By Daniel Norton
March 2, 2015
When Profoto showed us the pre-production model of the B2 last month, I was truly excited, not just because the Profoto B2is a powerful (250Ws) and lightweight (less than 4 lbs) AirTTL flash system, but because Profoto has proven with the B1that their new portable systems are just as accurate and versatile as their bigger brothers, and let’s face it, Profoto makes some of the best light shapers on the market.
Of course, those who know me, know I am a skeptic, so I requested a demo unit before the launch so I could put the Profoto B2through some real world testing of my own.
SPOILER ALERT: the B2 performed flawlessly!
Since the B1 was released in late 2013, the Profoto OCF (Off Camera Flash) system has been tremendously popular with event, wedding, portrait and sports photographers and I see the B2being just as if not more popular. With its ability to mount a head to a camera bracket and carry the pack over your shoulder or on your belt, this system is both an on-camera and off-camera flash. I should point out here that the B2 and B1 use the same AirTTL system so you can mix and match as needed. I worked the two head B2 kitwith a single B1 in studio for a portrait session and it worked flawlessly.
With the power of the Profoto B2being roughly five times that of a typical speed light and its fast recycle time (1.35 seconds at full power!), in most event and portrait situations you’ll never miss a shot. In fact, at lower power settings the B2 can fire up to 20 flashes per second!
I was happy to see Profoto kept the diameter of the B2 headsat the standard Profoto size so it’s still compatible with most of their own Light Shaping Tools including my favorite the Magnum reflector. The Profoto B2is a compact battery powered strobe system capable of producing studio quality lighting anywhere. With that in mind, Profoto launched a new line of OCF Light Shaping Tools including four new soft boxes made of lighter weigh material and a new speedring that not only is lighter weight but makes building the soft boxes easier. Profoto also has a new snoot, barndoorand grid set(10,20,30 degree) for the OCF system.
The Profoto B2uses a LED modeling light that can be turned on and off from the Air Remote TTL, and a timer in the pack can be set to turn off after a few seconds to save battery life. The LI-ON battery will give you 215 flashes at full power and over 10,000 flashes at the lowest power setting and recharges in 60 minutes with the included charger. In the studio working all day, I had more than enough charge on a single battery and 2 batteries lasted all day in the field battling even freezing temperatures.
The Profoto B2is a great tool for stopping the action as it offers Profoto HSS (High Speed Sync) for shutter speeds up to 1/8000 of a second and FREEZE mode for very short flash durations. I took advantage of the Profoto HSS function quite a bit outside as it allowed me to use a very wide aperture to create shallow DOF for the look I wanted. Prior to the introduction of HSS, you’d need to be shooting at least f/11-16 to match the ambient light while staying within standard sync speeds. For this project I preferred the shallow DOF look so HSS was just the right technique. If 1/8000 shutter speed isn’t fast enough for you (or you are using a camera that’s not HSS compatible) the FREEZE mode allows for short flash durations up to 1/15000 of a second. As the name suggests, this mode is excellent for those shooting sports, dancers or splashes.
While portability is the most obvious advantage of the Profoto B2, versatility is something we need as photographers and the B2 shines here as well. The pack offers 2 fully asymmetrical ports allowing you to balance your lights as needed and adjust power in 1/10 stops over a 9 f-stop range from 1-250Ws. The B2 comes with built in AirTTL with a 300 meter range, just pick up the transmitter for your system and you are ready to go. If you are mixing the B2 with other flash or radio systems there is also a sync port as well as an optical slave mode.
The Profoto B2system will be offered in 2 kits at launch. The B2 To-Go Kitcontains almost everything you need to go off-camera. This includes the powerful B2 battery pack, charger and carrying bag, all packed into custom shoulder bag. Just add the remote that fits your camera and you are ready to take control and shape light. The second B2 Location kitwill include all of the above with an additional B2 flash headand battery.
