Studio lighting specialists Profoto is adding a new fresnel lighting attachment to its range of light shaping accessories. The Profoto Fresnel Small is a relatively large device that sits in front of a monolight or studio head to create a controllable, spotlight-like beam of light – which is often used by photographers to add Hollywood-like drama to their shots.

Despite its name, the Fresnel Small comes with what Profoto describes as a medium-sized 7-inch (200mm) diameter lens that ” projects a clean, crisp light beam, perfect for precise lighting and movie-like effects”. A built-in iris control allows you to control the angle and spread of the beam.

Profoto already has a larger 11in (300mm) fresnel attachment in its range – the ProFresnel Spot.

The fresnel lens gets it name from the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel who came up with the idea of constructing the concentric rings of glass prisms to create a strong pencil-like beam of light from a lighthouse – a system that is still used today some 200 years since its invention.