Freezing the action: Compact and powerful Priolite Ultra strobe allows 1/8000s high speed sync

 

 

Priolite recently launched a very successful Kickstarter campaign for their new Priolite Ultra monolight. The campaign, which as of today has more than doubled its $28,000 goal, has six days left and is nearing its $65,000 stretch goal of a wide angle reflector for everyone who has made a pledge for a strobe.

The 500Ws Li-ion battery-powered monolight is the world's smallest all-metal monolight on the market according to Priolite and is only eight inches in length. What makes this light particularly special is that it is capable of 1/8000s high speed flash sync at any power level from 9Ws to 1000Ws with a variety of compatible cameras, including bodies from Sony, Canon, Pentax and Nikon.

How does it achieve this feat? Via its HotSync technology which utilizes bi-directional communication between your camera and the strobes. You attach the HotSync remote to your camera's hotshoe and beyond the ability to light extremely fast action or shoot with a wide aperture balanced against the ambient light, you also have remote control of the strobes right at your fingertips. Communication is achieved via the built-in 2.4GHz receivers in the strobes themselves.

The removable battery provides 220 full-power flashes per charge and over 6,000 when using the strobe at its lowest power setting. The strobes have a recycling time of 2.5 seconds when using them at full power and have a 5,500 Kelvin color temperature. Universality is of utmost concern to the Priolite team so they have designed the Ultra to accept modifiers from Hensel and Bowens-S without an adapter and Elinchrom and Profoto with an adapter.

For more information on the Priolite Ultra, see the video below.

Pledging $799 will get you a strobe, charger, battery, sync cable but no remote. $1,129 adds a t-shirt and a Prio Remote HS. Both of these early bundles offer extensive savings compared to MSRP. For photographers who need more strobes, there are many other pledge packages available. See here for the full list.