August 20, 2005
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INTRODUCING THE LIGHTSPHERE PHOTOJOURNALIST!
Tomorrow
we will be shooting the final prototype for the new Lightsphere II
Photojournalist. This is a design I came up with a while ago
specifically for event photography.
While the original Lightsphere is
incredible for lighting, I wanted something slightly more compact and
more suited for fast-action event photography. The original LS2
is very large (it had to be) but it also is kind of bulky for fast reportage.
So I now have the
Photojournalist, and the original will be called the
“Portraitist”. The Photojournalist is so exciting to me for the
following reasons:
1) it is a flexible, bead blasted
industrial VINYL. Why Vinyl? Because it is flexible,
stretchable like a swim fin. Imagine how a swim fin fits tightly
on your foot. This one will not fall off in a bump, instead it
will bump into hard objects silently. This is the only diffuser
anywhere that is made out of flexible vinyl. Nobody else has done
it because most diffusers wouldn’t hold the shape if it was
“spongy”. This one will because of the shape of the diffuser but
also because of the cool ribs we put inside the flash…
2) The inside of the diffuser is
completely textured to make the light dispersion even more
sloppy! And because of this design, we were able to make the
material more translucent, keeping the unit from losing a lot of light
while actually increasing the diffusion and softness of the
light. Because of this – the new “Photojournalist” does not require the dome!
3) It is 90% of the size of the
“Portraitist”… smaller would not give the lighting qualities that you
are used to with the original Lightsphere. So while it is large -
it does not have nearly the bulky appearance because of the more
transparent vinyl and soft construction. And because it is
“stretchy”, there are no adapters. It will stretch over a wide
range of flash sizes with flexible ribs inside to ensure a secure grip.
The “Portraitist” is still the
greatest solution for diffuse flash because it accepts the dome and has
just a very soft look. The “Photojournalist” is nearly identical
in flash quality (A/B tests will be coming up tomorrow on this
website!) but it will be more compact, flexible, fast-moving and will
look um, slightly less like Tupperware
I welcome your
comments!!!
This time we will not be doing a
pre-release offering, and we will sell these in blocks of 500 only – so
later this week when it comes on the market, when we clear a 500 block,
it will hit “sold out” status until we release the next block. I
want to do this to reduce the anguish that we experienced last time
when we couldn’t fill the orders.
Comments (2)
I like the ribs – makes it more elegant looking. Keep the good stuff coming Gary!
It looks so great! All I can say is I want one!
OK so now I am checking your website 3 times a day to see if you have posted your first batch of 500 Lightsphere II Photojournalists for sale yet. I have my father-in-law’s wedding to shoot September 17 and I want to do the best job I can and I know that the Lightsphere II Photojournalist will do it for me. So I am waiting with bated breath. When Gary????? WHEN????………..