The Profoto B10 is here, and it's one of the most exciting advancements in lighting that I've seen in years.
Months ago Patrick and I received a cryptic message from Profoto inviting us to an all expense paid trip to Alaska in September. Of course we agreed to go but Profoto refused to tell us what the event was about or who would be there. When we arrived we met a strange group of photographers. Many of them were famous studio, portrait, and wedding photographers while a large portion were famous "influencers" and "Instagramers" who had never used a strobe before. I actually started to wonder if Profoto was about to announce a new mirrorless camera.
Luckily Profoto wasn't planning on competing with Sony, and instead they revealed the Profoto B10, a portable battery powered strobe with a color shifting LED for video that can also work on AC power. The B10 can also sync a LED flash with an smartphone to get studio lit shots without the need for a pro camera. At this point it all made sense. Profoto had made a light that could "do it all" in an extremely small package and they wanted to sell it to every photographer, even the ones who haven't considered buying lighting. I knew how special the B10 was from the moment I saw it, but for the next two days, they took us through every possible feature and function of the light. By the end of this event, everyone, including the instagrammers would want one.
Why is the B10 special?
The B10 is shockingly small. It's about the size of two speedlights. It's a strobe first but it also has a very powerful LED that is actually designed to work with video. Best of all, this is the first monolight Profoto has ever produced that can be used while it is charging. This means that the B10 is actually a great choice for studio photographers as well.
The Profoto D10 is about the same length as a normal speedlight
Battery Life
The battery that is included with the unit is capable of 400 full power flashes or around 700 flashes at half power. If you're using the LED for video, it can remain lit at full power for 90 minutes. Unlike the Profoto B1 and B1X, the charging port is no longer hidden while attached to the flash. This means that the battery is able to charge and power the B10 at the same time. This feature means that you may not need to buy extra batteries. If you were shooting a wedding for instance, you could leave the B10 plugged in at the church and reception but use battery power for outdoor portraits.
Design
Profoto has really stepped up their game when it comes to design. Obviously the flash is small, but everything about it feels high end. I was told that the B10 does have a fan but nothing about this light feels hollow and there are no noticeable holes for a fan. During my 4 days with this light, the fan has never come on, and if it has, I certainly couldn't tell. As a videographer who is constantly worried about sound, this was extremely important to me. The screen on the back is now a high res color display. The buttons and UI have been simplified and updated too. The bottom of the B10 has a quarter inch thread which allows you to easily mount it to a tripod directly or you can use the included tilting umbrella bracket to attach it to a light-stand. There are a few issues I have with this light but in my opinion the physical design of this light is flawless.
Profoto really stands out from other strobes with their slick design and reliability
Power
Profoto claims that the B10 is as powerful as five speedlights. We put this to the test and found that the B10 is comparable to around 2.5 speedlights or around 1.3 extra stops of flash power. Keep in mind that our test was far from scientific and if our results are disproven, we will happily update this. We didn't have another LED light with us to compare the power output of the constant light but the B10 appeared to have similar output to our Fiilex 360EX light which we are currently using in our studio. The Fiilex light is not particularly bright but we use it because it will accept all of our Profoto light modifiers. The LED light is not powerful enough to be used outside unless the sun has set but it may be enough for studio work.
B10 is about 1.3 stops more powerful than a single speedlight
Air Remote
The Profoto Air Remote is basically a mandatory accessory to this light. The light itself has a receiver built in but you will need an Air Remote to put on your camera to trigger it. The remote is extremely reliable over long distances and it also allows you to change the power output of multiple lights remotely, but it does have one major inconvenience... Even though the remote allows you to change the power of the flash, it doesn't actually show you the flash output so you will still find yourself staring at the back of the light to figure out your settings. Profoto has partially fixed this by introducing a new iPhone App that has this missing feature.
The Smartphone App
The B10 is capable of connecting to your smartphone via bluetooth and with the new Profoto app you will be able to see and control the settings on each of the lights. This seems particularly useful to me if you were using the lights for a video and you couldn't easily reach them. With the app you can turn lights on and off, dim them, and color shift them individually. Using the app during a still photoshoot, like a wedding, feels more cumbersome than helpful to me but I'm sure some photographers will like it.
The Profoto App allows you to change your power settings and LED color balance wirelessly
The Profoto app also has a camera function built in that will use the LEDs in a high powered "flash" mode that is capable of syncing with a phone's digital shutter. This will allow photographers to get even better looking shots with their phones. I'm not sure that I personally will ever need this feature but I can certainly understand why Instagrammers will love it.
The Price
This is where Profoto is probably going to lose most of you; the B10 is $1595 for one and $3195 for two and it comes with a custom backpack. Some photographers will be able to justify paying this while most will not, but that is right where Profoto likes to be. If you were on a budget, you could buy a flash and a color shifting LED panel for less than $100 on Amazon but the B10 is all about convenience. If you want one light that can do it all, and can be used with battery or AC power and can be controlled wirelessly, this may be the only option at the moment. I really wish Profoto could have made the B10 $999 and at that price they would have truly made a light that would be appealing to almost every photographer, but at $1600 it's certainly not for everyone.
Final thoughts
Profoto is betting a lot on the new B10, and I think I know why. I bet it will become the most successful Profoto product they've ever released. Is it for everyone? Of course not, it's extremely expensive, but everything Profoto makes is extremely expensive. Most photographers can't justify these prices because they don't rely on these features but if you're a professional, paying the premium for a light like this might actually be a really easy decision. The B10 is actually capable of replacing three different lights: AC powered strobes, battery powered strobes, and a color shifting LED. When you look at it that way, the price begins to make a little more sense. If I was still shooting weddings I would probably buy three of these and I would use them as studio lights during the week, battery powered lights for on location portraits, and then I would plug them in during wedding receptions. But, if you don't need a light that can "do it all" there are so many other cheaper options to consider as well. I've been shooting with Profoto for years now and I love their system but I'm the first to admit that it's a luxury branding with a luxury price.
I'm personally very excited about the B10. Yes I can always wish for more power and a lower price tag but for the way I shoot, this little light is about as close to perfect as I could wish for.
I've been using the B2 for several years and I have not seen any decrease in performance on battery only after using it plugged in when Im in a studio setting. Obviously the B2 battery is different but I dont think this would be a major issue.
Batteries like to be full and charged, that’s how they will last the longest. Depleting a battery is not the best way to extend its life. Read any statistics on any battery, the longest life will come from the least depleted usage cycles.
Lithium cells actually dont like to be full. 4.2V per cell is a full charge, and the packs in the Profotos are 4s I believe. Either way, Lithium like to be at 50% full all the time for long term use (3.8v/cell). This I know for sure, and have tens of thousands in RC jets, and planes and live this day in and day out lol. So, by using them all the time plugged in.. your keeping the cells at full charge state all the time, and this is in fact not the best for the battery. Want to make a cell phone battery last longer? Dont charge till 100%. Charge to 90%, and remove from charger. It will last longer in terms of how long it will hold a charge over time. Now.. Profoto may have a sensor on the board that detects that its being used while plugged in, and keeps the voltage lower in the battery to 4.1v/cell or something like that, which would be a lot better. It just depends how they engineer it.
Generalities and anecdotes don't always apply, and all products are not the same. Best bet is to follow manufacturer instructions. They are the ones who ultimately will need to stand behind the product.
Well I use four speedlights to create white background and use two Godox AD 200 for my mainlight, as well as one more speedlight. All Godox. I have HSS on all, and all flashes have rechargable batteries.
Price maybe 1700 dollar.
So 5 a1 is 5000 USD, and two B10 is 3000 USD. Total 8000 USD.
And Profoto modifiers are expensive to.
Most likely the LED light on these B10 they are not usable for photography.
I believe any battery based flash system will be compared to Godox. For most people to pay 5x is not on the table
That aside it looks great. I would not mind to change, but at that pricepoint Profoto are for wery Pro Payed customers. Evidently Profoto is not competing in price.
My math is just fine. 4 speedlight to make a background white is required due to the fact it's a narrow area. Those don't have modeling light but I have no need and the one in Profoto A1 are pretty useless anyway.
Then I have two AD200 in a Bowens mount bracket, and there are modeling light. Or eqalent the new AD400 pro will have a more powerful modelling light at the same price.
Nobody's forcing me to purchase Profoto, and nobody force you either. That's not the point.
The point is Profoto is expensive and Godox will do the job for much less, actually for what the sales tax are on Profoto where I live.
Still nobody tested HSS on Godox, Elinchrome ELB 500 and Profoto.
It's a known issue Godox flashes have overheating protection that will hit in after a certain number of rapid fired flashes. If this new Profoto head will take unlimited number of HSS flashes fired rapitly then ok, that's something to pay for.
Yes Profoto is wery sleek and nice, the display logic looks much better. I hate traditional speedlight interface. But the latest trigger Godox made is wery nice to work with. 1/3 increments compared to 1/10 is a pluss with Profoto.
A highly successful well payed photographer might go for Profoto or Bron, but even among those I notice at least one loving Godox.
But yes, Profoto makes nice stuff. For the pro. Rich pro:)
Godox made a recent update to the trigger and now it can do 1/10th increment adjustments if you want. =)
Cool! That's the xpro trigger? Do I need to upgrade firmware on flashes also?
I believe so. Robert Hall is my friend and go to guy on Godox. This is his video on it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu0byxWjCVU
Rob is great. He's my go to guy for Godox and Cheetahstand reviews.
Dan Howell - "For me, if you have to use 7 units it is not an effective system." You do realize there are other types of photography besides portraiture, right? And frankly, if someone wants to use 7 lights in portraiture and they get good results then who am I to tell them they're wrong?
I shoot architecture and on location product installs am almost comfortable with a dozen lights. My kit is now all Godox, consisting mostly of the 360's. The first used 180 I bought in 2014 is still cranking. My remote is the old $20 version and it actually does show me the output of the light I'm adjusting remotely. No need for me to pull out my phone to check it. What a ridiculous fail on the part of Profoto on their remote, wow.
The Godox batteries last so long I can get two days of shooting out of them. That's two days of lit brackets followed by light popping (painting) everything in the scene. And I'm not talking about short days either. Most days are a good 12+ hours on location. I'd pay a premium for a US product (not that Profoto is made in the US), but not even the European mfrs are close to challenging Godox for my workflow.
Actually I mostly do use one main light with a huge umbrella for my simple type of work. But I have a 3 meter (9 foot) wide cyclorama that I need to light up. Due to the fact I have less then (3 foot) on each side I put 4 speedlight with flash benders, pretty close to the wall. Maybe umbrellas would be better but I do not have space for that. Before I used 4 strobes with 60x60 cm softboxes, and some huge flags. I am much more happy now, my studio is more fun to work in and apeare larger. The speedlightss are close to the wall and out of my way.
Of cause if you or anyone could educate me in a better way to do it, I would appreciate that. I am just a simple small town photographer - I don't know as much as many here on Fstoppers.
Then in respect of the speedlights, they are powerful, a stop less then Profoto B10, and have the same type of battery. Due to the fact the run on a fragment of full power, the recycle time is just about instant. By far less then a second. And it runs I expect 1000 pops before need to recharge.
Also running two Ad200 together gives a really fast recycle time.
I actually tested and the flashes will trigger if I shoot in single mode, one after the other. Also in slow motordrive actually, due to my autofocus settings.
The new process controller gives a wery sleek interface to remotely control all flashes.
So I find it strange you think I am washing my money on flash gear. After all those 4 flashes including flash benders are less then one A1.
Ohh. And if you look at my setup I actually have spare flashes so if one break I am still good.
I am probably proud and arrogant, but I truly think I have a good setup, that I also can pack down in a small case. I love for sure:)
Lol Dan. I did take a little poetic liberty by changing up what is being photographed (portraiture vs architecture & products) so that's on me. I just got riled by your judgmental response to Bjarne sometimes using 7 lights.
You are obviously a gifted photographer (I checked out your work) and could no doubt offer terrific insight if you just had a little better "bedside manner" haha. In my eyes you came across as a bully and I have this sort of knee jerk reaction to that sort of thing. If you're not, then my apologies.
We don't know how large of a background Bjarne is trying to blow out when using 4 speedlights. It wouldn't be my "go to" method, even for a large area. I agree that having at least a little more power than speedlights would be optimal but I don't know Bjarnes circumstance. He's making it work so that deserves credit. I like redundancy too but in 4 years of switching to Godox I have yet to have any of them break and that's even after taking spills and landing on asphalt.
I will say that if I found myself on location and all of my Godox went down, I could rent just about anything to continue the assignment. I fly all manual and would just need to get the nuances of the new lights down. I used D1 500's on a rather lengthy assignment and didn't particularly find them awesome. They were alright but I didn't walk away from the gig telling myself I had to have some of my own. I have a good deal of experience with White Lightnings and JTL's as well. Hated the JTL's. The White Lightnings were tanks without many bells and whistles but reliable as hell. Most of my Godox have been purchased used (except for the 200) and have run me about $200 per light. I control them all with a crazy old $20 remote and $10 triggers. That's some insane shit.
Nice work Lee. Your painterly portraits are phenomenal. I want that backdrop you're using even though I don't do much portraiture at all lol. It looks like you're changing it's color with your lighting since I'm seeing it look cool and warm in different shots. Is that right?
I love it when the word 'ultimate' is used. Kind like 'awesome' and 'epic' -:), words used to get your attention but no real value in them.
Ultimate? Hardly. Kind like the A1 was never the ultimate flash.
If you are a professional, you will take good care of your money and do some serious thinking before paying so much for basically a strobe.
That's what pros should do.
We should have said “Ultraaaaaaaa!”
I will be looking forward to a comparison to Godox AD400 pro. Yes, the AD200 is closer in power and weight, but functionally the AD400 pro covers the B10 except for the bi-color LED. (It doesn´t really seem like a big deal, though, given that it is very easy to gel.)
This review gave me a *very* surprising fact, that definitely will give Godox users (like me) a good chuckle: The 420$ Profoto remote does not tell you the actual power of your flashes. Wait, what the what, what? I have relied on this functionality for years (in some of my work) but Profoto just doesn´t have it? (Oh yes, you can use your iPhone, but if I am all wet in my wetsuit in waist high water in the dark, I only want to deal with my camera (including the camera mounted trigger.)
But off course, if you are an all Profoto shooter, then you would not know what you are missing, and all will be fine. :-D
Interesting features? Sure. If it was 500ws or more without the recessed head, really interesting. The main power is nice, but I'd still use a B1 or speedlights before this. I won't get why they didn't make a 1000ws B1...THAT would be the "ultimate" portable flash. The thing people don't think about with the tiny lights is the distance limitation and the modifier limitation. You need the power not for power's sake, but so you can shape the light.
Yeah, I have been watching.. and it seems all manufactures seem to be limited with the power to weight ratio. Something new (tech) needs to happen I think before we see some real innovation on that regard. I see 400 - 500ws all coming in close to 5.5 - 6.5lbs (regardless a Quadra pack with head, or a B1x, Or the slightly heaver AD600 PRO at 600ws). I see 1000ws - 1200ws packs in the 9.5 - 10lb range (Ranger SPEED Pack was 17- pounds at 1100ws, and the new ELB 1200 is just under 10.) So, 250ws at the 3 pound mark is about right. I agree, I was wishing it would be a 400ws light at the same size and weight, but this is not possible right now.
no thx i stick to godox
Just out of curiosity: Have you shot an extensive setup of AD600 Pro's? And how did they fail in comparison to Profoto. (I am really just trying to understand the differences here.)
Thanks a lot for explaining in depth.
Two notes:
AD600 pro (as well as the pro remote) has just been updated to accommodate 1/10 stop adjustment. And there is a color accuracy mode on the AD600 pro, that I have seen reported to be more accurate than Broncolor.
The reference to the "clunk" of a car door is interesting because that's something car companies specifically go out of their way to acoustically engineer to increase the perception of quality despite the fact that it's not something that is necessarily related to the ACTUAL quality of the product (be it the door or the car).
In photography we see a similar thing with lens manufacturers building barrels out of metal rather than plastic despite it having no beneficial effect other than increasing the perceived value (we associate heavier with better build quality).
I find it interesting that you attribute some sort of "feel" to a strobe and I would be curious to know what that can be attributed to because I've never thought of strobes like that.
Prior to April 2016 I used several strobes to achieve HSS (or some variation like Supersync) and each didn't have the ability to display the power of the light on the transmitter. As someone who enjoys sharing how photos were achieved needing to reply on memory to record the power output was frustrating. Then the Godox AD600 came out and the cheap $50 transmitter capable of both HSS and TTL had that ability. I find it insane that Profoto still doesn't on their TTL transmitter and the only way at the moment is using an app. Nobody wants to have to rely on an additional item for that.
You also mention HSS which was available to Godox for some time now throughout the power range of 1/256-1/1. Profoto had it but only from power 7-10. In fact, it was only until I think last year in May that Profoto updated the light to have a wider range.
If you are heavily invested in Profoto I would suggest investing in three Godox AD400s that have the ability to use Profoto modifiers when you get the Profoto mount for it. That would be around the cost of a single B10 but with more to offer. You might not care to see your power output but many others do.
Edit: You can also turn the modeling light on and off remotely with Godox.
Valid arguments. Still the latest controller from Godox delivers you from fiddling with the flashes. And it also converts TTL reading to manual.
It’s a shame that the Cactus RQ250 wasn’t funded as it could have been a good alternative.
Sounds like a very practical product to travel light. While I have all my stuff invested in another brand, I can see this product work for me independently for specific shoots. Regarding price, stop crying people, go shoot and pay them off with extra jobs and forget that down side. Do you have a need for them or not, that's where it stops. There is a reason why quality lights even 20 year old product stay highly priced on ebay.
I think the B10 is a perfect addition to anyone who has invested in a Profoto system. Everyone else will simply be using Godox. It's simple common sense.
I view it differently, anything low ws made to be portable is not about getting 3 or 4 lights, more like 1 or 2. Therefore compatibility is not a must have. Past 2 lights the value of portability can fade off rapidly. Buying into a full system is another market. Before Godox, "everyone" was AB. Personally I use a high end brand, probably 75% purchased used, and grew my inventory with that strategy. Being able to cover anything with maximum flexibility and mix accessories are a must in smaller market in my opinion. I know some who never grew from more affordable brands disregarded the value of accessories and limited their options into an over crowded market.
Lee Morris :If you still have the unit, how many rapitly flashes can you trigger in TTL HSS mode before over hear protection hits in? On close to full power?
They gave me one unit and I am not going to do that test on my only unit ;)
Why not? They must have overheating protection. I for one would be wery interested if Profoto unit can take the heat, so to speak. Also I am interested if you can connct the unit to the wall outlet and run it with no battery?
No, the plug goes directly into the battery.
Great video and write up Lee! You hit it home on this one, and I for one totally agree with all of your points ESPECIALLY as a wedding photographer. Having just taken delivery of the B1X location kit (backpack with two lights) I am hooked with Profoto, and coming from a 7 year relationship with Elinchom I see the value as a working pro. Adding in two B10's will give me a nice lightweight option for the international weddings I shoot, and at home here I can use them as kickers along with the B1X's. I think this is great!
Dual card slots?
Even better....no card slots!
For those who don't mind a recessed flash tube, save yourself $1,600 and bungee cord two speedlights together for a similar result.
I can confirm your thoughts on the power output vs, two speedlights. I just did a test with the B1X here in my house. At power level "9" on the B1X (250ws) I got the same exposure value on a subject at the same distance as I did with two Godox V850 Speedlites at full power side by side. So, I think your guess Lee on power is correct. I wonder why they said 5 speedlites? Maybe with the Magnum reflector (this will add 2 stops), and honestly I think is amazing! I want to get the Magnum for my B1X's to help give even more power for the sun!
Update.. check out this video from my friend in LA who was also at the Alaska event.. this is very interesting when he compared the new B10 vs. the B2... https://youtu.be/1GYrRHZ2gQk
Lee you mentioned that "I'm happily entrenched in the Profoto ecosystem so I don't keep up with all the new tweaks of other brands."
Maybe that is the problem with most Profoto or Elinchrom or Broncolor users, and that because they haven't been noticing or even giving these new flashes a worthy try that they aren't really seeing how well they perform or how worthy they are of their price. I am not saying Godox AD600pro is better than the D1 or that 400pro is a much better buy than the B10 (but I still am not able to find a reason why I want to by a B10 over the AD400pro other than to tell people I own a Profoto) but it's has certainly caught up. So caught up that most of the forum I see, people use the Godox system to compare to Profoto. I am pro that have been using Profoto D1 in the Studio and Godox at home and in the field. Quite frankly I have used Godox for really big advertising projects and I have never gotten any negative feedback with color inconsistencies or exposure inconsistencies. I am sure there will be inconsistencies but what I mean it has never been an issue nor have I gotten a complain from editors or the client. To be frank I think the exposure inconsistencies with the D1 is actually quite disappointing considering it's price. Let's look at the B10 without a branding label at the moment. If it was a Godox would you pay over$1000 for it? and if the AD400 had the exact features would you pay $1600 for it considering it has 400Ws and color stabilization mode? I am not saying Profoto is a bad brand. But I think like Leica they make good cameras, but how many of you are using Leica's for work?
In terms of customer service. Profoto customer is not that great in Asia, meanwhile Godox has excellent customer service. They even replaced a unit that my assistant damaged due to user error. I only had to pay for shipping. So fo US users I can know why some people are frustrated with Godox especially when things go wrong (after all it is electronics and units will fail), but it's like why Apple is not working in China and Chinese brands are taking over mobile devices. At the end of the day how many units do you think Profoto Sells and how many units do you think Godox sells? The turnover of Godox the widely acceptance of its products today will make Godox into a industry leader one day believe or not. I have spoken to the brand and its customer service and they are a very determined brand to listen to it users. Profoto on the otherhand, well you can continue placing yourself to be the Porsche's of photography lighting but Photographers are superficial people, at the end we don't bring our monolights out on a date to impress them. We just look at practicality and quality and sure on a scale of 1 to 10 I give the profoto brand now an 8 and probably Godox somewhere around 6, but that 6 is moving up quickly.