This portable new 500Ws strobe offers pro specs at a modest price
News | By Stephan Jukic | January 4, 2023
The brand Paul C- Buff has released a new compact battery-operated strobe light that offers plenty of illumination for use in the field.
The 500Ws strobe is called the Celestial and comes with an LED modeling light, TTS shooting, support for high-speed sync (HSS) and also features a wireless receiver.
Paul C. Buff has positioned its new release as a useful and powerful lighting option for outdoor shooting and also for studio photography.
It’s especially useful for photographers who want premium specs in a lightweight build that weighs just 4.6 lbs and is easy to carry and set up. The strobe is also affordably priced at $650.
The Celestial comes with a HUB remote from the same brand for controlling the strobe’s HSS and TTL functions. This remote is compatible with Nikon, Canon and Sony cameras too.
This strobe light’s CyberSync transceiver works with CSR3, CyberCommander and CyberSense remote technology. It’s worth noting that the transceiver however doesn’t work with HSS and TTL.
The strobe can also be charged during shooting for extended sessions wherever plug-in power is available. It offers 12 stops of power variability that range from just 3.1Ws all the way up to the above-mentioned 500Ws. These can be set through its rear LCD display screen.
Paul C. Buff also explains that the strobe offers a color consistency of plus or minus 50 Kelvin and a maximum recycle time between flashes of 1.5 seconds.
The strobe’s maker also claims that at 500 Ws, the strobe delivers brightness similar to 640Ws in rival strobes from the brand Einstein.
Strobe lighting isn’t the only thing that the Celestial offers. It also comes with an adjustable 160-watt daylight-balanced LED modeling lamp that works with the brand’s magnetic silicone gel domes too.
This then lets photographers work with gels with any modifier and zero hassle according to Paul C. Buff.
In an overall statement about the Celestial’s effectiveness at a reasonable price, Paul C. Buff states:
“As photography has become more and more accessible with the advent of smartphones and affordable starter cameras, pro-grade lighting still remains out of reach for many. The Celestial features phenomenal color accuracy and industry-leading standards for a light of its power level,”
The company also explains that it’s been working on this new strobe/modeling light for the last couple of years for the sake of delivering professional quality at a price that they can much more easily afford.
The Celestial will be available for orders at $650 with a 2-year warranty as of January 20th of this year.
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Stephan Jukic is a technology and photography journalist and experimental photographer who spends his time living in both Canada and Mexico. He loves cross-cultural street photo exploration and creating fine art photo compositions.
