Lighting kit Rotolight Anova Pro Bi-Color model

By D.Fili Last updated Feb 5, 2018

The Anova Pro is heavy and pricey, but offers the intuitive operation of continuous lighting,excellent colour control in mixed lighting,and a strobe mode if you need it.

The Anova Pro comes in two versions: a BiColor unit or a brighter, fixed-colour unit (5,600K) which offers a
useful 2EV (two stops) more illumination. We’ve reviewed the Bi-Color model, which mixes
the output from two LED types to provide a continuously adjustable colour temperature from 3,150K to 6,300K.
It’s made in the UK to tight specifications in a market where,according to Rotolight, many panels do not offer a continuous
and consistent spectrum in important colour ranges for portraits, such as reds and skin tones. The Anova Pro’s
continuous spectrum is a feature Rotolight is keen to stress.
It also has an innovative strobe feature that can fire the LEDs at 150 per cent of their normal
continuous output, for durations as short as 1/2,500 sec. There’s no recycle time: Rotolight is confident it can keep up with any
continuous shooting rate with no missed frames, so it has the potential to freeze movement,like conventional flash.
Performance
With a guide number of 24 at ISO 100 at a distance of 9 feet (3,795lumens), the Bi-Color Anova Pro doesn’t offer the power of studio flash, so you may need to rely on faster lenses or higher ISOs. With today’s high-sensitivity sensors
and the fashion for shallow depth of field, neither is an obstacle.
Outdoors, the Bi-Color Anova Pro doesn’t really have the power to illuminate larger objects, such
as cars, if it has full daylight to compete with – although it worked really well for a twilight automotive shoot. Even in regular
daylight, however, it could prove a useful source of fill light at closer range for portrait shots.
Indoors, it comes into its own,offering a soft light for portraits in its ‘naked’ form. You may not need lighting modifiers since it’s
already a large and diffuse light source, and its shape produces circular catchlights, which are a bonus for portrait photographers.

The Anova Pro fits in a U-shaped yoke,which attaches to a regular lighting stand to allow both horizontal rotation and up/down angles.Powered either by a mains adaptor or a V-Lock battery, the Anova Pro can be used both in the studio or on location. All the work is done with these two large control dials: one for intensity (up to 100%) and the other for colour temperature(3,150K to 6,300K).