At first glance a gadget that turns your expensive, portable flashgun into a tied-down, mains-powered flashgun doesn’t sound that great, but bear with me cos this is quite cool. Modern flash guns, especially Nikon and Canon’s, are pretty darn clever and they can do double-duty as studio flashes via the nifty CLS/E-TTL wireless remote control system. However they’re battery powered so you either need a shed-load of AAs or expensive rechargeable battery packs if you want to use them in studios at length.
The Tronix Speedfire may be the answer as it can power a speedlight with mains AC power, so you can have your studio flashes and your portable speedlights as well. It will only work with flash guns that have external power connections, which tends to be the higher end SB800/900/550EX/580EX Speedlights. Best of all, full power flashes will be faster to recycle so all you need to worry about is melting the plastic at the front of the flash head. Unfortunately each Speedfire can only power one Speedlight but they’ll be priced around US$120 to US$135 when they’re released.
powers flash guns or small flashes directly from AC or wall socket
- unlimited number of flashes, faster recycling time
- plug and play feature, autovolt (100-240Vac)
- makes battery life longer due to reduced strain
- compatible with most Canon and Nikon flash guns
- best recommended for home/studio or semi-permanent set up
