Portable Power With The Swedes - Profoto

I googled up "Swedish B4" as I assembled* information for this posting. Turns out they bought Hawker Hart biplanes, re-engined them, and used them as bombers - hence the B4. Who they wanted to bomb is a mystery. Apparently there was also an Alfa Romeo racing car in Swedish colours called a B4. All of this is nice, but peripheral to the real subject - the Profoto B4 1000Air battery generator flash pack.

This is the best battery-powered flash pack we have ever seen. It has the usual features of a studio pack - 1000w/s power, two exit ports, 1/10 stop power control with digital readout, etc. but it adds the following delights:

1. Very high speeds indeed:

     The pack will fire up to 30 times per second.

      It will fire and then recharge in as little as .03 of a second on low power settings. Even at full boom
      it only takes .99 of a second to be ready again.

      The discharge from the flash heads attached can be as short as 1/25,000 of a second. Wow.

2.  The battery can provide up to 220 shots on full power. Of course as it it is a rechargeable Li ion pack it can be trickle charged - the specifications state that this is a 45 minute task from fully discharged. But consider - the trickle charger is a fast one ( perhaps it should be called a pouring-stream charger...) and the pack can be used in a studio setting connected to the mains as if it was purely mains-powered. It just keeps shooting continuously.

      The batteries for this unit are also certified with the appropriate approval for domestic and international flights - an important consideration when faced with airline red tape and tight schedules.

3.   As the name specifies - the B4 1000 Air is ready to go for the wireless synch system. Profoto controllers are particularly easy to use on the camera - they have deliberately made them user-friendly so that you do not need to fight them while you are trying to conduct a busy shoot.

As with all Profoto gear, this is made to a very high standard indeed - aluminium chassis and rubber covering for field ruggedness - extremely rugged connector points - positive switches and indicators - no guessing as to which setting something is on. It fits right in with the Profoto heads and light shapers.

Best of all, we have one sitting in our rental department stocks right now. Ring up Sam or Bryn and ask  to take it out for a spin on your next big shoot. It will be a money-maker for you.


* As with all Swedish products, the information came in a flat pack and it was assembled with a small Allen key.