The Back Control Panel
The Back Panel offers you clear control of the flash unit’s features, conveniently labeled and collectively located, for simple and quick manipulation. With individual sliders for flashpower and modeling lamp control, you can adjust the output steplessly over the total power range. The modeling lamps can be turned on or off with the white model button, and used as a recycle indicator with the grey ready button. Furthermore, with a red dump light and a green ready light, you can clearly see the unit’s recycle and ready status at any point during your shoot, testing with the test button. The back panel additionally holds the sync jack and remote jack, as well as the slave cell. On the X1600 and X3200 models, there is an additional blue range button, allowing you to run the quarter power mode.

The Power Supply and Flash Capacitors
Using precision voltage regulation and well-designed internal thermodynamics, White Lightning flash units produce consistent and correct output levels. The precision regulator continuously monitors the back panel control settings, the status of the back panel switches, and the remote control input to determine the correct amount of energy to be applied. As White Lightning flash units require ac power, each unit comes with our heavy-duty 15-foot power cord, with a three-wire grounded plug to connect to a standard 120 Vac, 50-60 Hz power outlet. An optional 25-foot extended power cord is available separately, if needed.

The Sync Cord
Our heavy-duty 15-foot Sync Cord arrives with each unit, so that you may connect the light to your camera. This sync cord has a 1/4-inch stereo plug on one end to connect on the back panel of your flash unit, with a PC-connection on the other end to connect to your camera. If your camera does not have an outlet for PC-connection, the sync cord can connect through your hot shoe with an adaptor (see the Hardware Page to find our Hot Shoe Adaptor). With the sync cord, your flash unit will only take its cue to fire from you, firing only when your camera shutter is pressed.

The Flashtube
Each White Lightning flash unit arrives with our single-ring 14mm daylight-balanced flashtube. This user-replaceable tube offers 250,000+ flashes, with inexpensive replacements available. The flashtubes used in White Lightning units are daylight-balanced at 5600ºK, providing accurate color rendition. See our Hardware Page to find out about our replacement tubes.

The Modeling Lamp
The close correlation between the flashtube and the modeling lamp in several parameters allows us to offer WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) modeling. With matched intensity ratios, matched light patterns and diffusion, the output of the modeling lamp will match the pattern of light you will see on film. The X-Series flash units arrive with our standard 250 watt, 4600 lumens quartz modeling lamp, and the UltraZAP flash units arrive with our standard 150 watt, 2500 lumens quartz modeling lamp. Both are standard bulbs with a medium Edison-type base, and each has a 3000+ hour lifespan. As all bulbs become exhausted by use, the user may simply, quickly and inexpensively replace ours, with replacement bulbs in various wattages available from us (see our Hardware Page).

The Slave Cell and Slave Tripper
To reduce the number of cords in your setup, White Lightning flash units have a sensitive built-in slave tripper, allowing you to sync a single light to your camera, and reliably fire the remaining lights in your setup via their slave cells. The slave cell will fire whenever it "sees" any flash of light, and may be disengaged by plugging a sync cord into the sync jack on the back panel.

Internal Venting and Cooling
White Lightning flash units incorporate axial-flow thermodynamics to reduce heat build-up. Additionally, all X-Series flash units have a built-in cooling fan that allows extended, all day shooting sessions, and prevents overheating.

The Housing
White Lightning flash units are housed in aircraft grade hard aluminum extrusions, featuring molded polycarbonate rear bezels and shipping covers. Rounded corners are used throughout the packaging for safety and ease of handling. Our swivel bracket stand mount is attached to the housing, fitting most light stands up to 5/8-inch. With a tightening knob to attach your flash unit securely, and an adjustment arm to change the position and direction of the unit, this solid aluminum-cast stand mount is designed to withstand heavy tightening and bending stress.
click on any image to enlarge