Photography News 13

Kit reviews

Mini tests Our regular look at some of the latest photographic kit to land on dealers’ shelves

Words by Will Cheung, Roger Payne, Kingsley Singleton

When most of us want a top-end dedicated flashgun with all the bells and whistles, the first stop is the camera’s supporting system. But this comes at a price! Take the independent option and you’ll save money without sacrificing features. A great example is the Phottix Mitros+ TTL flashgun. £339 and suitable for Canon or Nikon, this is a fully featured, GN58 (100/metres) battery flashgun that will do everything a marque model can. In addition to a raft of features, it has a built-in transceiver so it can be used as a commander unit or as a receiver with the (optional) Phottix Odin or Strato TTL flash triggers for wireless, radio controlled, off-camera flash. The Mitros+ is straightforward and it’s easy to control and adjust settings. The four-way control is positive and fast to use while 15 custom functions tailor settings. I had a Nikon-compatible Mitros+ so tried it on my Nikon D800, on its own, as a master to a standard Mitros in optical mode and also in receiver mode with an Odin trigger. Well, what more can I say but it works and does so with minimal fuss. Depending on the set-up, ie. with different groups, there was a little button pressing to set things like exposure compensation or mode, but no more than usual with flashgun set-ups like this. Light output and reliability were first-rate; I experienced no problems. CamCaddy 2 £19.99 PhottixMitros+ TTL Transceiver £339

SPECS

PRICE £339 CONTACT www.intro2020.co.uk GUIDE NUMBER 58 (at 105mm) FLASH COVERAGE 24-105mm ZOOM First curtain, second curtain, high-speed sync. Strobe FLASHMODES ETTL I/II, manual, multi stroboscopic RECYCLING 0.1-5secs, quick flash 0.1-2.5secs WIRELESS CONTROL Odin Tx, Odin Rx, Strato II Rx, Optical TRANSMITTER RANGE Radio 100m; Optical (in) 12-16m, (out) 7-9m CHANNELS/GROUPS 4/3 Manual & auto SYNCMODES

The verdict If you want a robust, well-made, highly featured dedicated flashgun, the Mitros+ has to be on your shortlist. It stands comparison with marque brands. It offers more than some, thanks to its integral wireless control. The Canon equivalent, the 600EX-RT, is £465 and for Nikon you need to add an external unit (Odin, PocketWizard). If you already own an Odin trigger, the expression no-brainer springs to mind, but to be honest anyone wanting a quality hotshoe flashgun should give the Mitros+ a look.

PROS

DIMENSIONS 203x78x85mm WEIGHT 437g (no batteries)

Integral transceiver, power, handling

CONS

Still a serious investment

SPECS

PRICE £19.99 CONTACT

It is a fact of modern life that when you go on your travels with your camera you need to remember to take chargers, leads and spare batteries. Forget something important and you could find yourself with a camera, phone or laptop that’s useless. When I travel I almost always have two cameras so that means two chargers. If I have a test camera, make it three chargers. There is also seemingly a growing trend among camera makers not to supply a charger as standard but just a cable to charge batteries in-camera. The downside of this, of course, is that you can’t use the camera while the battery is charging. Perhaps the answer is something like the CamCaddy 2. It claims to be a universal camera battery charger and while I haven’t got every type of cell on hand to test the validity of this ambitious claim, I had success with batteries from Fujifilm, Nikon, Olympus and Samsung. The only battery I had that didn’t work was the EN-EL4 for the Nikon D3 s – it was too big to fit. The device is simple in concept. Power is supplied via a USB lead so can be plugged into a computer, a mains or car USB charger. An optional mains adaptor is available or it can be powered by a solar charger from the company’s range. There is

www.solartechnology. co.uk; www.johnsons- photopia.co.uk OUTPUTS Positive and negative contacts INPUTS Micro USB charging input, 12V DC charging input (adapter extra) OPERATING VOLTAGE Will charge block batteries of range 3.7-9V BATTERY CAPACITY

The verdict

a spring-loaded section and this holds the battery in place when the contacts are correctly positioned. There are two contacts that can be moved to marry up with the + and – contacts on the battery itself. With the unit plugged in you can see on the LCD that you have a good connection. The display also shows how much charge there is in the battery as a percentage, how long the charge has taken, the voltage of the cell and the mAh rating. From completely flat, a Fujifilm NP-W126 took a little over four hours with the charger plugged into a mains USB charger. By comparison using the supplied charger took less than half that time.

For £20, the CamCaddy 2 is a bargain. It’s a good backup for your normal charger but has extra advantages too. It will charge a very wide range of camera batteries and can be powered from a computer, a car or mains USB charger and even with a solar charger (optional extra).

600mAh 45mins, 1800mAh 135mins DIMENSIONS (WXHXD) 55x106x24mm WEIGHT 65g

Suitable for many cell types, it works. Compact, cheap PROS

CONS

Contacts seem flimsy

Photography News | Issue 13