14 Great Lights and Modifiers Built for Road Work

Profoto B2
Profoto’s B2 is a portable flash system offering TTL metering for Nikon and Canon cameras via Profoto’s optional Air Remote. This 250 w/s flash can be used on camera, with an optional bracket, or off camera. It offers a recycle time of 1.35 seconds when shooting at full power or as quick as .03 seconds at the lowest power setting, with a quick burst option that delivers up to 20 flashes in a second. Flash output is adjustable over a range of nine f-stops in 1/10 f-stop increments with flash durations as short as 1/15,000 sec. High Speed Sync is also available up to 1/8,000 sec. The B2 pairs perfectly with the recently introduced OCF Beauty Dish ($179), which is available in either white or silver.

Prices: $1,995 (B2-to-Go), $2,695 (B2 Location Kit)
www.profoto.com

Dynalite Baja B6
This battery-powered monolight delivers 600 w/s of power and features an LED display and power control in 1/10th- stop increments over a seven-stop range. You’ll enjoy up to 400 full manual flashes on a charged battery and ready access to remaining battery life on the B6’s display. The B6 uses a 5W LED modeling light and features flash durations ranging from 1/500 to 1/12,800 sec. and recycle times from .05-4.3 seconds, depending on power level. It offers High Speed Sync (HSS) capabilities when using a Nikon or Canon transmitter. A stroboscopic mode lets you choose between 5, 10 or 15 flashes per second.

Price: $749
www.dynalite.com

Phottix Indra360 TTL
This powerful-yet-portable package delivers 360 w/s of power with built-in TTL metering for Canon and Nikon cameras via the Phottix Odin. It also offers manual and strobo modes, second curtain sync and HSS up to 1/8000 sec. shutter speeds. You can adjust the Indra360’s power over eight stops from 1/128 to full power in 1/3-stop increments. The flash uses a small, portable Li-ion battery (good for up to 350 flashes at full power) and can also connect to an AC adapter for studio use. Recycle times clock in between 0.1-1 seconds using AC power and 0.1-5 seconds when drawing from the battery pack.

Price: $999 
www.phottix.com

Lume Cube
There are plenty of waterproof lights catering to action cams, but few are as capable as the Lume Cube. Housed in a 1.5-inch cube that’s waterproof to a depth of 100 feet, the light delivers 1,500 lumens of illumination at 1 meter. There are ten brightness settings and the battery will hold out for roughly 45 minutes at full power or 2 hours at half power. Uniquely among action camera lights, the Lume Cube can also be used as a flash—it has an optical sensor to serve as a slave to a camera flash. You can pair your Android or iPhone to the light via Bluetooth to control flash duration, power settings and more. You can control up to 100 Lume Cubes at once from the app.

Price: $254
www.lumecube.com

Interfit S1
Interfit Photographic’s S1 is a 500 w/s strobe with a built-in battery that supports HSS and TTL for Canon and Nikon cameras. The S1’s interchangeable lithium-ion battery is good for up to 350 full power flashes in either manual or TTL modes and up to 400 full power flashes when shooting in HSS mode. The S1 weighs 6.3 pounds with battery included. You can also run the flash off of AC power thanks to the included multi-voltage AC adapter. The flash works with an optional remote for Canon and Nikon cameras ($100) to enable TTL metering. The S1 has a seven-stop power range, which is adjustable in 1/10th-stop increments when shooting in TTL mode with +/- three stops of exposure compensation and the ability to manually adjust the flash within 1/3 stops.

Price: $1,000
www.interfit.com

Glow ParaPop 38
The Glow ParaPop 38 is a portable parabolic softbox that creates a 105-degree spread of light. It’s an ideal key or fill light for both studio or environmental portraits. The 12-sided shape and parabolic profile of its 38-inch diameter and 16.5-inch depth will ensure that the photons streaming from your flash land evenly from edge to edge. It packs down quickly thanks to jointed positioning rods that lock with a simple click into the dedicated speed ring. It earns its “pop” moniker by the popping sound you’ll hear when you collapse the softbox using twin safety tabs. Adorama promises that setting up the ParaPop will take 3 minutes the first time you take it out of the box, while collapsing it takes a mere second.

Price: $220
www.adorama.com 

Elinchrom ELB 400
The workhorse ELB 400 battery pack delivers 424 w/s of flash power for up to 350 full- powered flashes on a single battery charge. There are two asymmetric power outlets and flash output is adjustable across a 6.9-stop range in 1/10-5/10-stop increments. Recycle times clock in between 0.3-1.6 seconds at full power in the unit’s fast mode. Recycle speeds ramp up to 0.17 seconds at lower power. There are three different heads available for the system. A Pro head offers flash durations (measured at 0.5) of 1/1,200 sec. at full power and 1/3,000 sec. at lower power settings. The Action head prioritizes speed with full-power flash durations clocking in at 1/2,800 sec. and low-power speeds up to 1/5,700 sec. Finally, the new HS head has the slowest full power flash duration at 1/550 sec. but supports Elinchrom’s new Hi-Sync technology, which lets you overpower the sun and shoot at wide open apertures with faster shutter speeds. You’ll need Elinchrom’s Skyport HS transmitter if you opt for the Quadra HS head.

Price: $1,599 (ELB 400 & Quadra HS head)
www.elinchrom.com

FJ Westcott Ice Light 2
The Ice Light 2 is 50 percent brighter than the original with a total output of 1,740 lumens of daylight-balanced light. This is a high-quality LED with a CRI value of 96. While it was launched a little over a year ago, Westcott has just now released an app that lets you control the Ice Light 2 remotely over Bluetooth (in fact, you can control up to ten of them from a single phone). The second-gen Ice Light is dimmable in 18 steps, sports a digital display and a removable battery that’s good for about 1 hour-plus of continuous use. The battery itself recharges in 2 hours and you can also operate the Ice Light when connected directly to an AC outlet. It’s compatible with all of the original Ice Light’s accessories such as barn doors and tungsten gels, features a standard 1/4-20 socket and weighs under 2 pounds.

Price: $525
www.fjwestcott.com

Sun Bounce Sun Mover 
When you need a little illumination from the great nuclear strobe in the sky, Sunbounce’s Sun-Mover is a compact reflector with an adjustable design, allowing you to alternate between a convex or concave shape. The Mover is two-sided, with a different color reflector on each side. With the newly released Tight-Fit-Screen you can now add a third color option to the Mover. Sunbounce says that while the Tight-Fit-Screen sits “like a second skin” on the Mover, it won’t compromise the reflector’s tension. Tight-Fit-Screens are available in Zig-Zag Silver, Zig-Zag Gold and, in keeping with the celestial theme, Black-Hole.

Prices: $101 (Sun Mover), $49 (Tight Fit Screen)
www.sunbounce.com

Chimera Octa Beauty 
Despite their reputation in the portrait market, beauty dishes don’t always make it on a road trip due to their size and fragility. Chimera’s Octa Beauty Dish is a 24-inch collapsible modifier that folds up quickly. Its center bounce disk can be removed if you want a bare bulb effect, and it includes a front diffuser. You can attach the Octa Beauty to your flash, including on-camera flashes, with OctaPlus or Versi Octa speed rings (sold separately).

Price: $262
www.chimeralighting.com

Rotolight NEO
The NEO is a dimmable LED that can be used on or off camera. It offers a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 95+ and has an adjustable color temperature (3200-6300K). It can deliver 1077 Lux at 3 feet, but what really distinguishes the NEO, aside from the high quality of light it’s emitting, are the creative lighting effects it’s able to produce. You can create custom fades or mimic the look of lightning, fire, a TV, the police and more. A feature dubbed True Aperture Dimming helps you calculate the correct f-stop for your subject depending on their distance. Six AA batteries will keep the NEO lit for 3 hours.

Price: $400
www.rotolight.com

Expo Imaging Rogue 32” 2-in-1 Collapsible Reflector
One side of this double-sided reflector (below) has a silver lining which provides a bright, medium-contrast quality to reflected light without being overly harsh, as can happen with shinier silver reflectors. Flip it around for a natural white lining, which delivers a more neutral light—whether from the sun or a flash.

Price: $30
www.rogueflash.com

Light and Motion Stella 5000 Pro
This battery-powered LED can deliver up to 90 minutes of run time on a single charge. The 5000K light has a CRI of 90 and is completely waterproof to a depth of 100 meters. It can also survive a fall from up to 1 meter high. The Stella PRO 5000 can run off AC power and has a focusable beam of light that ranges from a 120-degree spread down to 50 and 25 degrees. It can accept select modifiers from Profoto, Chimera and SpinLight for a variety of light-shaping needs. The price includes a C-stand, 50-degree focusing optic, barn doors and
external power supply.

Price: $2,000
www.lightandmotion.com

Manfrotto LYKOS Bicolor LED
The LYKOS promises high- quality illumination in a compact package thanks to its surface-mounted LED design. You’ll enjoy illumination up to 1,500 Lux at 1 meter (daylight) with a CRI value of ≥93. The LED panel uses a lens design to improve color accuracy and offers a selectable color temperature of 3,000K or 5,600K. On the rear of the LYKOS is a color display that provides access to key settings such as dimming levels, remaining battery life and color temperature. You’ll be able to dim the LYKOS from 0-100 percent brightness manually or via Bluetooth wireless control from an iPhone if you spring for the $100 Bluetooth dongle.

Price: $515
www.manfrotto.us

Related: 

5 Tips to Understanding and Improving Off-Camera Lighting