At the shared Profoto and Hasselblad booth, the two staple brands of the rental and fashion photography market shared the stage with a display of traditional Japanese masks and a model in Japanese kimono. For Profoto, the strobe the company chose to showcase this year is B1 500 AirTTL. The battery-powered monobloc’s absence of power and synch cords kept the stage clear and cable-free for the runway models, who strutted on the stage later in the show. Models jumped up in the air or made quick turns on the catwalk to show off the high-speed synch of the AirTTL. Photo assistants repositioning the lights were doing it with smiles, not having to wrangle any cables: just pick it up and go. The information display on the units is clear and readable, even across the stage, and the transmitter’s display is equally bright and clear and brightens up when making button changes. Battery level is displayed prominently on the unit. Also, the battery, when removed, has its own level gauge, so grabbing batteries out of a bag and knowing which one is charged is just a button push away. The TTL transmitter is Canon or Nikon—no Hasselblad H TTL, but I suspect most Hasselblad H’s spend their lives in Manual. —Thomas Simms
Hasselblad
I was able to shoot several cameras across different formats at the Hasselblad booth. The H5D-40 and the H5D-50c with 80mm f/2.8 HC AF lens, needless to say, are both incredible cameras, creating huge, beautiful files. Autofocus on the camera wasn’t always easy until I was pointed to the True Focus button, which locked onto its subject. The Hasselblad Stellar was available in its wooden collector’s box and performed as would be expected. It does look good, but frankly, seems too small for its wooden grip. I also shot the HV DSLR and it was a joy to hold. Lightweight with a wonderful grip and a flip-out, swivel LCD, it puts a lot of DSLRs to shame with its power, performance, and aesthetics. —John R Harris
Follow all of the exclusive coverage from B&H of the CP+2015 Show in Japan at this link.
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