The Technical Image Press Association (TIPA) is an international, non-profit association supporting the interests of the photography and imaging magazine publishing industry. The association represents 29 independent photographic magazines. Each year the editors of the member magazines vote for the best products introduced to the market during the previous 12 months, taking into account innovation, cutting-edge technology, design, ease-of-use and the price to performance ratio of the products.

On May 6, 2013, TIPA named the Profoto Pro-B4 battery generator the Best Professional Lighting System. The motivation is as follows:

“The Profoto Pro-B4 1000 Air is designed to handle the toughest shoots and deliver groundbreaking features that expand the photographer’s creative freedom. These features include extremely short flash durations down to 1/25,000 second, fast full power recycling time of 1 second, and delivery of up to 30 flashes per second at lower power settings. Made for both studio and on-location work, the Pro-B4 is constructed in solid-cast aluminum with a rubber frame, and all connections are covered with protective lids. With an 11-stop power range, a fast radio sync system, and recharge (even while in use) in less than 45 minutes, the Pro-B4 truly defines what a pro unit should deliver.”

Needless to say, the guys at the office are bursting with pride.

©Andrea Belluso

Profoto is more than a brand and a line of products. It is also the place where some us work and spend our weekdays. Have you ever wondered who we are or what the thinking was behind the design of this or that piece of equipment? Then join us behind the scenes at Profoto!

Even though Profoto’s products have had a similar look and feel since the late 1960s, a lot of changes have been behind the scenes. One of the most important changes is the transition from mechanical hardware to digital software. But what does that really mean? Tommy Sundström, Software Engineer at Profoto, knows the answer.

“When you turn the dials on a mechanical generator, you physically reposition the components and conductors inside to redistribute the power. In a digital generator, on the other hand, there is a processor or a microcontroller that reads the position of the dials and tells the semiconductors how to distribute the power. In other words, you don’t actually move anything. You just tell the computer what to do.”

Released in 2002, the D4 was Profoto’s first digital generator. Since then, all flash packs, monolights and continuous light units have been digital: the Pro-8, the D1, the Pro-B4, ProDaylight, ProTungsten, etc.

“You have to go digital if you want the level of flexibility that these units offer,” says Tommy. “It’s also necessary if you want to have wireless control. In addition, a digital unit allows you to work with more user-friendly displays and continuously updated firmware. There are also a bunch of exciting new ideas that we’re working on right now that we couldn’t have dreamed of when we had mechanical units. But those are still classified.” (more…)

©Nick Fancher

Here’s something we don’t see very often. When was the last time you saw two different types of water frozen in a photograph? Not frozen because of temperature, but frozen by incredibly fast flash duration?

Our friends at Fstoppers are at it again. They’ve published a post by Nick Fancher detailing his test drive of the Profoto Pro-B4. Francher froze individual drops and captured streaks with a longer shutter speed. (more…)

©Andrea Belluso

Profoto is more than a brand and a line of products. It is also the place where some of us work and spend our weekdays. Have you ever wondered who we are or what the thinking was behind the design of this or that piece of equipment? Then join us behind the scenes at Profoto!

With only about 50 employees at the headquarters in Stockholm, Profoto is not a large company. Still, there are plenty of opportunities to grow. Just ask Göran Marén, whose role has changed quite dramatically over the years.

“I’ve been here for ten years now,” says Göran. “I started out in the warehouse, picking carts. After a while, they asked me if I wanted to start working at R&D as an administrator. After a while I became Project Manager, and for about a year I’ve been one of the two Product Managers at Profoto.”

What does a Product Manager do?

“We have sort of a secret wish list of all the products that we want to invent. My responsible is, first of all, to advise which of these products we will start to develop. Secondly, I write a basic specification for the products and act as a key reference person during the actual development process. Thirdly, once the product has been completed, I’m responsible for introducing it to the market. Who would want it? What is it good for? That kind of stuff. Finally, I have to follow up on the release and try to understand how the product was actually received.”

That’s quite a lot…

“Luckily we are two Product Managers at Profoto, and we share projects between us.”

And what products have you managed so far?

“So far, the Pro-B4, the Pro Plus heads and the latest ProDaylight versions.” (more…)

Icelandic wedding and portrait photographer Larus Sigurdarson was the first European to grab a Pro-B4 when it was released last year. Being a bit curious why he was so keen on trying it, we decided to give him a call and ask him a few questions. Here is what he had to say.

“I’ve been using Profoto for many years now,” says Larus. “I started out with the AcuteB2 and have gradually worked my way up through the system. So when the Pro-B4 was announced, I was immediately intrigued. But I wanted to test it before I bought it. I wanted to make sure that it lived up to its promise before I decided to invest that kind of money.”

Why not just rent it? 

“I’d love to, but Iceland is too small for rental studios. There’s just not enough photographers around here. Those of us who work here do our best to help each other out, and you can usually borrow a spare head or a Light Shaping Tool when you need one. But the other stuff, well, you just have to buy it.” (more…)