Next week, the new rumoured Profoto flash will be announced. LightingRumours has managed to get the specifications before the official announcement.
The soon-to-be revealed Profoto A1 is the first Profoto shoe-mount flash, but unlike other speedlights, it is clear that has been designed to be also used as off-camera flash. It features a round fresnel lens, rather than the rectangular one normally seen on speedlights. This circular light source should give a better light distribution and more natural fall off.
It seems that the speedlight has been designed with the intention to attach light-shaping accessories. On the head of the flash there is a magnetic mount and there will be at least three different modifiers that can be attached to the head (that we currently know of). These will be Dome Diffuser, a Wide Lens and a Bounce Card.
The A1 will work with the AirTTL system and can act both as master or as slave. Similar to the B1X, B2 and other AirTTL enabled flashes, the A1 will also work in TTL mode and supports high-speed sync. Compared to other Profoto equipment the A1 has significantly less power, but this is to be expected for a speedlight. The A1 only has 76 Ws, which is just a little bit more than what is normally found in regular speedlights. The battery is not removable and has enough juice for 350 full-power flashes.
No information has been obtained regarding when the A1 would become available, but we do have obtained some information regarding the price. At the moment it seems that the advised retail price is €990 (about $1180 or £880). We have also seen a price tag of $30 for the Profoto A1 Wide Lens.
Rumoured specifications
- Power: 76 Ws (joules)
- Power adjustment range: 9 stops (2.0 to 10), including HSS mode
- Manual, TTL, HSS and 2.4 GHz master and slave modes
- Battery capacity: 350 full-power flashes
- Recycle time: 1.2 seconds
- Battery type: Li-ion built in — recharges in 80 minutes
- LED modelling lamp
- Dimensions: 108 × 75 × 165 mm (4.3 × 3 × 6.5 inches)
- Weight: 560 grams (1.2 lbs)
- Supports ‘A1’ Light Shaping Tools
What do you think of this new direction for Profoto? Let us know in the comments!