Interfit, the well known maker of studio flash units and flash accessories, has announced today the release of their new battery powered strobe the Badger Unleashed.
The Badger Unleashed is Interfit's follow up to their highly successful Honey Badger flash. The new strobe carries a whole slew of impressive updates inside its incredible compact form. The features that really jump of the page are that this new flash unit includes HSS and TTL capabilities, something relatively unheard of in a sub-$400 strobe. Interfit says that the integrated 2900maH Li-Ion battery can provide up to 430 full-power flashed on a single charge, and full-power recycle time of 1.5 seconds.
The 250Ws strobe also includes a 15W daylight balanced LED modeling lamp, as well as an integrated radio receiver that is compatible with all Interfit TTL and manual flash triggers. The unit also utilizes a frosted glass dome diffuser over the flash tube to help provide even distribution of light within your modifiers.
The Badger Unleashed comes with the popular Bowens S-Type modifier mount, meaning finding light modifiers and accessories for this strobe will be incredibly easy. In addition, the flash includes a pop-up softbox ring to further increase its modifier compatibility.
See the Badger Unleashed's full specifications below:
Built-In Battery Power:
The namesake feature of the Badger Unleashed is an entirely DC powered system, offering full portability in a compact body with 250Ws of light in up to 430 full-power flashes. Out of juice? The Badger Unleashed can recharge its battery to full in just 90 minutes, and extra battery packs can be swapped mid-shoot so you'll never miss that golden hour at the end of your shoot again!
Compact Form Factor:
The ability to travel with lighting is crucial for a mobile photographer, and size and weight matter. The Badger Unleashed weighs less than 5lbs, measures 5” wide (6” including the outer ring), and 7” deep from the back panel to the edge of the protective cap, making it one of the most compact self-contained studio flash heads on the market. The robust and compact housing paired with its on-board battery power make the Badger Unleashed the ideal solution for photographers on the move.
Extended Power Range:
The Badger Unleashed has an incredible 9-stop power range, two more stops than our Honey Badger sister strobe, and four more than traditional studio flash heads. Power can be adjusted from 250Ws down to 1Ws in 1/10th of a stop increments for precise exposure.
Best-In-Class Recycle Time:
At full power, the Badger Unleashed recycles in an impressive 1.5 seconds at full power. Plus, recycle times only get shorter and shorter as you decrease the flash power!
High Speed Sync and Through-The-Lens Metering Modes:
Short flash durations give us the ability to freeze motion beyond the capabilities of our shutter sync speed. In HSS mode, the Badger Unleashed has a t.1 flash duration of 1/8000th of a second. With TTL metering, the new Badger is even capable of automatically adjusting flash power for you with +/- 3 stops of exposure compensation as the lighting around your subject changes from shot to shot - simply keep shooting with your viewfinder and the Badger Unleashed takes care of the rest!
15W LED Modeling Lamp:
The Badger Unleashed is equipped with a 15W LED modeling lamp that produces 1250 Lumens. This flicker-free LED can be used as a continuous light source for both photo and video purposes. The modeling lamp can be set to adjust proportionately to the flash power, or to full power. For the most accurate light tone portrayal, we balanced the color temperature to 5500K - giving you nice daylight balanced color tones in every scene.
Built-in Radio Receiver:
The Badger Unleashed features a built-in radio receiver that is compatible with all Interfit TTL and manual remotes. This allows full control over the light’s power range, flash mode, modeling lamp, and beep function. When using the Interfit manual remote, the Badger Unleashed can be adjusted individually via 8 different control groups (A-H), across 15 different channels (1-15). This allows for intricate multi-light setups and negates interference from neighboring photographers.
Versatile Modifier Mount:
The most unique feature of the Badger Unleashed is the versatile modifier mount. The Badger Unleashed utilizes the popular Bowens® S-Type modifier mount, making it compatible with all of the same modifiers as the S1, Honey Badger, and any other Interfit or S-Type mount light system. In addition, the Badger Unleashed features the built-in pop-up softbox ring made popular by the original Honey Badger for use with pop-up style softboxes that are popular with speedlight shooters. The idea behind this feature is to allow photographers to grow into their studio lights by allowing them to use some of the existing modifiers they may already have purchased for speedlights.
Glass Dome Diffuser:
The Badger Unleashed includes a frosted glass dome diffuser. This protects the flash tube and helps to spread light evenly throughout the modifier.
The Badger Unleashed is currently available for pre-order from Interfit and costs and incredibly reasonable $349. If this little strobe can live up to the potential of its specs, it could prove to be an excellent choice for both photographers just getting into studio lighting, and for the working pro in need of a solid, lightweight, on-the-go unit. Interfit will be sending us a unit to review and we will be sure to share our thoughts with you soon.
Nice. I have a couple honey badgers already in studio. Will add one or two of these to my kit perhaps.
I like my Einsteins but when I see similar lights with HSS I'm about ready to move on from the Buff lights. Buff needs to modernize or be left behind. When the Honey Badger has a flash of 600Ws with HSS I'll be very interested.
Well tell that to captain America aka William Howell who thinks you have to be patriotic no matter what. Even in the next 20yrs when technology has advance to a whole different level and PCB still sticks to 70s tech, he will never jump ship 🤣
I'm a PCB enthusiast, but I have no idea what they are waiting on. Flashpoint/Godox is going to destroy them. How hard is it to create something similar to this Honeybadger? I don't want to drop 1k+ on Profoto gear and their accessories. PCB, give your loyal customers what they want!
Mark, I feel the same way. I've been very happy with my PCB but I need HSS in a powerful strobe that doesn't cost $1,000+ per light.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL6CDFn2i3I