Photography News | Issue 65 | photographynews.co.uk
45
First tests
NissinMG10 £475
Specs
Hammerhead flashguns used to be de rigeur among pro photographers, but as hotshoe flashguns gained power and sophistication their popularity waned. Despite that, hammerhead options are still available. The Nissin MG10 is a top-end unit with an impressive amount of power under its bonnet (GN80, 165Ws) and plenty of user flexibility. It is amember of the Nissin Air System (NAS), which offers wireless control using 2.4GHz. To get the most from the MG10 you need an Air 10s Commander remote trigger (around £140), available for Canon, Fujifilm, MFT, Nikon and Sony, offering manual, TTL flash and high-speed flash sync. The MG10 comes with two battery holders, one that accepts eight AA cells and the other for two 26650 rechargeable li-ion cells (at least 4000mAh). To get the best recharging speeds and shooting capacity, you’ll need 26650 cells – used for vaping and high power LED torches. Online, I found them available for £12-15 for two, although for my test I stuck with AAs. When shooting full power at 100% output with newhigh-quality alkaline AA cells, recycling took three seconds. Once powered up, you need to pair the flashgun with the remote control – the units remember each other when powered off. The supplied quick start guide in the trigger box and on the lid of the outfit box could be clearer and simpler. In the end, I downloaded the PDF instruction manual from nissindigital.com and that helped greatly. An L-grip comes with the MG10 and this allows the unit to be placed on the right or the left of the camera and the height can be adjusted, too. The good news is that when mounted onto the camera, you a get robust combination – with a Nikon D850, the flashgun’s body provides a solid grip. The flash head can be rotated and bounced too. A wide-angle diffuser can be fitted to give light coverage to 18mm. Without it, the zoom head covers from 24mm to 200mm reflector. The zoom head reflector itself can be taken off to allow flash modifiers to be attached. When it is in place, it can slide back and forth on its own which isn’t the best design. Taking off the zoom reflector reveals two separate flash tubes and the 8W modelling LED lamps. There are few controls on the MG10 itself;
Price Nissin MG20 £475, Air 10s wireless remote £140 In the box MG10, magnesium L-bracket, eight AA battery magazine, 26650 li-ion battery magazine (no batteries supplied), Air 10S release (Canon/ Nikon), case, ball head, filter holder and wide-angle diffuser Guide no GN80 at 200mm, 47.5 at 35mm, 165Ws Zoom coverage 24-200mm, 18mm with diffuser Power source 2x 26650 li-ion batteries (4000mAh or higher), eight AA rechargeable Recycling time 1.5-3.5secs – 2.8secs with 2x li-ion, 3.5secs with AAs Capacity 200 full flashes with AAs, 500 2x li-ion 5000mAh Colour temperature 5600K Flash duration 1/167sec to 1/10,000sec Wireless mode 2.4Ghz with Nissin NAS system. Nissin Air 10s for full function Power range Manual mode: 1/1 to 1/256 in 0.3EV controls by Air 10s Modes TTL, M, first and second sync, HSS up to 1/8000sec, red-eye reduction Modelling light 8W LED, 25 steps controlled by Air 10s – four hours of power with mAh batteries Shutter release Wireless by NAS or cable Dimensions (hxdxw) 21x14.5x80cm Weight 975g (no batteries) Remote TTL Price £71.99 Availability Canon, Nikon, Sony Features Precise power adjustment in manual, TTL and high-speed sync Sync speed Up to 1/8000sec Operating range 100m Power Two AAs Contact nissindigital.com
Top You can choose to fit the unit on either side of the camera with the supplied L-bracket Above left The LCD could have been clearer; it’s overly complicated if you have all four groups working inmanual Above right The flash head can be tilted and rotated so ideal for bouncing flash. Here, the head is shownwithout the zoomhead
group and channel selectors, open flash, PC sync socket and a standard 1/4in tripod socket. There is also a socket for an external power supply. The heavy lifting of flash control is handled by the Air 10s trigger, which has a 100m working range and a micro SD card slot for firmware updating. It takes a little time – with the aforementioned PDF instructions – to get the hang of using the trigger. Remotes vary in their usability and personally I didn’t find the Nissin overly intuitive and it seemed more complex than it should be. This is probably not helped by the LCD display which, if you have all four groups working, is just a mass of
graphics and fractions and confusing to read. As it happens, I was using only one flashgun so I kept it simple and turned everything off and left one channel working. Manual power output can be varied from full power down to 1/256th power, so if you want to shoot at very wide apertures or just have the tiniest blip of flash, you can. With a flash meter, I tested the MG10 at full power with its zoom head and no other modifier at 50mm and at ISO 100. I was getting f/16.7 at two metres, so there is plenty of power on tap whether shooting at a distance or for bounce flash. Setting minimum output at 1/256th gave a reading of f/1. WC
Verdict
The Nissin MG10 is a top-end flashgun with plenty of power – in output and in capacity – in reserve, so would suit photographers shooting events and the like. I reckon that most users will use the Nissin MG10 fixed to the camera and in this form it performs well in TTL, HSS and manual modes. The Air trigger takes getting used to and could be more user friendly, and I personally found the zoom head design clunky, especially for a flashgun with pro pretensions, although it worked well enough. Pros Power, L-bracket for left and right-side use Cons Poor quick start guide, over fussy trigger display, needs unusual batteries for best performance, zoom head design
Right The NissinMG10was used in TTLmode to record the balance of ambient light with a little blip of flash. The exposure was 1/100sec at f/2.5 and ISO 400 on a Nikon D850 with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. Themodel is Alex Couchman, photographed at aWelshot Imaging academy event, welshotimaging.co.uk
The heavy lifting of flash control is handled by the Air 10s trigger
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