‘Anyone shooting with a digital camera should consider the Streamlites’ C


ontinuous lighting has been around for a long time, a lot longer than flash in fact.


Tungsten lighting was the norm in studios for shooting both people and products right up to the late sixties.


I can remember selling flash to photographers who were slightly sceptical of this new invention, wondering if they could ever get the hang of it. But, as the years have gone by, flash has taken over and the popularity of continuous lighting has dwindled. But I don’t know why.


Pro photographers dominated the industry back then, and it was extremely rare that an amateur bought flash. There were two good reasons of course; firstly, flash equipment was very expensive back then; and second, it was almost impossible to find an amateur photo dealer who stocked lighting. Mind you, the pros liked that arrangement quite a lot as it gave them an edge, a bit of exclusivity.


I mentioned tungsten, but these days continuous lighting comes in many forms and Bowens have had great success with their Trilites and Unilites that both used ‘cold lamp fluorescent technology’. This technology, has really improved the way that


28 www.bowens.co.uk


continuous lighting works as the fluorescent lamps produce little or no heat whatsoever, making them so much easier to work with, although the lamps weren’t daylight balanced.


Bowens is always looking for ways to improve and enhance its range and it has just released details of its latest version of continuous lighting, the Streamlite. This new light seems to have everything a photographer needs, intensity, daylight balanced fluorescent lamps, balanced to 5600 Kelvin and that cool running technology.


They really are bright and give a very intense and even output.


Bowens is always looking for ways to improve and enhance its range


Unlike the Unilite that came with small soft boxes, the Streamlite has a large, built in reflector, just over 40 cm in diameter. The reflector is nicely coated with a white interior that maximises the output of the lamps and keeps everything as even as possible. Bowens has also designed a shower cap type diffuser that simply


stretches over the Streamlite reflector to diffuse and slightly soften its output.


The Streamlite will be available in two designs, featuring a three lamp and a five lamp version. Sold in a two head kit with stands, the Streamlites will also include the original Cocoon light tent which is the perfect solution for shooting small objects, and also includes a brand new Cocoon stand that simply unfolds and clips together. It’s such a great design that anybody could assembly it in a matter of seconds. And dismantles just as easily.


The lamps themselves are 30w each and simply screw into the ES lamp holders in the Streamlite head.


Anyway, enough of the technical stuff, with all these benefits, anyone shooting with a digital camera should really consider the values of the Streamlites before they dive in and buy flash.


The real benefit of using the Streamlite is ease of use. Anyone, and I mean anyone, men women and children can use them. You just switch them on, point them at the subject and shoot. This makes them the perfect solution for people who don’t want to get involved with the technicalities of flash.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36