• Tuesday 24 November 2020
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A review written by Dapacari who has since reviewed other parts of our module range - his blog page is here: https://blog.dapacari.fr/category/tous-les-articles-testes/les-tests/

Hahnel Creative Lantern Kit Module Test

The Hahnel Creative Lantern kit is part of the “Module” range of the Hahnel brand. It is one of a kind. This is a kit that adapts to the flash using a magnetic clip. It is in a way an ultra compact softbox which allows you to soften the light of the flash.

Hahnel is basically a manufacturer of batteries, chargers and flashes for digital cameras and camcorders. They have an excellent reputation in this area. They also develop compatible accessories for flashes in order to allow photographers to have a multitude of possible creativity.

Hahnel Creative Lantern Kit Test

This material manufactured by Hahnel is quite innovative. We had never seen a prop of this kind in photography. This is a lantern type diffuser offered with colored filters. This accessory is magnetic and can be used with or without a colored filter. It can be magnetized directly on the Hähnel magnetic clamp and on the filter holder.

The Creative Lantern Kit is composed of a magnetic diffuser lantern as well as 6 colored filters. The whole thing is accompanied by a storage bag and a filter holder for colored gels.

Hahnel clamp: magnetic module clamp

The system works with an essential magnetic clamp which is however not included in the box of the Hahnel Creative Lantern. You can adapt it to any type of flash with Hahnel clamps. As there are several sizes of flash, you should choose the magnetic clip according to the size of the cobra flash you are going to use it on.

There are 2 types of pliers:

• The “ Module 360 ​​Clamp ” which is suitable for flash heads with a width of 35 to 64mm.
• Hahnel “ Module 600 Clamp ” which is suitable for flash heads 65 to 80mm wide.

This clamp system is a system that expands depending on the size of your flash head. This one clings to your flash. Once clipped the “Creative Lantern” magnetizes on it

A lantern with an innovative system

What surprises above all is this Lantern is foldable like a book. We can easily compare it to a softbox. A softbox is a light box that softens the light emitted by a flash. They come in all sizes with either the possibility of attaching it to a flash if its size allows it, or in remote flash mode on a tripod with a larger softbox.

The advantage is that you can choose to put colored gel with or without with this lantern.

The Hahnel Creative Lantern Kit will then allow you to create creative and colorful effects for your photos, but also to add or correct a color cast. To prevent your subjects from having a rather cold cast of light with only the light from the white flash. It is therefore possible to use hotter colored gels in order to give a different atmosphere to the image without having to completely change the white balance.

Hahnel Creative Lantern ultra compact and foldable kit

This kit allows you to have a handy kit composed of 6 colored filters. The magnetic system takes on all its importance compared to the system that can be found on the photo market with velcro tape. I know this, because I also use another system from another brand with velcro. Although this one is very good, once you know the magnetic system, the Velcro system seems less practical.

Example of realization with the Hahnel Creative Lantern kit

I set up a small mobile studio to photograph an Infinite Watch edition Bouillet watch. I won it in an Instagram contest run by Sébastien Bouillet, a great pastry chef from Lyon. I thought it would be interesting to photograph her.

First of all, there are endless possibilities with the Hahnel Creative Lantern. Here, the video I created and broadcast on YouTube is already over 20 minutes long. I have shown you only a small part of these possibilities. Obviously, once you have access to one of the colored gels, it is much more interesting to combine them with several light sources.

Here I wanted to show you an example using a single flash, so you can see the effect it has on the photos.

Test without Hähnel color gels:

Example of use Hähnel Creative Lantern KIT

In this example, the background is not illuminated at all. This is why it appears in a gray tone. It was not the point to light it in white. There was no retouching on the background. It is only to show here the effect of the Creative Lantern directly on the studio background as well as the watch. As you can see the light is not really diffused well without using the Hahnel Creative Lantern. With the accessory, the light is better distributed.

Try with a Hähnel red gel

Please note that I only used one light source. For the packshot photo, it is advisable to use several lights. Here using the red colored gel, the image is therefore completely colored red. To dissociate the watch from the background, a second light source should be used. But that is not the point of this exercise.

Conclusion

An astonishing accessory that does not go unnoticed. This accessory acts in the same way as a softbox. It makes a flash lose some power, but distributes the light evenly. The instructions indicate a loss of power of 2 stops. Depending on the colors chosen, if it is dark, the power will also be absorbed, it is good to remember this for its settings.

There really is a multitude of creative effects possible with color filters. In the Hahnel Creative Lantern review, I wanted to show you the capabilities of this accessory. However, it is more creative to use multiple light sources. The magnetic system of the Hähnel brand is really very practical. It completes the Module range which is fitted with it. Thus, by equipping yourself with the various accessories from the “Module” range, you can quickly switch between accessories thanks to the magnetic system.

Usually we could see accessories with a velcro type system, but when we have tasted this magnet system it is so much more practical. I will present several products from the Module range from Hahnel. You can find these articles in the Test category of the blog .

Dapacari has since reviewed other parts of our module range - his blog page is here: https://blog.dapacari.fr/category/tous-les-articles-testes/les-tests/

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