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With a recycling time of 0.9 seconds at full power, this 2400 watt-second flash generator will keep pace with even your fastest cameras.
One of the best things about new ultra-high-resolution digital SLRs, like the 24.5-megapixel Nikon D3X reviewed in last month's PDN, is the speed they offer In the studio compared to medium-format digital cameras. Capable of firing up to five frames per second, the Nikon D3X fared well In our studio tests where we photographed a pair of fast moving actresses as they worked through several comedie scenes.
In fact, the Nikon D3X was so swift that our strobes often couldn't keep pace with the camera, resulting in more than a few misfires. It's worth noting that this rarely, if ever, occurs with medium-format cameras we test, since even the fastest models chug along at just over 1 frame per second.
Swedish company Profoto, which has been a leader in professional studio lighting since the late 1960s, has a great new companion to all these new, speedy, DSLRs that are starting to infiltrate photo studios - a digital flash generator that is so fast your camera might not be able to keep up.
With a recycle time of just .9-second at a full power of 2400 watt-seconds, the Profoto Pro-8a Air is twice as fast as its predecessor the Pro 7. At lower power settings, the Pro-8a Air is demonically quick, capable of firing at up to 20 frames per second which is twice the rate of even the speediest digital SLR (Canon iD Mark III, iofps) on the market right now.
Seriously, when we achieved 2ofps strobe firing in our studio tests of the Pro-8a Air flash generator, I felt like I was back in the haunted house from my childhood summers on the boardwalk in Ocean City, Maryland. Scary.
Arguably what's even more important than recycle time is the quality of the light a strobe pack puts out. Anybody can be fast but can you be fast and good? With the Pro-8a, we found the output to be extremely accurate with consistent color throughout our stu dio shots of a model, even when firing quick bursts with a DSLR.
But as with the costly Nikon D3X ($8,000), this quality comes...