NEW! Britek SM-1250 Professional Studio Flash
Sorry, this model has been discontinued; see the new
PS-300 Pro Strobe instead. Thanks for understanding.

The NEW SM-1250 Monolight
PhotoSpeak: BTW, did you notice, above, that I said "make" photographs, and not "take" pictures? Well, here's your first lesson in how pros speak about photography (photospeak): "Snapshooters" or "point and shooters," who don't think and plan their shots (e.g., most of us) are the ones who "take" pictures (the rank amateurs). Photographers "make" great photographs by careful thought, detailed planning, and, most of all, scrupulous attention to lighting. Before they even think about pressing that shutter, they "design" their photos carefully. Soon, with a little effort, you'll be "making" great photographs! It's not that hard, believe me. But ya gotta CONTROL THE LIGHT!

More SM-1250 details.....

This is a Fabulous deal, but let's not lose sight of the reality. If you're rich, have a sugar-mommy or daddy, are a high-income pro, or if you can get financing, my advice would be to spring for something (several somethings, in fact) more powerful, more feature-rich (and a LOT more expensive). Lights are like hard disks and internet connections: no matter how big a hard disk is, and no matter how fast your net connection is, they're never big or fast enough. But if you're just starting out, or are on a budget, or are an advanced (or advancing) amateur, these little babies sure make a lot of sense. Let's face it, your portrait clients (or your mother-in-law) won't have any idea whether you paid three hundred or three thousand for each of these strobes; they'll just be impressed (let them think they cost you an arm and a leg; especially those snooty, skinny, little models - "Ya want great head shots, sweetie? It's gonna cost ya; hell, my lights are so valuable, whenever I trade one in, I gotta pay it alimony!") Umm, just some photographer humor, folks :) - it sorta grows on you as you progress in photography; you'll see.

Now lemme tell ya about another great feature on these dynamite little units that's not found on many competing strobes costing 3-5 times the price of these: when you set these units for 1/2 power, the modeling lights ALSO dim to 1/2 power! What a great feature (what's a "modeling light?" see the explanation just below this picture)! [Why, you may ask, would we want to reduce a strobe's power output? see the "technique" section, Below. As we can see from the back view, The New SM-1250 is well-stocked with controls and comes with all the extras already built-in. The SM-1250 is a "Monolight," which means that all the required components are included in the one compact package (as opposed to other strobes which may have the flash head in one segment, and then need an additional and separate power supply in order to get it to work; at an additional cost, too). With these units, everything is included; just plug them in, and fire away!

BTW, a "Modeling Light" is a separate, additional, light (in addition to the strobe's "Flash Tube") that's built into the strobe and throws continuous light over the same area as the strobe's flash tube will (see the picture below for a close-up). You turn on the modeling light (before your shot), so the photographer can see what the modeling will look like, as s/he adjusts the lights before he takes the shot and fires the strobe ("Modeling" is PhotoSpeak for the highlights (light areas) and shadows (dark areas) that fall upon the subject, giving it the depth and texture necessary for professional results). This great feature (modeling light) is usually only found on much more expensive lights. This unit can be activated by the PC Cord (included, of course), the Test Button, or the Slave Sensor (which means that any other flash, even your camera's little built-in flash, can automatically fire this unit by it's light alone, so you don't even need to use a sync (PC) cord unless you want to). BTW, a "PC Cord" (Push Contact), also called a "Sync Cord" is a wire that connects the strobe to your camera's PC socket, and fires the strobe when you press the camera's shutter button.

	We can see the difference between the Modeling Light Bulb and the Flash Tube (the circular tube surrounding the modeling bulb) in this close-up shot of the SM-1250's business end (with the reflector removed, of course). The modeling light is especially valuable to the amateur, because it let's us "see" exactly where the light will fall when the strobe flashes. This feature alone is worth at least a hundred rolls of ruined film (which you'll save by having a modeling light)! One of the major questions (and hesitations) I had when I was beginning to learn photography, was "If you use strobes, how do you know what the subject will look like, or how and where the light will illuminate the subject, if you don't have continuous lighting to judge by?" The answer was really simple: You don't. UNLESS your strobes also have MODELING LIGHTS! With modeling lights, you can see exactly where the strobe's flash will illuminate the subject, because the modeling light falls on the subject the same as the strobe's light will fall on the subject (less intensely, of course)! And this is why the pros pay lotsa money for good strobes that come with modeling lights. That's why the professional photographer's pictures look so much better than ours do: they have the right equipment for the job! They can CONTROL THE LIGHT! And now, so can you.
PhotoSpeak: What's a "Slave Sensor?" Well, if you had to use a PC Cord for every strobe, just think what a mess of tangled wires you'd have if you were using 5 or 6 or more strobes to light your subject (as many pros do)! So, science came to our rescue with slave sensors. It's a tiny little sensor built into most good strobes, that sits & waits for a short, intense burst of light. When it detects this burst of light (the flash from another strobe), it automatically sets off the flash tube in the strobe its built into. Voila! Now, with strobes that have slave sensors (often just called "slaves"), we can connect only one strobe to our cameras (with the PC or Sync cord), usually the strobe closest to our camera, and when we press the shutter button, firing the one connected strobe, that flash will automatically set off all the other strobes we may be using for that shot! Ah, ain't technology wunnerful (sic)? Even most of the little flashes built into most modern cameras can set off most strobes with slaves. A strobe that has PC socket, or both a PC Socket and a slave sensor is called a "Master" strobe; a strobe that only has a slave sensor and no PC socket (usually less expensive units) is called a "Slave." Whichever strobe you're using with a PC cord is referred to as your "master" strobe for purposes of that shot. Most of the better strobes have both PC sockets and slave sensors, so they're more versatile and useful to us (however, there are many very good slaves out there today, and you won't need all your strobes to be masters, so don't hesitate to buy some decent slaves when the time comes - and, believe me, if you stick with photography, the time will come).
Complete: Each of these SM-1250s comes complete with umbrella-capable reflector, sync cord, AC cord, Flash Tube, Modeling Light, built-in umbrella holder, and standard light stand connector; it's ready to plug in and fire away! Since all the strobes in this package are A.C. units, they're ready to rock! No batteries or powerpacks or light heads or connector cords are needed; just plug 'em in, and (just like Elvis) you're ready to rock and roll. Many additional accessories are also available for these units, whenever you're ready for them (e.g., snoots, barn doors, softboxes, stands, unbrellas, honeycombs, gel holders, etc.). BTW, pros use umbrellas to "bounce" the strobe's light off of (or sometimes through) to make the light softer, reduce or eliminate shadows, and "mellow-out" the picture. Softboxes (and a great SoftCase) are also great for this purpose (yes, softboxes & softcases are also available). These are brand new, 100% guaranteed, with the manufacturer's full one year warrantee . These are NOT seconds, blemishes, or anything other than brand new, absolutely perfect, current 2000 models! Just 'cause the price is great, doesn't mean these are in any way less than perfect! Want more strobes, light stands, umbrellas, softboxes, and other goodies? Additional units and accessories are always available; just e-mail any questions or requests, to me at wryter@usa.net or check out-my web site HERE.-These strobes and other photographic equipment also come with an "extra" that's not available anywhere else, at any price whatsoever: FREE photographic education, advice and training from MyPhotoHome.com (coming soon to a computer near you)! MPH Members also get FREE web space (to post your own pictures), and much, much more (when MyPhotoHome.com comes online, shortly).
Point of Information: Why, you might be asking yourself, have virtually all photographers switched to using strobes, when "regular" continuous lights (photographers call them "hot" lights) are everywhere, and it's easier for us to see how the lighting will look with them? Well, the continuous lights, like the ones in our houses (tungsten lights), or halogen (and similar) are called "hot lights" for a reason: they get hot. Really hot! This tends to make certain things, like flowers, foods, animals, and those darn pesky models, wilt. Especially models. They get very, very, unhappy when they wilt. Bitch, bitch, bitch; you'd think a little melting makeup, and running mascara, and limp hair, and sticky lipstick, and beads of sweat running down their (umm, let's say noses) was a big deal or something, the way they complain! ;-) Also, there's a little problem with the "color temperature" being way off with hot lights, so we have to use special films (3200K or 3400K) or filters when using them (strobes are perfectly balanced at 5500K to simulate sunlight, so we can use all the regular daylight films we've come to love/hate over the years). There are yet other, more esoteric, as well as mundane reasons why strobes are the preferred means of photographic lighting in the modern world, but we'll deal with them another time.
BTW, technically speaking, all professional photographic flash units, even though nearly all pros call them "strobes," are not technically strobe lights. A real stroboscope is capable of dozens (or hundreds or even thousands) of flashes per second, and many can maintain that flash rate for hours on end. Our photographic strobes would die a dozen deaths if we tried to set them off 25 or 50 times a second! However, since photographers almost always call these lights "strobes," we'll just stick with the term; but, technically..... Well, you get the idea ;->

Technique: Why would we want to dim a strobe to 1/2 power? Because in order to get great pictures, we have to be able to control the light (sound familiar?) in a number of ways. Sometimes a full power flash is too powerful for the effect we're after; other times we may want to reduce the illumination to create a different mood. In people pictures, for a head shot (that's what photographers call a picture of a person's face, often the face and shoulders), we often want part of the face highlighted, and the other part of the face in a light to medium shadow. This interplay of light and shadow is called "modeling," and is a hallmark of good photography. Anyway, as an example, a common lighting ratio for people pictures is a 1:2 (also 1:3, 1:4, or even 1:5) ratio - full illumination on one side of the face, and 1/2 that amount of light on the other side of the subject's face (we rarely want full frontal lighting, because it gives the face a flat and unappealing look, as well as other negative aspects). The 1:2 (full/half) lighting combination can give us an interesting and often flattering image, with a good ratio of light and shadow - revealing the character, and giving us depth and texture (but be sure to play around with other lighting ratios, too, for even more creativity). Whenever we have two strobes to work with, we can achieve this 1:2 ratio by moving one strobe (the one providing the shadow side lighting) twice as far away from the subject as our main light (the strobe providing the full illumination). But often things get in the way, like walls and such; not all of us have lots of room in our studios (especially living room studios :) to move our lights as far away as we like. Aha! The scientific wizards devised a most convenient solution! A variable-power strobe (like this great SM-1250)! Now, instead of moving lights all over the place, all we have to do is flip a switch, and Voila! 1/2 power without any hassle at all! In some very powerful strobes, we might even find variations from full power, all the way down to 1/32 power. Another way to achieve a lighting ratio (when we only have one strobe) is to use a reflector to "bounce" some light onto the shadow side of the subject's face. You can buy a "professional" reflector for as much as $100.00 or more, but I just use a white poster board, which you can find at any art supply store for under two bucks. You don't have to spend a fortune to make great pictures, just use your equipment to its fullest extent - and use your head! Back from whence you came...

Q. What the heck is a "WS" and what's a "GN," and what in the world do they mean?

WS = Watt Second | GN = Guide Number Here's a brief explanation (using, for this example, your new SM-1250 strobe (well, it might be yours soon:) , which has a power level of 125WS, and a GN of 125): The "125WS" (or the 80WS, or 20WS, etc.) is the output power of your strobe and a watt second is equal to the electrical term "joules," a high-falutin term for a high power level. The Guide Number (GN) of these SM-1250 units is also 125 (for ASA/ISO 100 film), with a standard reflector. Often, the Watt Second power output is close to the guide number. What good is knowing the guide number? Well, the GN gives us a method of calculating exposure (for any strobe and any film) in this way: to calculate the correct approximate exposure for any subject at any distance, simply divide the distance (in feet) that the subject is from the strobe, into the strobe's GN (guide number); the result is our approximate "F" stop. For example, (presuming you're using ISO/ASA 100 film), our GN is 125, and the subject is 12 feet away, then: 125 (GN) divided by 12 (feet away from the subject) = 10.4, so we'd use an exposure setting of about F11. If our subject is 8 feet away, then: 125 divided by 8 = 15.6 which would give us an approximate F stop of about F 16 (bracketing is always a good idea, too). See? Umm, if you don't understand it, don't worry about it (it took me years to fully comprehend). Suggestion: If you're serious about improving your photography, you might consider getting a handheld flash/ambient light meter (sorry, I don't carry any at this time; if you want recommendations, just ask me). Back from where you came...

Shipping & handling is only $16.85 for ground delivery (in Continental USA). Other shipping methods available (UPS 3 Day Select, Next Day Air or Fed Express, etc.), buyer chooses. Payments by credit cards, cashier's checks and money orders shipped immediately; personal/business checks are welcome, but will be held until check clears. Taxable for CA residents only. Thank you for taking the time to view this item!! You may add multiple units (additional strobes) and/or accessories (see some HERE), which can be shipped together for savings.

BTW, be sure to check out my auctions on eBay! I often have GREAT deals on brand new light stands, background systems, complete photo packages and other Photo items, too, to go with your brand new strobe :)! Oh, BTW, if you should ever outgrow this strobe (unlikely, because photographers can always use all the lights we can get; I know many pros who use 6 or 7 or more strobes just for head shots!), but if you do, you can either trade it in on the new ones, or sell it (maybe even on eBay) - and you might even be able to sell it for as much as (or maybe even more than) you paid for it! So unlike that great computer we're all using right now (which will be almost worthless, for resale purposes, in 6 months or a year), this light will retain a good portion (if not all) of its value if or when you're ready to move on.

Guaranteed! This brand new, top quality, unit equals or surpasses those with retail list prices far higher! Go ahead, check with your local photo store(s). Bid responsibly, but with confidence. This unit is 100% guaranteed to be brand new, with manufacturer's warantee! You may return this unit (in new and undamaged condition, of course) within 7 days of receipt for a full refund (excluding shipping), if it is not exactly as described above in every way. Trust me, you'll love it! For some more objective assessments (like almost 300 more opinions) check my feedback; and see what every other customer has had to say about this product (as well as every other item I've ever sold), and my service, and my commitment to 100% customer satisfaction! Hey, us struggling photogs have to stick together, y'know (and all of us are always struggling - to make that elusive "perfect" photograph, huh?). Thanks again for visiting my site (and please judge it gently; it's still a work in progress); feel free to e-mail any questions to me.

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