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Profoto Pro-11 review: Here’s what you get if you pay $17,500 for a flash


Is this the king of flash? Well, most likely, yes. The Profoto Pro-11 is the world’s most expensive flash that works like the world’s most expensive flash. I had the Pro-11 unit to review and here are my thoughts.

Introduce

Profoto releases a new flash pack every 4 years, if not 6 or 8 years. Over the past 20 years, there have been a lot of these packages: Pro-7, Pro-8, Pro-10, Pro-11. As a result, they were released in 1998, 2008, 2016 and 2021. Every time a new pack came out, it caught the eye. Usually “does anyone buy a flash at this price?” next articles. The truth is that people buy Pro-series flash. Otherwise, Profoto will not create them.

Build quality

Pro-11 is made from metal and rubber. The metal on the chassis is extremely thick and can be used to stop small caliber bullets. Profoto claims that they have over-engineered their Pro-11 to withstand any professional use. At a whopping 29.8lb/13.2kg, this pack is heavy and isn’t my first choice for an on-site shoot with a small group. At 11.4×8.3×11.8” or 29/21/30cm, it is quite small for a powerful generator like this. For comparison, Broncolor Scoro is much taller. Overall, it will be about the same size as a car battery. In terms of weight, it is lighter.

The Pro-11 builds on the legacy of Profoto’s Pro-series products: built to last. There are studios using Pro-7 since 1998 and see no reason to change to something else. In fact, I’ve seen people sell off their Pro-2 kits from the ’70s for pretty good money. I almost can’t believe these packages work for so long. The Pro-11 is an investment, but it’s like buying real estate. Priced as a small property somewhere in a third world country (like where I’m from), the Pro-11 is an investment that can be passed down for generations. Overall, it’s built well enough to outlast the buyer, which makes the buyer a bit sad to think about.

There are things that frustrate me in the Pro-11 build. There are only two sockets on the unit, which is disappointing. For comparison, Broncolor has 3 on their Scoro packs. Why is this a problem? Obviously if a photographer is renting on the Pro plan, they won’t be using the “simple one-light setup”. Could add more, maybe 3 or even 4 would be great. Hey Profoto, bring back D4! It’s a great flash, with a junk flash duration. We need more sockets here.

Featured

AirTTL

I have been called for this a few times. Why do people need TTL if they are spending that much on flash? Meaning, TTL makes creativity easier. When Profoto debuted with B1 flash, it has TTL feature. The photography community went crazy and said that no one would use it. Guess who’s using that TTL function now? Well, that’s the photography community. TTL makes shooting easier. Come on, do you want to mess with the light, or do you just want to shoot? I prefer to shoot.

AirX

I think this is completely stupid. And I see how stupid it can be. Whoever is to their right gets a photo with a $17,000 flash and an iPhone. Well, maybe the same person who said TTL is useless in 2013. There are use cases like an e-commerce studio where light quality and consistency are important, but image quality isn’t. significantly.

Another perhaps hidden use of AirX is updating firmware and controlling from a smartphone. The average rental studio can have as many as 80 if not 100 professional packages. Once, a photographer hired 100 bags and 200 heads to shoot a movie poster.

Imagine Profoto releases a firmware update and you are the lucky one to get it on all packages. It’s as exciting as it is, it will take you forever. With AirX, you can do it quickly and seamlessly.

Another useful feature of the AirX is being able to control packages from a smartphone, which eliminates the need for additional remote controls on set. This is a cost-effective way for assistants as well as studios.

In the end, AirX technology has practically replaced TTL. It should come as no surprise to see Profoto announce a new remote control: the AirX. It will allow for much better connectivity and possibly even a smartphone that connects the camera and light via Bluetooth.

Light quality

Light quality is what I care about most when shelling out close to $20k on a flash. Does light have magic and do magic on set? No. Be it from an inexpensive flashlight or a modern photographic flash device, light is light. What makes the Pro-11 special is the quantity, consistency and quality that this light has.

The Pro-11 has a total power output of 2400W that can be distributed asymmetrically any way you want. This is more than enough for 99% of applications. I rarely used the Pro-11 at full output when I tested it. Depending on the setup you have, the Pro-11 is more than enough to tame any sun in your studio. If you lack electricity, use double head, this will add a breakpoint, if you add an extra package. The real use of the two ends, at least in the past, was to shorten flash duration. However, with the advent of Pro-10 and Pro-11, this has been resolved and you can use ProHead Plus for everything.

Flash duration on this device ranges from 1/8000 at the lower end to 1/1000 at full power. There are two modes, one is normal and the other is frozen. When using freeze mode, there is a slight loss in color accuracy as well as output consistency, but to be honest, I used my copy of Pro-11 in low mode. freezing all the time and noticed a difference of exactly 0 shots to take. 1/80,000 is a marketing stunt. You’ll get that flash duration when the Pro-11 is used at 0.1 power, thus at 2.4 Ws. The active flash duration range, with normal usage of 4-8 power would be 1/26,000 sec to 1/3500 sec. However, this is quite a large flash duration to freeze any movement seamlessly. With its consistency and lightning-fast recycling, you can be sure to freeze anything with the Pro-11. Speaking of recycling speed, the Pro-11 will recycle to full power (2400W) in 0.7 seconds. That’s a lot of capacitors in that flash!

Unfortunately, the Pro-11 doesn’t have additional features like strobe for single-click multi-exposure photography. Sadly, the $60 Speedlite can do that while the Pro-11 can’t. Pretty much any photographer would benefit from this. Another problem is with user presets. This is useful for ecommerce studios that may use the same package for different setups.

Pro-11 doesn’t have any real alternatives

One thing that I find interesting is that there is no real alternative to the Pro-11. The nearest two units are Godox P2400 and Broncolor Scoro 3200S WiFi. Godox, while much more powerful and affordable, lags behind in terms of consistency and build quality, as well as integration with smartphones. Broncolor, although more powerful and precise, was late in adding TTL to their system.

Why are AirX and TTL useful? Read above.

What I like

  • Durability and build quality
  • Light quality
  • Future AirX connectivity

What can be improved

  • Auxiliary socket
  • Flash function and other firmware tweaks
  • Price tag

Stop thinking

The Pro-11 is a flash made for large productions. A normal user can hardly own a Pro-11 because they feel like it. I can think of 17,500 ways to spend $17,500 excluding the purchase of Pro-11. Still, it’s a great unit that I’d encourage you to rent and try for yourself. I also sometimes rent a Profoto Pro package when my own lights just can’t work well. It is imperative that there are products like this on the sets.





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