# Profoto b1



## TonyUSA (Mar 9, 2017)

Is it worth it to spend $2,000 for Profoto b1?

Thank you,


----------



## Designer (Mar 9, 2017)

For a pro, it would be.  How many do you want?  Will that be cash or charge card?  Be sure to get the Profoto Air Remote.  Profoto Air Remote


----------



## TonyUSA (Mar 9, 2017)

@Designer,  I am only want to do one right now and also want b2 later.  Cash is ok if I can get better price, are you be able to get a good deal?  At Adorama offer b1 and Air remote right now for $2,100.

Thank you,


----------



## Designer (Mar 9, 2017)

TonyUSA said:


> .. are you be able to get a good deal?


I am not a dealer.  You might ask the dealer for a deal.


----------



## Derrel (Mar 9, 2017)

TonyUSA said:
			
		

> Is it worth it to spend $2,000 for Profoto b1?
> 
> Thank you,



For almost any photographer earning less than $100,000 a year, the answer is, "*NO!*" It is overpriced.

There are almost-as-good-or-better options now, in early 2017. Profoto is very high-priced, and one, single unit does not bring much capabklity with it; you need more light units to do a lot of simple jobs. You really want to have three to four lights for a number of types of shots, so the $2k means $6k or $8k, which is an entire studio full of liughting gear in other brands.

I recently watched a Profoto B1 vs *Flashpoint Xplor 600* video comparison; on MOST metrics, the Flashpoiint Xplor 600 was BETTER than the older Profot B1!!! Flashpoint XPLOR 600

How could a smaller-company make a "better" flash unit? By entering the market 3 years after the B1 premiered, and by having "a_ target to beat_", the way Samsung does it: come to market late, or last, and better the specs and price of all earlier competitors; by observing and learning where the competitors are weak, and by designing a better-engineered product, with better specfications. Samsung's founder believed in this way of dominating markets; not being first to market, but rather coming in late and being BEST in class, by allowing early entrants to show what was truly needed.

To me, the Xplor 600 looks like the preferred battery-powered monolight. You can buy FOUR Xplor 600 units for the cost of one, single Profoto B1 unit.


----------



## tirediron (Mar 9, 2017)

It really depends on a couple of factors IMO; what you need the light to do, and how often you need it to it.  I shoot primarily in-studio/location portrait & headshots.  I don't need HSS, I don't need super-short flash duration, I don't need built in batteries...  and I don't make no $100K/year.  So buying Profoto would be pointless for me; it would have a lot of features that I don't use.  Profoto is very well built, but if you don't need the features you're paying for, why pay for them?  I get all the lighting I need out of Speedotron gear; no frills and built like a tank... AND cheap like borscht.  I just bought three heads, 1600 w/s power supply and some miscellaneous parts for $400!

If you don't need the build quality; that is, you're not using it all day, every day, and toting it all over the place, then definitely look at stuff like the Flashpoint where you can get an entire, decently built moonlight for less than the price of a Profoto flashtube!  Even if you do need all the features and the build quality, there are other options... Elinchrom makes some great gear.. Dynalite is top of the range...  if you still want snob appeal but would like to save a little bit, there's Broncolor.


----------



## Designer (Mar 9, 2017)

Derrel said:


> To me, the Xplor 600 looks like the preferred battery-powered monolight.


It does look good!  I do not see anywhere in the specs if the R2 is compatible with PW units.  It would be extra special nice if it was.


----------



## Derrel (Mar 9, 2017)

Watch the Profoto versus Xplor 600 video test and comparison on YouTube here:






You will see that the Xplor is close to, or better than, the Profoto unit, and at a 75% lower price point per unit. But back to the entire idea of a battery-powered, TTL-capable, HSS-capable flash unit; as Tirediron mentioned, neither batteries, nor HSS flash capbility, are "needed" for much *studio* flash work. Battery power can be provided by sine wave inverters for stuff that normally runs off of AC wall electricity. Is high speed synch necessary? For many people, no it is not, but it does offer shooting capabilities that ARE very nice to have, and it gives you better freedom *out of doors*, for sure.

Studio flash equipment/monolights/power packs and heads: this is a category where the manufacturers, except for Paul C. Buff, do very little marketing, and do not have a lot of good informatioin easily available. Some of the companies have been in business for many years, but sell mostly by word of mouth, or by "reputation". Speedotron, Norman, Dynalite, Profoto, Paul C. Buff, Elinchrom, Bowens, Broncolor,Photogenic are the big nine,old-line companies I know of.

The real issue is the "TTL" issue, and I honestly think that is for noobs...it's a way to sell $2,100 lights to noobs who have never used professional-power-level flash units.This level of flash gear is NOT about "TTL" exposure control. HSS is more useful than TTL ever will be, but the two features/capabilities have now been linked in some high-cost products.

A person needs to know what his use strategy is going to be when he buys into a powerful flash system; if it is a studio-oriented system, then HSS is not that big of a value, but for a system designed mostly for *outdoor, location work* in daylight, I can see the value of HSS capability, but not so much the value of TTL.


----------



## TonyUSA (Mar 9, 2017)

Thank you everyone for your value input.  I just want to do HSS outdoor.  At first I was looking at Xplor 600 and Orlit 610 but after watch many Profoto on youtube and just want to get one.  Seem like Xplor 600 is better way to go.


----------



## table1349 (Mar 9, 2017)

These look good for a whole lot less money.  Strobepro X600II HSS M Battery Powered Wireless Strobe


----------



## Derrel (Mar 9, 2017)

TonyUSA said:
			
		

> Thank you everyone for your value input.  I just want to do HSS outdoor.  At first I was looking at Xplor 600 and Orlit 610 but after watch many Profoto on youtube and just want to get one.  Seem like Xplor 600 is better way to go.



Have you seen THIS, this $79 head extension with an 8-foot cable, and a FREE $200 value flashtube? This plugs into the Xplor body, has the 8-foot cord and the lightweight, small flash head...

Flashpoint XPLOR Extension Head

Looks to me like the unit gryphonslair99 has linked to might be made by the same company as the Xplor? The Xplor is made, I think, by Godox, and they sell their gear to multiple OEM companies in different markets and countries. Flashpoint is Adorama's house re-branding marque.

Profoto promotion is very strong; it HAS to be, in order to create the kind of product lust required to sell people $2,100 monolights. But come on--it is $2,000 for ONE, single flash unit of only 500 Watt-seconds! IMO, $2100 is an ungodly amount of money for a single, 500 W-s flash unit.


----------



## TonyUSA (Mar 9, 2017)

@Derrel,  Thank you.  Yes, I seen it before.  I was thinking to get one also.


----------



## tirediron (Mar 9, 2017)

Interesting, I just watched the video and the the thing that would kill the B1 for me is the lack of ability to connect it directly to mains power.  I wasn't aware it lacked that, and I see that as a HUGE failing on the part of Profoto!


----------



## Derrel (Mar 9, 2017)

I saw the Orlitt 610 video--- that unit looks very nice as well.


----------



## TonyUSA (Mar 9, 2017)

Derrel said:


> I saw the Orlitt 610 video--- that unit looks very nice as well.



I really like the look of it more than Xplor 600 but just too much like a copy of Profoto.  Also, like the extended head of Xplor.  Decision Decision Decision.


----------



## nickgillespie (Mar 14, 2017)

I have Paul C Buff strobes and my best friend has the b1 and the b2. There is absolutely no comparison. The light that comes out of the prophoto is consistent and beautiful every single click. 

But... If you aren't making a lot of money as a photographer (>$100,000/year - before taxes) I wouldn't consider it. You can get good enough results with even the Alien Bees if you're doing <$50k a year. When you are pulling in so much that you need a good tax rightoff... go for it.


----------

