Bowens Esprit Flash

However, being at the top of the tree means everybody else will set their sights on your crown and, in some cases, will move heaven and earth to steal a few percent of your market share.

Enter the Esprit

A summary of the monoblocs' specifications is given in the table below. For reference, specifications are included for the old Prolites 82, 100 and 120 - the first and last being equivalent in rating to the new Esprits 500 and 1000. To date, there is no new equivalent for the old 750J Prolite 100.

	ESPRIT				PROLITE
	125	250	500	1000	82	100	120
RATING (J)	125	250	500	1000	500	750	1000
MIN. POWER	1/4	1/4	1/32	1/32	1/8	1/8	1/16
DURATION (s)	1/2000	1/1100	1/500	1/1300	1/660	1/500	1/1500
RECYCLING (s)	0.9	1.4	1.4	2.6	2.4	2.6	2.8
NOTE. Flash duration is the time to half peak brightness, T(0.5), and refers to full power. Recycling time is also given at full power.

As the table shows, in almost all respects, the newer units are better specified than their older equivalents. They are also lower priced. According to Bowens, this has been achieved by the use of more efficient manufacturing methods rather than any reduction in either build quality or performance. Encouragingly, this does indeed seem to be the case in reality. Another plus point is that the new Esprits feature flash inhibiting circuits that prevent accidental firing before full power is reached.

Comparative minus points are thin on the ground: the most obvious is the lack of a car battery adaptor (previously offered for the Prolites 82 and 100). A consistent minus point is that Bowens' literature gives the monoblocs' ratings in fictitious "w/s" or "W/S" units, while the more recent brochures compound matters by quoting "�K", which is technically wrong. Bowens are not alone - Systems Imaging makes the same mistakes in its literature; Bowens manages to get the nomenclature right in its Operating Instructions booklets.

The feature that Bowens have made most of on the new Esprits is their side-panel location of the flash output and modelling lamp brightness controls. This has been done, in Bowens' own words, "for maximum ease of adjustment no matter how you position the light." Well, yes and no. For maximum ease of use you will probably want the controls near the camera, to tweak the values either by eye or in response to test Polaroids. If this sounds familiar, you would most likely be better off not using monoblocs at all, but using generator packs instead. That, however, is another story.

Bowens are not the first to think of putting the controls on the side of a monobloc: some Multiblitz heads had the same feature (as well as a remote control option) but at considerably higher prices.

For this test, only the two most popular Esprits, the 250 and the 500, were tested. Immediate impressions were very good: the units look good and feel good too. Personally, I think it is a shame that they are supplied without reflectors, but at least this allows users to select their own preferred type without wasting money on something that isn't wanted. What is very good, however, is the provision of a sync lead with every unit. You can never have too many sync leads!

The two models share the same dimensions, which the brochure lists as a 145mm diameter and a 362mm length. Unlike last month's finding Elinchrom and Prolinca published specs, Bowens' figures are accurate. The length takes into account the rear handle, flash tube and modelling lamp, and the protective travelling cap too. The diameter is the greatest width measurement, referring to the longest diagonal across the angular body, which is actually closer to 125mm square with sliced corners. Weights are 2.9kg and 3.4kg - more or less par for the course for 250J and 500J units in general but considerably heavier than identical power Elinchrom units.

Neat design touches include space to store a spare fuse inside the pull-out fuse holder itself and colour coding that identifies each monobloc type (purple for the 250 and green for the 500; the 125 is blue and the 1000 is red). Another nice idea is the moulded finger grip on the inside face of the handle. This doesn't quite work in practice, however, owing to the fact that it seems to have been set for a right hand grip, whereas in practice the right hand would be loosening and tightening the locking wheel while the left hand was adjusting the angle. In this respect I would even suggest that the handle is on the wrong side of the rear panel - but this really is getting very picky indeed!

Practical tests suggest that the output range of the Esprit 500 is not quite the five �-stops claimed, but rather about 1/3 �-stop less. Equally, intermediate settings cannot be exact with continuously adjustable controls because they are always a matter of aligning the knob against marks on the chassis. From a practical point of view, the most frustrating aspect is the need to dump excess power manually when decreasing output. This is a tedious operation. I have been told that offering continuous output control makes auto-dumping impossible, but I find this hard to accept. Maybe it is simply not economic on equipment that is so keenly priced.

Recycling times are a shade longer than claimed, but not significantly so. The flash inhibiting circuitry seems to function perfectly, with no variation noted in measured flash brightness at constant power. The 250 and 500 share the same modelling lamp (either a 275W No 1 photoflood or a 250W Halostar). There is, however, no balancing of modelling lamp brightness against the actual output of different units (as is provided on Systems Imaging monoblocs). When set to full power, the Esprit 250's modelling brightness is the same as a similarly set Esprit 500, but the latter will then give a flash that is twice as bright. This difficulty can be overcome in a crude way by fitting a 150W Photocrescenta bulb to a lower-power head.

Bowens' approach to the question of modelling illumination is more flexible than that of some other manufacturers, but results in what could be seen as some omissions from the control panel. There is no automatic proportional modelling, or either maximum or minimum brightness at the touch of a switch. The modelling lamp knob can be rotated to its extreme settings very easily, but proportional modelling would have been useful, especially if combined with a an overall half-power switch to allow kits with two different head powers to be mixed.

In truth, as may be gathered from the minor nature of the criticisms raised, the Esprits are very hard to fault. First impressions last to the end: they look good, they feel good, and by golly, they are good. Best of all, the reflector fitting is that familiar design from the old Prolites. There's no doubt about it: the UK's most popular flash monoblocs have been made even better.

Aesthetic/Ergonomic Design: Very Good
Range of Accessories: Excellent
Capital and Running Costs: Very Good
Lighting Quality: Very Good

Overall: Esprits are without serious failings and have numerous points that recommend them. For many users, the Bowens name and KJP back-up could prove decisive. It is hard to imagine anybody regretting buying Bowens. John Tarrant

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