Hot on the heels of the A1X, Profoto has turned its tweaking radar on to its popular B10 portable flash unit to produce the B10 Plus. Whereas the A1X beefed up the battery power compared to the original A1, the B10 Plus has seen an improvement in actual power, which is likely to go down very well with photographers looking for extra output when shooting on location.
The B10 Plus offers 500 watt seconds of power; twice that of the existing B10
Double the power
The original B10 offers a perfectly usable maximum output of 250 watt seconds, which it makes it a very handy unit when shooting a range of outdoor subjects, but the B10 Plus has doubled this to a maximum of 500 watt seconds, which increases its overall versatility. It puts it on a par with Elinchrom’s ELB 500 TTL, but without the need for a separate battery pack. In fact, the new B10 Plus is not much bigger than an f/2.8 70-200mm telezoom lens, so it’s very portable. Increasing the output does come with a couple of trade offs that location photographers may need to consider, of course. While both units are the same 10cm diameter, the B10 Plus is both longer and heavier than the B10. The Plus measures 23.5cm in length while the B10 is 17.5cm and weighs 1.9kg compared to the B10 which is 1.5kg. Battery capacity is also reduced. The original B10 delivers up to 400 maximum power flashes, the B10 Plus can do 200. Recharging speeds are also slightly slower on the more powerful unit. Both can be ready to fire in as little as 0.05 seconds, but when you want full power you’ll have to wait half a second longer on the B10 Plus which has a maximum recycling time of 2.5 seconds compared to the B10’s two seconds.
Looks familiar
In most other respects the B10 Plus will be very familiar territory if you’re an existing B10 user. The clean, simple design and interface make the light simple to use and both TTL and HSS functions are available. The unit is also compatible with the A1 or A1X as well as all Profoto air remotes and there’s an enviable selection of light modifiers available – over 120 at the last count. As well as being suitable for flash, the B10 Plus – like the B10 – can also be used as a video light for a maximum of 75 minutes. In this guise it offers a maximum output of 2500 lumens and can be dimmed from 100-10%. Colour temperature can also be altered between 3000-6500K.
Two kit options are available. This is the two-head version
Two kits will be available. A single head kit with battery, battery charger, USB cable and stand adapter, or a two head kit with two heads, batteries, chargers and a backpack. Prices start around £1800.