Backscatter lifted the curtain on their Mini Flash (MF-1)—and Optical Snoot (OS-1)—at DEMA 2019, adding a truly novel kit to the macro photographer’s arsenal below. country. Compact flicker rating for DPG in February 2020, Ron Watkins said: “The MF-1/OS-1 combination is now a permanent fixture in my tool bag and I will continue to use it on future trips to macro photography, wide angle close focus and wide angle . ” When Suzan Meldonian takes the MF-1 to the famous Blue Heron BridgeShe concludes: “Backscatter’s first proprietary strobe light really shines at a dive spot like this, whether you’re shooting environmental fish portraits with creamy bokeh backgrounds or using Optical Shooting Modes. suitable for creating a clean, dark backdrop for the creatures of your choice. “
So now we know what Mini Flash can do, but how can you create something even more amazing? Fast forward to DEMA 2022and Backscatter aim to answer that question with a new version of strobe light packed with important updates and great new features. enter 2 . mini flash—Or MF-2.
Not only stopping at their laurels, Backscatter seems to have made a concerted effort to find a way not only to improve on the existing features of Mini Flash, but also to add new functionality that photographers capture. macros are actually usable. In the former, the focus lamp has a massive increase in output, from 500 lumens to 1,000 lumens, making it easy to see exactly where your illuminant flash will fall in shallow and bright conditions. If you are thinking that the run time of the LED and the number of blinks have decreased, you are wrong. Backscatter has moved from the MF-1’s 18650 lithium-ion battery to a slightly larger but much more powerful 21700 battery. Instead of the MF-1’s constant hours of light, the MF-2 gives you 90 minutes between charges, and while the MF-1 maxes out at 1,400 full-power flashes, the new strobe can. manage more than 2,000. The larger battery also means that the MF-2 boasts a faster flash recycle time.
In the second category — new features and functionality — there’s a lot to talk about. First, where the MF-1 is fully manual, with six power levels, the MF-2 offers seven power levels in manual mode, but also offers TTL auto flash exposure for Olympus cameras ( and OM Digital Solutions). The MF-2 is compatible with the Olympus TTL protocol via RC mode, so whether you have an Olympus TG-, PEN- or OM-D-series camera or OM System OM-1you can get the perfect exposure every time without effort — even through the OS-1 snoot operating system.
There’s more! New Plant Backscatter Muck Stick Remote Lights—Complete with built-in 1-inch ball holder — in sand, mount MF-2 and additional accessories included Tube lights into the fiber optic mount and you have a great setup for off-camera lighting. The Light Pipe receives signals from the MF-2 mounted on your camera, creating creative lighting possibilities such as background lighting, side lighting, and photography. The most interesting part? The MF-2 is not equipped with a conventional secondary sensor: Change the power level of your transmitting Mini Flash and it changes the power level of the off-camera MF-2!
The last major innovation of the new Mini Flash is the high-speed sync mode, or HSS, which allows your camera to shoot at shutter speeds faster than its maximum flash sync speed. This means you can darken the background more than is possible at normal flash sync speeds. This works with Olympus cameras in RC mode as well as any other mirrorless camera with a flash trigger that supports HSS.
To complete the package, the MF-2 features new beacon and test modes. The test mode allows the MF-2 to be fired at a selected power level for creative effects such as light painting (or for use as an emergency transmitter), while the signaling mode is a safety feature in which the LED light emits an emergency signal, which lasts up to 12 hours when the battery is full.
Delivery in mid-November 2 . mini flash priced the same as the MF-1 at launch: $399. You can also buy the MF-2 in special discounted bundles: $499 Mini Flash 2 Snoot Combo and $598 Mini Flash 2, Snoot, Combination Filter. Do you want to get Backscatter’s new blink for nothing? You can win MF-2 in a great optimization package in DPG / Wetpixel Masters Underwater Photography Competition!
Read more about MF-2 on Backscatter’s website.
