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Profoto A1 is a high-end studio light for the top of your camera

Daven Mathies
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Calling it the “world’s smallest studio light,” Profoto introduced its first on-camera flash, the  Profoto A1. The flash is available in both Canon and Nikon hot shoe configurations and offers both manual and TTL (through-the-lens metering) automatic modes. At just 1.2 pounds, it is considerably smaller than Profoto’s off-camera lights, such as the powerful D2 monolight, and only about five ounces heavier than first-party flashes. The A1 is available for pre-order now at a price of $995.

Official trailer: The world is my studio with Sal Cincotta

Unlike most on-camera flashes, the A1 uses a circular flash head, which Profoto states leads to a more natural light quality. The light can be shaped further via dedicated accessories, including gels, a dome diffuser, and a bounce card, all of which attach to the flash head magnetically.

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Profoto decided on a bespoke battery for the A1, which is both rechargeable and replaceable. The company says a single battery can power the flash through 350 full-power shots at 76 watt-seconds and can recharge in 80 minutes. The A1 also has an impressive nine-stop adjustable power output, so using it to add a soft fill light when shooting at a wide aperture should be no problem. It also supports high-speed sync (HSS), so photographers have a full range of shutter speeds available to work with.

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Designed with event photographers in mind, everything about the A1 is built around efficiency, with an interface designed to keep users engaged without diving into a menu. It features fast recycle times from 0.02 seconds to 1.2 seconds, depending on the power setting. And when bringing the studio to the location, the A1 can act as a wireless TTL trigger for the larger Profoto B1 or B2 lights, thanks to the built-in AirTTL module.

Profoto clearly has professional users in mind, particularly wedding and location portrait photographers. At $995, the A1 is close to twice the price of a Nikon SB-5000 or Canon 600EX II-RT, the highest-end first-party flashes. But with full TTL compatibility, remote triggering of other Profoto strobes, simple manual control, and easy-to-use modifiers, the A1 probably makes a lot of sense for the right user. If you’re looking for a much more affordable solution to improve your flash photography, you might want to give the old white balloon trick a try.

For more information, see Profoto’s A1 product page.

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Daven Mathies
Daven Mathies
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Daven is a contributing writer to the photography section. He has been with Digital Trends since 2016 and has been writing…
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