Out and about in Venice with the new Soluna II-60 continuous light

Photographer Frank Fischer had the exclusive opportunity to test the new Rollei Soluna II-60 before its market launch. He traveled with it to Venice and reports on his experiences with the continuous light.

Frank Fischer tests the Soluna II-60 – Flexible Photography with Continuous Light

Our photo trips to Venice have been going on for many years. We still remember clearly that a few years ago we felt like we were the first ones to show up there with a portable flash system.

Today, mobile flash systems, such as the Freeze-s series from Rollei , are quite common on the shores of the lagoon, and every evening Venetian mask wearers and photographers gather on San Giorgio Maggiore in front of the church of the same name to use flash against the sunset. In recent years, we have taken mask photos there – and at other locations in Venice – in dwindling light, using the modeling light of the Rollei Freeze.

The flashes have always had great performance, but sometimes a continuous light solution is also good to be able to photograph with a wider aperture in existing light and to be more flexible and, above all, to capture one or two images at the same time.

In February 2020, we were in the lagoon city with a tour group for Carnival. Again, one of the main focuses was on mask photography, and the new Rollei Soluna II-60 came at just the right time! The new battery-powered Rollei continuous light offers ample power of 60 W LED and incredible endurance. In addition, the light is wonderfully adjustable, which also allows for super flexible use.

In Venice, we used both the Freeze and the Soluna II-60 in the evenings and mornings. The Freeze, whenever we had to flash against strong backlighting, and the Soluna II-60, whenever the sun had not yet risen or set. It is very practical that the light shapers from Rollei fit both systems, thanks to the identical Bowens S-Type mount.

With the Soluna II-60, we both directly illuminated mask wearers and created light in the surroundings.

The Shootings

In the arcades around St. Mark's Square, there are lamps with very small lights on the ceilings. To make these visible in the bokeh beautifully, we like to have the mask wearers step out at the end of one of the passages into St. Mark's Square. There, the mask is then rather in the dark. To compensate for the brightness difference between the foreground and the lights in the passage, the Soluna II-60 is ideal. We placed the light accordingly in front of it.

One evening, we had taken the Soluna II-60 to Burano for blue hour. Here, we had planned a shoot with two masks. The goal was to combine the natural lights of the street lighting with the light of the continuous light. The colorful houses of Burano were to form the backdrop. At one of the house corners, we found the ideal illumination for the masked couple, but the house in the background was much too dark and the blue color didn't look particularly good. So, we used the Soluna II-60 for illuminating the background.

As we left the location, our gaze fell on an archway. There was sufficient light in front of the archway, but a little rim light around the masked figures was missing. It quickly became clear to us that light had to come from behind. So we placed the Soluna II-60 in the passage and positioned the masked figures in front of the archway. The Soluna II-60 in this case creates wonderful light in the passage and also provides backlighting for the feathers.

But even during the day, the Soluna II-60 performs great. Now with full power. To have as much light as possible, we used a standard reflector instead of a softbox. In a dark arcade of a monastery, we illuminated the masked woman and model with the continuous light.

Conclusion on the Soluna II-60 

The Soluna II-60 is perfect for portrait photographers who like to work with continuous light even without an outlet. Thanks to two battery compartments for the compatible Sony NP-F990, NP-F550, and NP-F750 batteries, there is incredible endurance. Many photographers already use these batteries with other lights and can thus continue to use their existing batteries. The control range is great, and thanks to the universal Bowens mount and compact design, you always have a cool continuous light solution with you.

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