Profoto Adds High-Speed Sync to B1 Battery-Powered Portable Studio Light Via Firmware Update

We reviewed the Profoto B1 500 AirTTL battery-powered studio light earlier this year and while we, generally, loved this portable strobe solution, the one thing missing was high-speed sync. Profoto corrected that this morning by offering a new High-Speed Sync (HSS) feature to the B1 that’s available now via a free firmware update.

If you’re unfamiliar with HSS, it’s a way to sync a flash with very fast shutter speeds shorter than x-sync, which is typically 1/250 of a second, to freeze fast action.

Once you install the new HSS upgrade to a Profoto B1 light, just switch to the HSS Mode with the push of a button on the light, and you can shoot at a shutter speed as fast as 1/8000 of a second and the B1 will flash in sync. (There is no need to change the flash bulb to add the HSS feature.)

Profoto HSS is designed to work with both Canon and Nikon cameras and, according to Profoto, it has been tested “for all common camera models” for these brands.

You can download the free HSS firmware upgrade for the B1 here.

To find out more about what the Profoto B1 500 AirTTL battery-powered studio light can do, read our review.

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