Light & Motion StellaPro Reflex Marries Flash and Continuous Lighting.
Making a name for itself with powerful, compact, and durable LED lights for video and action sports applications, Light & Motion is taking things up a notch with the Reflex and Reflex S—a new breed of LED fixture that supports ultra-fast flash as well as a highly capable continuous light. It also maintains a lot of StellaPro’s DNA with its ability to run on a battery, a tiny size, and beautiful quality of light. Hybrid video/stills shooters desiring a single light for all their needs will definitely be pleased.
You’ll find the Reflex to be a light that answers a lot of questions all in a single package. It’s a strobe and a continuous light. It’s lightweight and rugged. It’s battery or AC powered. It’s ultra-fast and able to offer accurate color. Whether you’re shooting weddings, events, action, adventure, editorial, or portraiture, the StellaPro Reflex can do the trick.
Being dual purpose does require a unique take on the light. It features a single, large flicker-free LED to perform both the continuous lighting and flash functions. This is a solid LED, much like earlier offerings from Light & Motion, which offers TLCI/CRI of 93/92, daylight color balance, and maximum output of 9,000 lumens on AC power or 6,000 lumens on the included battery handle. Plus, in the burst (strobe) mode it will double that output and hit 18,000 lumens. It’s a reliable fixture that balances power and size, delivering similar output to similar-size LEDs and on-camera speedlights.
StellaPro Reflex S. One of the best aspects is the speed of this system compared to more traditional strobes, like a monolight. The Reflex S can hit speeds of up to 20 fps at full power without overheating. There is also no real recycle time, meaning that every time you hit the shutter you will have the Reflex ready and waiting. If you are looking to freeze action with the flash, then you are in luck because it does have a flash duration as short as 1 ms (1/1,000 second).
It is with speed where we can identify the differences between the Reflex and the upgraded Reflex S. The base Reflex offers continuous shooting of 10 fps and a minimum flash duration of 5 ms (1/200 second) while the Reflex S will offer the full 20 fps and minimum duration of 1 ms (1/1,000 second). You’ll have to choose based on your own need, but both are good.
For flash firing to sync properly with your camera, you will need to ensure a good connection. The Reflex offers built-in radio receivers to handle this, and StellaPro offers support for Profoto, Elinchrom, and Godox standards to make it easy to add a Reflex to your current kit. Alternatively, there is a standard 3.5mm input for a wired connection to other triggers or directly to a camera.
Physically, the Reflex and Reflex S are tiny lights, perfectly suitable for on-camera or handheld use. They are also very durable, with IP65 weatherproofing that will let them hold up to a little bit of inclement weather when working outdoors. They are rated to survive drops from 3.3' high. With the battery grip, they are light, weighing around 1.5 lb.
Plenty of accessories and modifiers will be available to work with the Reflex and Reflex S. Included is a medium optic, although a wide 50-degree and spot optics are also available. A Chimera speedring and 24" and 30" octaboxes are available for softer lighting, as well. Or you can use the Profoto C-stand adapter for using Profoto light shaping tools. Users should have no problem getting the light to look just the way they need.
A cool accessory would be the bar attachment, which lets you mount up to five Reflex lights on a single stand. This will give you power equivalent to a typical battery-powered monolight if you were looking for maximum output. When using a trigger, all with sync perfectly.
The Reflex is opening the door to a new type of light, one that appeals directly to the ever-growing hybrid market where stills and video are of equal importance. Having a single light for every shot is a hugely appealing idea, and the Reflex just might be the perfect light for many shooters.
Stella ProReflex: $849.99 /// ReflexS: $1.096.00
