is 6-7 times more powerful than that of a speedlight. Output can be controlled in increments of 1/10th of a stop, and the flash has a 9-f-stop power range. You can get up to an incredible 20 flashes per second in Quick Burst mode. At full power, recharge time is less than 2 seconds.
The Profoto B1 is powered by a removable battery, and is compatible with a wide variety of light modifiers. The Profoto B1 is an extensive system that includes the Profoto B1 Monolight, Air Remote TTL-C,Li-Ion Batteries and chargers, and new bags and power cables, all of which are available now from Adorama.
