Action sport photographers working in hard-to-reach locations require portable batteries to create studio lighting conditions outdoors. With the recent launch of the new and extremely powerful BatPac by ProFoto, there is now a healthy selection of portable packs to choose from.
While the Elinchrom Ranger Quadra and White Lightning Vagabond II have proved to be popular with skateboarding and BMX photographers for their compactness and price respectively, the BatPac is aimed at photographers who need a portable solution for more complicated and power-hungry shoots.
Weighing in at 11kg, the BatPac is a portable “power-in-a-bag” unit, a combination of a dedicated inverter and a high capacity battery.
The BatPac can be used for handling sophisticated high power moonlight flashes like the 1000W Profoto D1 which won the 2009 TIPA Award for the Best Compact Flash System. However, it is also compatible with smaller power units and flash generators. Photographers can make 300 full power flashes at 1000Ws and 1200 flashes at 250Ws, allowing considerable freedom in various lighting conditions
An even more portable but lower power solution on the market is the Ranger RX Quadra system from the Swiss-based company Elinchrom, which only weighs 3kg. Designed for 400W flashes and studio lights in particular, the battery can also be re-charged in only two hours.
The RX system version offers “Speed Sync” flash-duration for digital SLR cameras up to 1/250s. The Quadra also offers as fast flash recycling times as quick as 0.29 seconds as well as wireless trigger and remote options. The Ranger Quandra RQ can shoot 150 flashes at full power.
At the more affordable end of the market, US based White Lightning has also recently unveiled their latest portable power systems – the Vagabond II. It weighs 8kg, is designed to handle six to eight flash units, and retails at $300 (€245). The Vagabond II can also be connected to car batteries for all day shoots.
Battery packs can also be used for other practical appliances on a photo shoot. They can run constant light sources, wind machines, refrigerator boxes and many more electrical units that are frequently used while shooting on location. Battery packs can even be used to provide power for charging laptops and camera batteries.
Deliveries of the Profoto BatPac begin in June 2010.
Portable Battery Packs: New Options
Portable Battery Packs: New Options