First Look at the New Profoto A1 Flash

I’ve been a Profoto user for quite a while now, loving my B1s and B2s for wedding photography, and my D1s for studio photography. I’m a huge fan of off-camera flash, especially when it can be easily manipulated into looking like natural light when I need it to. After all, that’s what 99 percent of my wedding clients want: natural light and a golden-hour glow regardless if it’s raining or we’re shooting in noon-day sun. What I’ve been missing, however, is the portability of a small flash, and being able to use it on camera.

Well, the answer is here and Profoto has really done it this time with the brand new release of the Profoto A1. They’re calling it the world’s smallest studio strobe, and with this hotshoe-mounting, flash-like light bragging features like an LED modeling light and 76 Ws flash energy, I can certainly see why.

For me, this light really bridges the gap between flashes and studio strobes. Which, in a lot of ways also helps shorten the divide between natural light photographers (NLPs) and those that use OCF. Because most NLPs do know how to use an on-camera flash, the Profoto A1 will be somewhat familiar to them. Naturally the A1 communicates seamlessly with other Profoto lights so it’s now easier than ever to learn and work with OCF lights.

I could go on about the million reasons why the launch of the Profoto A1 has changed my world, and you can see it in action in the video above. Here are my top six points when considering adding this gem to your arsenal.

What I Like

Lithium Batteries

This may seem like the silliest thing to write about first, but I’m a practical person. If you’ve ever shot two day-long gigs in a row, then you know the utter pain of having to charge dozens of AA batteries overnight, or even on the job-site. No more. I haven’t changed a single AA battery in the past month I’ve had to play with this new toy. After last weekend’s triple-header, I’m really very, very grateful for that.

The lithium battery gives you 350 flashes at full power and takes just 80 minutes to charge. For me, that’s more than enough for a wedding day. It also eliminates the need for battery packs that help quicken flash recycle times. I haven’t had a single misfire yet thanks to the 0.05–1.2 second recycle time and I’m happy to be lugging around one less thing around my waist all night.

Portable

I love my Profoto B2s, but they still have a battery pack that can be heavy, especially when lugging gear around on engagement sessions. The A1 weighs only 1.2 pounds so it’s easily earning its tagline as the world’s smallest (and lightest) studio strobe. I typically bring two with me on a shoot: one for off camera use, and one on camera to control the off-camera light and/or have a fill light as well.

Easy TTL/Manual

Hands down this is the winner not only for me, but for a lot of NLPs as well. One of the ways I was able to learn on and off-camera flash was through TTL. Sure it’s not the traditional approach and I’m sure there are a ton of photographers that can better spew the inverse square law math than I can. But, without first understanding TTL, I wouldn’t have gotten over the OCF learning curve which then helped me understood manual power from there. I know there are a lot of other photographers that can relate to that method of learning and the A1, again, helps bridge that gap.

Just like other Profoto strobes, you can get your roundabout flash power setting by using TTL, and then the A1 will hold that setting for you when you flip to manual power to adjust it up and down. Of course, you can change not only the on-camera A1, but every other light it’s connected to right on the back of the light as well.

Snap-on Attachments

The light shapers that are made for the A1 are equipment with magnets for easy-to-attach functionality. The one that I’ve used the most is easily the gels. I use the orange gel to simulate the sun and create that golden-hour feel, and the green gel to light my subjects during sunset to essentially bring out the magenta in my background like in the picture below. I can see NLPs easily becoming attached to the CTO gels letting them create that warm and airy look whenever they’d like.

The other attachments are a soft bounce, bounce card, gel kit dome diffuser, and wide lens attachment (last two are included with the unit), all of which are light as can be. The two latter modifiers even fit right into the top of the A1 case making them easily accessible and portable in addition to their quick-mount ease of use.

What I Don't Like

Price

This is not going to be an entry-level flash with its higher price point. However, I can see photographers going from their very first flash (not including pop-up flashes of course) to the A1. Why? It’s just like anything else, you get what you pay for. More power, more functionality, more reliability, more ease-of-use, and more features like connecting to big-boy Profoto strobes when you’re ready for them. Side note: it's currently available for Canon and Nikon.

Bright Light Display

I’ve already submitted this request directly to Profoto and I have my fingers crossed that it’ll be in the next firmware update. The back of the light has a ton of great functionality, but even at the lowest setting, the guy across the room can see my power settings (not that he cares). In addition, the on-off button is super bright and since I’m often using this light on-camera in dark reception halls it can be a little blinding when I put the camera/light up to my face. Again, fingers crossed that’ll be fixed.

Summary

I have two.

I really wanted to just end it there, but I suppose I should give you an “official” overall statement about the light. How about, I have two, and you won’t be able to pry them from my cold, dead fingers. No? OK, tough crowd.

The Profoto A1 hasn’t left my side and I don’t plan on going on a gig without it. I even brought it into the studio to see how it interacted with my D1s (beautifully of course). It’s an incredible piece of equipment allowing the photographer incredible control whether using it on or off camera, and the ridiculously easy menus on the back will give NLPs yet another reason to start learning to master non-sunlight light. It’s a robust and versatile flash with the power and functionality of a strobe. Hats off to Profoto.

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40 Comments

In case anyone is wondering how much they cost without clicking a link, they are $995 each.

I also have a pair of B2s and a B1... but $2k for a couple of speed lights is pretty intense. I was guessing they were more like $749. At least I already have the Air Remote, I suppose...

OH GEEZE. I just saw that the bounce card... the BOUNCE CARD is $150!!!

You are kidding, right?

I wish.

Can't say I am surprised.

I think if they could have made this a 200 Ws strobe then it would be worth it. Even that is pretty minimum to be honest. At 75 Ws this is a hair more powerful than Nikon and Canon Flagships, I don't get it, even though I did pay 400$ for the Profoto remote.

Get out....$995 each is ridiculous! McNally built his career, and amazing portfolio on just Nikon Speedlights at HALF that price point... (yes, still expensive for some).. even less maybe, if you have to count any other Profoto accessories. Light is light is light...How you manipulate and cut it is the key, not over the top priced equipment.

Yet, you see him using more and more Profoto gear when he is not shooting for Nikon.

Even 10 years ago when he was doing educational material he was using Elinchrom in addition to Nikon. He never exclusively used speed lights.

Or buy a Godox or 4 with Magmods?

The import flashes from Godox and Yonguno are solid and get tons of praise, but I'm not going to pretend they're in the same class as these. While the Profoto lights are certainly amazingly well-built, spec'd, and engineered and rightfully command a higher price... you are paying for the name in there, too.

In a world where no one wants to pay for a photographer, I certainly could never ever justify Profotos sadly.

I agree, the AD200 are in a class of their own. They are pretty amazing and three of them can be bought for less than one of those speedlights..they are speedlight however Profoto wants to call them.

In case anyone wants the Profoto Product page: www.Profoto.com/A1

Thanks for the write up. Always enjoy your videos.

One thing that should always be included in the "What I don't like" section of Profoto TTL flash reviews is how Profoto requires the user to set power. The Profoto remote in TTL mode only sets lighting RATIOS, not modifications to the base exposure like the Nikon system does. This means that you do not actually set power in Profoto TTL, you set the ratios of your light groups and then set the power on camera using flash exposure compensation. This terrible design, requiring two different sets of controls to set flash power, caused me to abandon Profoto and switch to Godox. I've complained directly to Profoto so many times about this that they now simply ignore me, a paying customer with thousands of dollars in Profoto gear (that will soon be sold).

I guess the sort-of workaround is to use TTL to get your starting point and then switch to manual.

Profoto packs and rental service are wonderful from a user perspective. However while the market is plenty saturated, and Profoto decided to weight in with by far the most expensive product with no particular advantage, good luck.

These are pretty sick but as in usual Profoto fashion they are way too expensive. For the cost of one of these I can get three evolv 200's that do pretty much the same stuff.

In my opinion the evolv 200 (Godox AD200) can do much more since they out put almost three time the power.

Indeed. You speak truth. The entire r2 system has blown me away with it's quality, versatility, and affordability. When I started photography I could not even imagine having 200 watts of power in such small portable unit for such a reasonable cost. Now I want to get 2 Flashpoint zoom r2 speed lights ( ONLY $150 each!!!) for accent lights. The r2 system really lets you get into creative lighting SUPER easy.

All their modern gear is made in China.

It sounds much more like a paid promotional article than a honest review.

Thank you for the review, Vanessa. I feel these will be a fantastic addition to my Profoto system! I do have a couple of quick questions:

1) Can the battery be removed and charged separately, or is the entire flash unavailable when recharging?
2) Can the gels be mounted at the same time as one of the other modifiers?
3) It looks like you can control the power level of other Profoto strobes from an A1 mounted on your camera, correct?
4) I assume you can use multiple A1s off-camera and then use the Air Remote to adjust and fire them?

Thanks again!
Dan

1. Battery is removable
2. All the modifiers are stackable, including the gels.
3. Yes, the A1 has a fully integrated AirTTL remote.
4. Yes, when the A1 is off camera it acts just like a B1/B2/D2 etc.

Nice light, steep price.

Weddings are nightmarish in that you never know how long, or, how many images are going to cover the event. It can range from X to X depending on so many factors. If I need to step into that role (oh my god it's a worst case scenario) of wedding shooter. I'm staying with my Quantum system just for battery life alone. 350 pops are keeping me just a little too close to power outlets for my liking.

At $995 US (or $1200 CDN where I am) not a chance, I could literally buy 6 of the Godox TTL speedlights that I have...SIX...including tax and shipping.
As gorgeous as these are, not any hope I'll be buying one of these anytime soon...That's 1/4 the cost of a new D850 in Canada...umm nope.

Eff that! Godox 4 life! lol

Well put together first look. I think Profoto made a smart move lol.

It's a great addition but unfortunately at a great cost! I have a lot of profoto gears and I still find this expensive given what the light can do.

"the world’s smallest studio strobe"

I guess that's one way to put a spin on a speedlight to try to get people to pay a thousand dollars for each. LOL! This is just an absurd product. I'm sure it's reliable as hell and built to high standards and quite frankly, I'm also sure that you're not going to notice a difference in results between this and a Yongnuo speedlight with a MagMod system or something of the like.

It's great that Profoto wants to step into the speedlight world, but the pricing is really difficult to justify given the amount of competition in the space.

Looks really nice, but I can't help but think about the ten Yongnuo speedlights I could purchase for the price of one of these units... Ouch.

Ultimately physics is physics- a small low powered speed light is always going to be a small low-powered speed light. Calling it 'the smallest studio strobe' does NOT make it so!!. (And I love my Profoto D1's BTW!)

Maybe a bit better made. Maybe a bit better interface. But NEVER worth 3-4x the price of similarly sized and priced units.

The AD-200 on the other hand is actually something more akin to a portable studio strobe...

Everyone who are complaining about these, you do know that these have a built in flash commander tool also?

hmm...Profoto should add wifi units in their lights and make free to public apps to control them (just as what Bron offers). Air is good but having that one extra option is welcomed.

I don't think it should be called a review if the reviewer gets the product for free and in advance of the public.

Interesting advert.
Does seem a little disingenuous to refer to the A1 as a studio light, appears little different in performance to a speedlite
It is nice how the A1 can control other Profoto heads; however, when on-camera without controlling other Profoto heads don't quite see the advantage over a Canon system speedlite
The Canon speedlite will zoom with the lens; also, the Canon 600EX-RT has the same degree of weather sealing as a top-level canon camera, it does seem the A1 is not weather sealed.
As for changing batteries, no great issue changing four AAs, and a lot cheaper than the A1 pack.
The A1 battery is £90 and 11.84Wh, a set of AA are 4 x 1.2(volts) x 2.5(Ah) = 12Wh for ~£5

wow they sure are expensive speedlights

I don't think the price is that steep, especially when you take into account that the unit replaces the Air remote (standard, or Nikon or Canon dedicated).

Just went to the product launch in Toronto. I must say it is a great product. Light is great. Controls work well if you already have profoto gear. The price is just ridiculous though. As many have already stated the Godox AD200 is comparable, but definitely not as good but I don't know if anyone can justify that additional cost at 1000 USD or 1300 CND. A few things I learned...the accessories are priced just as ridiculously. Not compatible with Fuji or Sony at the moment but they did mention that it was coming. It's not weather proof if that matters to you. No grids available just yet bit expect the price for the grid kit to be at least another $150.

Canon addicts listen and wait: after 3 days and 2 different A1 Profoto flashes (first unit was replaced) this is my conclusion:The hot shoe is 2mm less wide than the original Canon one therefore the flash is slightly loose. The top part of the flash is slightly loose as well so the whole thing becomes really loose that one fears the whole flash detached from the camera when doing strong moves. AirRemote does not work fully with the flash, switching between first or second shutter curtain and HHS does not work. HHS controlled from the flash works only partially, shutter times less than 1/250s result in pictures underexposed significantly. The zoom of the flash cannot be controlled through the remote as well. When attaching or removing magnetic accessories or the camera hangs on its strip around the neck and one touches just lightly the ring for selecting reflectors the flash changes to manual zoomreflector. Now it's quite complicated to select through the menu again the automatic mode. The small wheel for adjusting +/- TTL is easily accidentally moved just by having the flash and camera on the body and moving normally. Battery indicator on flash does not show full despite it is charged fully. Worst is that many times and completely out of the blue the flash simply stops flashing...power cycling and pushing some buttons restores normal operation...I can only recommend to wait as the flash in its present form is neither worth almost 1000€ nor is suitable for professionals. It seems one more product that is sold still in Beta status. I will return the flash next week and may give it another try when it is a bit more mature...