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Profoto has announced that it intends to enter the cinema market. The company doesn’t say much, except that they will be releasing the first in a new series of LED lights and light-shaping tools.
I have to say, it’s about time. We’ve seen every company under the sun popping up with lights lately, but Godox is the only one who’s done anything serious with both flash and continuous lights. Now, that’s about to change.
Profoto to enter the cinema lighting market
A decade or so ago, I would’ve said that a flash company moving into LEDs wasn’t a surprising move. DSLRs were just starting to get some pretty decent video capabilities, and we were already starting to see some action in the LED market.
Now, though, a decade later, given that it hadn’t happened already, it is a bit of a surprise that it’s happening now. Profoto’s complete statement reads as follows:
Profoto, the light shaping company, announces their intent to enter the cinema market with the launch of the first product in a series of LED lights and light shaping tools.
Having been the world leader in lighting products for professional photographers, brands and studios for more than 55 years, the expansion marks the opportunity to offer their relentless commitment to innovation to the uncompromising creators of moving images as well.
“We are obsessed with light, without light there is nothing. It is a natural step for us to expand our innovation capabilities to speak with the cinematographers of the world. They see light as we do; the one element that can set a scene and a mood to tell a story as if you are right in it. We want to come closer to our existing customers and the market we are entering and the first step to build our presence there is to relocate our global marketing department to California later this year”, says Anders Hedebark, CEO.
Profoto continues to innovate world-leading lights, light-shaping tools, and create the leading-edge technology that connects camera, app, and light seamlessly and invisibly. The expansion into continuous lights represents a natural evolution, delivering the art of light shaping to a broader market that is not limited to the USA, but to the rest of the world as well. Profoto is preparing to show the first product in this product line at CineGear, Warner Bros Studios, CA in June.
As you can see, it’s pretty vague. They’re kicking off a new series of lights, but their first announcement will be just one model in that lineup. It will be interesting to see which end of the market they’ll target first.
Will they go for the larger, more powerful studio lights? Or will it be the lower-powered portable lights for independent creators on location?
A Natural Step – But is it too late?
The company says that expanding out into cinema lighting is “a natural step” for the company. But they’re entering a very flooded market that already covers everyone from beginners to TV and movie sets.
The aforementioned Godox makes a few dozen LED lights. Aputure, too, has a vast range covering the entry-level all the way up to the high end. Then there are those who seem to have taken on lighting as a side project to a different main product. Companies like Zhiyun and SmallRig.
That crowded market will mean Profoto’s entry will be a struggle. Yes, plenty of people value the Profoto name and wouldn’t shoot stills with anything else. But when it comes to video, they’ve already found someone else.
I expect it will be difficult to make many of them switch, especially if they’ve invested quite heavily.
It sounds like we’ll find out about the first product in June, though. This is only a few weeks away. It will be very interesting to see Profoto’s take on continuous lighting. I’d be curious to see how it plays with some of Profoto’s modifiers.
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