As 2014 draws to a close, I’ve had a sniff around Google Trends to identify which photographic lighting brands have received the most queries over the past four years.
Among European lighting brands, high-end Swedish manufacturer Profoto has maintained a steady level of interest over the past four years, while other companies have seen a slight decline. Interest in Profoto overtook Bowens and Elinchrom around late 2013 to early 2014; the Profoto B1 TTL studio flash was announced in November 2013.
China’s Yongnuo, which manufactures flashes, triggers, LEDs and recently lenses, seems to have received a huge growth in interest. Phottix and Godox, based in the same city, are some way behind, but have overtaken the beleaguered US-based PocketWizard.
Other American brands seem to have faced a general decline too.
And all-manual flash purists might want to watch out. TTL flash is on the rise!
This analysis should of course be taken with a pinch of salt: Google Trends data does not necessarily correspond to customer sentiment or sales figures, and the brands I have picked are fairly arbitrary. Nonetheless, these plots should give a rough guide to the relative frequencies of search queries.
Have you spotted any trends this year? Share your thoughts in the comments below.