The LumoPro LP160 might be the ultimate Strobist flash. Cheap, powerful and able to talk to pretty much any camera, it offers a great alternative to the $500 top-end flashes from Nikon and Canon for those who want a big light without paying for all the fancy automatic functions.
Strobists, or enthusiasts of off-camera flash, use small strobes and they use them in manual mode. LumoPro is a brand of Strobist gear made by camera retailer Moishe Applebaum (of Midwest Photo Exchange in Columbus, Ohio) in consultaion with the granddaddy of Strobism, photographer David Hobby. The kit is meant to be cheap, simple and good, and the new LP160 looks like it fits right in.
The details: The LP160 has a guide number of 140 (feet, ISO 100) which matches the Nikon SB900 or the Canon 580 EX II. It has a metal foot for mounting on hot-shoes and lighting stands and can swivel (270º) and tilt (180º up and 7º down). Power output is adjustable down to 1/64, and is done via pushbutton instead of the mechanical switches on the LP120 it replaces. Zooming, too, is motorized and done by a button.
The real magic comes in with the four different triggering methods. There is the regular hot-shoe trigger, a PC-socket for old-school cable masochists, a 3.5mm jack socket for those who don’t hate themselves and finally, a rather neat slave trigger. Slaves trip a flash when they see another flash, so you can pop your light using the small built-in flash on a digicam. This one will even ignore the pre-flashes from digital compacts. Nice.
How much is this flashgun? $200 $160. That’s a jump from the v1.0 LP120, which cost $130, but you get a lot more. And if you have been waiting on a back ordered LP120? Good news. Your ordered will be replaced with the new unit, at no extra cost.
LP160 Quad-sync Manual Flash [LumoPro. Thanks, Moishe!]
LumoPro LP160: Quad Sync v.2.0 [Strobist]
See Also:
- Cheap, Manual Flashgun: Built by Strobists, for Strobists
- First Look: Strobist 'Open Source' Flashgun
- Strobist Designs Real Open Source Remote Trigger
- Universal Translator: Marry Any Flash to Any Camera
Post a Comment