Introduction
After the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra appeared in the market it has changed forever the scope of what people expect from portable units, there were before portable flash units before like the Norman 200b and 400b, Quantum Flashes, big packs like the Profoto 7b, Elinchrom Ranger RX, Hensel Porty, etc. But it is until now many manufacturers have followed Elinchrom’s steps and they now offer a wide variety of really portable lighting solutions at really reasonable prices.
This lead us to this review (and many more we have lined up). People are asking about these portable units in forums and they get little to no feedback, so we decided to start a series of reviews. The Walimex PBS-400 – which is a 400ws battery operated compact pack and head system – is here to be reviewed and hopefully to cover all the aspects you may need to know about this flash…
Please note this review doesn’t contain any wall shooting or cat photos, it is a review based on real life experience. 🙂
NB: I´ll be updating with some more photos in the following days 🙂
NB: The unit used in this review was paid from my own pocket. I bought it from German-based photographic supplier Foto Walser here. They also have an eBay store which can be found here. If you buy yours via our eBay link then it helps us continue providing these reviews for you. Thanks!
What’s included
- 1 Pack
- 1 Frosted plastic cover to protect the flashtube and modeling light
- 1 Head
- 1 Battery
- 1 Charger for the battery
- 1 Sync cable
- 1 Bag for carrying the unit with all the accesories
- 1 Umbrella reflector
There’s no printed manual included but Foto Walser has it as a PDF to download it here (in English).
Manufacturer specifications
(Taken from our portable power guide)
Walimex PBS
| Model | PBS-400 | |
|---|---|---|
| Power,Ws | 400 |  |
| GN, m | 64 | |
| Recycle | 4s | |
| Steps | stepless | |
| Minimum | 1/4 | |
| Modelling | 50W | |
| Flashes | 160 | |
| Mount | Bowens | |
| Heads | PBS-400 | |
| Outputs | 1 | |
| Weight | 2.2kg | |
| Size, mm | 215x160x70 | |
| Price | €500 | |
| Retailers | Foto-Walser (DE) - Walimex (CH) - Walimex (AT) | |
For more technical information, please visit the Foto Walser product page.
Next page: Performance and Exposure