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Profoto D1 Air vs Elinchrom BRX500 vs Photogenic monolights

Flash duration test

When I got to our studio these 3 monolights, I kept thinking how to test them against each others. All of them are the same power, 500Ws, and while Elinchrom and Photogenic cost around $600 each, Profoto D1 Air is twice more expensive, $1200.

Each light has a very similar controls and features. So, what exactly to test? We did not get any light modifiers with them, and without light modifiers there is not much to test: all flash units are well built, have easy to use controls and same power output.

What was interesting though is to see how these lights will perform in stopping the action, such as a liquid splash. Claimed flash durations were between 1/1300 sec t.5 (Photogenic) and 1/2600 sec t.5 (Profoto), and experience photographers could easily tell from these numbers that it won’t be good for stopping a hi-speed splash action.

However, will it be a noticeable difference between 1/1300 sect. 5 and 1/2600 sect.5? I wanted to test for myself. Plus, it is such a fun to make splashes – why not to make the studio wet one last time (we are moving out).

So, here we go, two videos from this test:

BackPanel look of each studio flash monolight:

Studio Flash Monolights Review, Part 2: Flash Duration Test

 

For Specification and purchase info please visit BHphotovideo.com:

Profoto D1 Air vs Elinchrom BRX500 vs Photogenic monolights flash duration test
Profoto D1 Air vs Elinchrom BRX500 vs Photogenic monolights flash duration test
Profoto D1 Air vs Elinchrom BRX500 vs Photogenic monolights flash duration test

And what is the winner? Broncolor of course:-) 1/7000 sec t.1, and all beauty of the frozen splash shot:

Profoto D1 Air vs Elinchrom BRX500 vs Photogenic monolights flash duration test

Below are 100% crops from a splash from each studio monolight we tested:

Photogenic 1250 (1/1300 sec t.5)

Profoto D1 Air vs Elinchrom BRX500 vs Photogenic monolights flash duration test

Elinchrom 500BRX (1/1500 sec t.5)

Profoto D1 Air vs Elinchrom BRX500 vs Photogenic monolights flash duration test

Profoto D1 500 Air (1/12600 sec t.5)

Profoto D1 Air vs Elinchrom BRX500 vs Photogenic monolights flash duration test

Broncolor Grafit A4 (1/7000 sec t.1)

Profoto D1 Air vs Elinchrom BRX500 vs Photogenic monolights flash duration test
Conclusion:

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