The LumoPro LP120 Review - Part 1
As I mentioned in my previous post, I have received a batch of photography-related stuff to review, courtesy of Camtrade. At the heart of the package given to me is a new flash coming from LumoPro: the LP120 flash.
I first heard of the LP120 from one of my favorite blogs: Strobist.com A little backgrounder on this flash: according to David Hobby, MidWest Photo Exchange (MPEX) approached him to help design a flash to cater to Strobist fans. Based on David's inputs, MPEX designed the LP120 and had LumoPro manufacture it. In the article, David Hobby described the LP120 as a step in the direction of the perfect strobist flash: lots of power; simple, manual controls; lots of flexibility; and lots of ways to trigger it. That article really tweaked my curiosity, so finally getting my hands on a couple of units to try out feels really cool to me.
A little backgrounder on this flash: according to David Hobby, MidWest Photo Exchange (MPEX) approached him to help design a flash to cater to Strobist fans. Based on David's inputs, MPEX designed the LP120 and had LumoPro manufacture it.
(Click on any photo to see it closer)
First impressions first, the packaging of the LP120 is pretty decent. The print on the box is pretty neat and glossy, and rather reminds me of the packaging of an expensive perfume or something. Not too bad actually.
Inside the box, there are only a few things included aside from the flash itself: there's a one-sheet instruction manual that's about 11"x17", a PC-to-1/8 mic jack cable, and the removable wide-angle fresnel. Seems a little sparse at first glance, but what more do you really need?
Taking the flash out, you can see that it's a pretty compact flash. It's really small compared to my Vivitar 285HV, and its a bit smaller even than my Sigma EF500 DG Super.
On the front of the flash, you can see that there is a switch that can be set to "S" or "0". Using the "0" setting allows you to use regular methods of triggering such as the hotshoe or PC connection, while moving to the "S" setting enables the built-in optical slave (Yay for budding strobists! Not so much for me as I have good triggers already.) There also is a red cover that usually covers an IR emitter (for either wireless control applications or AF assist), but in this case seems to just protect the optical slave sensor.
The back of the flash is pretty much dominated by the calculator table, which gives you a way to zero in on the proper settings to use with your flash. To use it, set the flash to 1/1, look up the zoom at the top portion of the lens and cross reference it against the approximate distance to the subject. You then drop down to the ISO speed that you're using, and the number to the left gives you the aperture you should use. Pretty standard as far as flash calculators go.
Beneath the calculator is the heart of the flash's control mechanism. At the very bottom is the test button for the flash, while above it are a couple of four-position switches that control the output power. The right switch is the primary one, and switches the flash from off, to full power, to 1/2 and last to the secondary position. At that last setting, the other switch comes into play, moving the flash from 1/4th power, to 1/8th power, to 1/16th to 1/32nd power. That right there is a couple of stops more than my 285HV has (it has 1/16, but not 1/32, and strangely, not the 1/8 setting.)
The LP120 features a few more nice features for strobists. First of all, there's the simple zooming function, and you can't get much simpler than the push-pull method used here, similar to the zoom function of the 285HV. Aside from that, the flash head also tilts up and down, just like the 285HV, but unlike the 285HV, the head of the LP120 can also swivel 90 degrees to the right and 180 degrees to the left.
On the right side of the flash (while facing the back), you will find the battery compartment cover. From the reviews that I've read of this flash, I know that many people consider this to be the weakest feature of the entire product, and I must say that I am inclined to agree with them. The cover feels very flimsy, and I've got a feeling that it will be the first thing to fail on the flash. It's a real bummer to have to take such great care with this small part when the rest of the flash seems to be built so well.
The flash-head itself will zoom from 85mm to 28mm. To go a bit wider, you can install the supplied wide-angle attachment, but strangely enough, the manual fails to state what focal length this matches up to.
Finally, below the battery cover, you can see not one, but two ways to sync the flash via cable: a standard PC port, and a mini-jack port. Aside from those and the optical sensor, there's always the standard hotshoe, making a total of 4 ways to trigger the flash.
Funny thing in that last photo, you can see what are at first glance the cheapest items of this nice-looking flash: the "QC checked" and "Made in China" stickers.
Next issue, I'll put the flash through its paces.
(By the way, for those of you who are interested in learning about the Strobist style of lighting, Camtrade, with the participation of LumoPro is offering a workshop on this. This will be on the 16th of August, and you can find more details on it here.)
I first heard of the LP120 from one of my favorite blogs: Strobist.com A little backgrounder on this flash: according to David Hobby, MidWest Photo Exchange (MPEX) approached him to help design a flash to cater to Strobist fans. Based on David's inputs, MPEX designed the LP120 and had LumoPro manufacture it. In the article, David Hobby described the LP120 as a step in the direction of the perfect strobist flash: lots of power; simple, manual controls; lots of flexibility; and lots of ways to trigger it. That article really tweaked my curiosity, so finally getting my hands on a couple of units to try out feels really cool to me.
A little backgrounder on this flash: according to David Hobby, MidWest Photo Exchange (MPEX) approached him to help design a flash to cater to Strobist fans. Based on David's inputs, MPEX designed the LP120 and had LumoPro manufacture it.
(Click on any photo to see it closer)
First impressions first, the packaging of the LP120 is pretty decent. The print on the box is pretty neat and glossy, and rather reminds me of the packaging of an expensive perfume or something. Not too bad actually.
Inside the box, there are only a few things included aside from the flash itself: there's a one-sheet instruction manual that's about 11"x17", a PC-to-1/8 mic jack cable, and the removable wide-angle fresnel. Seems a little sparse at first glance, but what more do you really need?
Taking the flash out, you can see that it's a pretty compact flash. It's really small compared to my Vivitar 285HV, and its a bit smaller even than my Sigma EF500 DG Super.
On the front of the flash, you can see that there is a switch that can be set to "S" or "0". Using the "0" setting allows you to use regular methods of triggering such as the hotshoe or PC connection, while moving to the "S" setting enables the built-in optical slave (Yay for budding strobists! Not so much for me as I have good triggers already.) There also is a red cover that usually covers an IR emitter (for either wireless control applications or AF assist), but in this case seems to just protect the optical slave sensor.
The back of the flash is pretty much dominated by the calculator table, which gives you a way to zero in on the proper settings to use with your flash. To use it, set the flash to 1/1, look up the zoom at the top portion of the lens and cross reference it against the approximate distance to the subject. You then drop down to the ISO speed that you're using, and the number to the left gives you the aperture you should use. Pretty standard as far as flash calculators go.
Beneath the calculator is the heart of the flash's control mechanism. At the very bottom is the test button for the flash, while above it are a couple of four-position switches that control the output power. The right switch is the primary one, and switches the flash from off, to full power, to 1/2 and last to the secondary position. At that last setting, the other switch comes into play, moving the flash from 1/4th power, to 1/8th power, to 1/16th to 1/32nd power. That right there is a couple of stops more than my 285HV has (it has 1/16, but not 1/32, and strangely, not the 1/8 setting.)
The LP120 features a few more nice features for strobists. First of all, there's the simple zooming function, and you can't get much simpler than the push-pull method used here, similar to the zoom function of the 285HV. Aside from that, the flash head also tilts up and down, just like the 285HV, but unlike the 285HV, the head of the LP120 can also swivel 90 degrees to the right and 180 degrees to the left.
On the right side of the flash (while facing the back), you will find the battery compartment cover. From the reviews that I've read of this flash, I know that many people consider this to be the weakest feature of the entire product, and I must say that I am inclined to agree with them. The cover feels very flimsy, and I've got a feeling that it will be the first thing to fail on the flash. It's a real bummer to have to take such great care with this small part when the rest of the flash seems to be built so well.
The flash-head itself will zoom from 85mm to 28mm. To go a bit wider, you can install the supplied wide-angle attachment, but strangely enough, the manual fails to state what focal length this matches up to.
Finally, below the battery cover, you can see not one, but two ways to sync the flash via cable: a standard PC port, and a mini-jack port. Aside from those and the optical sensor, there's always the standard hotshoe, making a total of 4 ways to trigger the flash.
Funny thing in that last photo, you can see what are at first glance the cheapest items of this nice-looking flash: the "QC checked" and "Made in China" stickers.
Next issue, I'll put the flash through its paces.
(By the way, for those of you who are interested in learning about the Strobist style of lighting, Camtrade, with the participation of LumoPro is offering a workshop on this. This will be on the 16th of August, and you can find more details on it here.)
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