Honl Speed System Review

Honl Photo http://www.honlphoto.com has some really cool light modifiers that I have been using for quite some time now. The Speed Strap system is for flashes / speedlights only. They are portable, rugged and really fun to play with.

I am the owner of the Honl Speed Strap system and a couple accessories of theirs:
• Honl Speed Strap: $10
• Honl Speed Snoot/bounce card reflector - 8": $30
• Honl Speed Grid 1/8": $30

Honl's Speed Strap system also has other accessories like color correction filter kits, color effect filter kits, gobos and a really cool 11x9" Traveler8 round softbox ($70) that I am drooling over.

The closest thing I have to the softbox is the Westcott Apollo 28" softbox but man does that guy take up some space even when it isn't folded up. Additionally, you need the flash to be off-camera AND mounted to an umbrella adapter and light stand for it all... Not my idea of "portable."







There isn't much to say about these things except for that they are REALLY great. The speed strap is essentially one long thin-ish Velcro strap (soft side on outside, rough side on inside) that you wrap around your flash head.

Easy to put on, easy to take off.

From there, you use the speed strap to mount the various light modifiers that I mentioned above.



Yes, the speed strap itself is essentially an overpriced Velcro strap but it looks good, holds up well and can be used for so much more than just the Honl stuff.

For example, it can stay mounted on your speedlight and hold your RadioPopper PX transmitter unit in lieu of having to physically mount a strip of velcro to your flash head. You can also hook up a PocketWizard to some velcro and strap it on the Honl and run a PC sync to PC sync cable on your camera (that is IF you have a PC sync input like on the Nikon D700) and fire BOTH your speedlight AND a studio strobe at the same time... Crazy lighting possibilities all with the help of Velcro. So yeah that Speed Strap is well worth the extra couple bucks then having to ghetto rig one yourself.

If you own an entry level flash such as the Nikon SB-400, Nikon SB-600, Canon 430EX, etc which doesn't have a bounce card then you can still save a ton of money and get the Honl speed strap and bounce card for around a hundred less then having to upgrade to a better flash unit... Great way to keep your equipment and get the most out of it. I was going to do a post on making one yourself using some foam paper found at a craft store but screw it, get a Honl and it will do wonders (and won't look like an art school project from hell)

Two big thumbs up for the Honl Speed System. Highly recommended. Check out Honl Photo's website at: www.honlphoto.com

PS, I will be rocking out the Honl Speed System at my PPA sponsored Super Monday workshop that deals with "Off Camera Flash Techniques." Come on by and try them out for yourself.

Thanks for stopping by!
Michael