LumoPro LP160 released

LumoPro‘s much anticipated LP160 manual slave flash is now available at Midwest Photo Exchange (USA) for $159.95 and at CameraTools (NL) for €139.00.

The flash body appears to be based on the Quantaray QDC900wa. New features compared to the LP120 include an electronic zoom head, more flash power and compatibility with Quantum battery packs.

With a similarly-featured Yongnuo YN-560 slated to be released this Friday at less than half the price, will LumoPro sales be able to compete at this price point? Compare their specifications side-by-side here.

Press release: The LP160 Quad-sync flash builds on the success of previous models, like the LP120, giving amateur and professional photographers even more features. Today’s digital photographers are looking for powerful, small flashes that are reasonably priced and well constructed. The LP160 is the flash that delivers the power, features and price point to meet that need.

As with previous projects, LumoPro crowd-sourced the additional features from the Strobist community, a popular online group of photographers devoted to working with small, battery powered flashes. This creative and sophisticated group led the developers to create the tool to meet the demand.

Improvements included in this new model are impressive and built to fit the needs of today’s working photographers. The LP160 features twice the power and quicker recycling for faster shooting. The Full to 1/64th power setting and digital optical slave make the flash more usable under low light situations. A 7degree tilt, metal hot-shoe, electronic zoom, and improved body construction add to the long list of features for professionals.

All other features from the popular LP120 are present, including the Optical slave, PC and Miniphone syncro ports, and manual power adjustments. The power output of the LP160 is equivalent to the top of the line flashes from camera manufacturers such as Canon and Nikon.

An exciting new feature will allow even more integration with existing flash systems: the new digital optical slave will ignore the ‘pre-flash’ – a common feature of TTL flashes for obtaining exposure information. This important addition enables photographers to manually control the LP160, in conjunction with their TTL flashes, without transmitting a TTL signal or exposure information, or having the LP160 flash when the pre-flash activates.

• Guide number: 140 (at ISO 100, feet) (Equivalent to Nikon SB-900 and Canon 580 EX II)
• Remote function: Optical Slave, Digital Optical Slave, PC syncro port, miniphone (3.5mm) port
• Shoe: Standard ISO, screw lock, single pin, metal construction
• Power settings, Full, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64
• Zoom Settings: 24, 28, 35, 50, 70, 85, 105mm
• Wide-angle adapter: Included
• Swivel: 270degrees
• Tilt: 187degrees, -7degree tilt for macro photography
• Flash ready light: LED front and back
• Minimum Recycling Time, Full power: 4 seconds with AA Ni-MH
• Power source: 4 type AA batteries, Including Alkaline-manganese, Lithium, NiMH.
• Optional Power Supply 3rd party: Quantum Battery 1+, 1C and 2 with MB5
• Dimensions (flat): Aprox. 2.6 x 3.1 x 7.2 in. (66 x 79 x 183 mm)
• Weight: 12.8oz (0.8lbs, 362grams)
• Supplied accessories: Wide-angle diffuser, Miniphone to PC syncro cable, flash stand.
• Warranty: 2 years from date of purchase through authorized LumoPro dealers.

For more information:

• LumoPro LP160 product page
• MPEX listing
• CameraTools listing
• Brief review by Rob Galbraith
• Strobist.com blog post