Photography News Issue 34

Photography News | Issue 34 | absolutephoto.com

19 First tests

Pixapro CITI600 TTL Speedlight £600

Specs

Price Pixapro CITI600 TTL head £600, Pixapro Pro ST-III TTL trigger £74.99 (Canon or Nikon). Remote head kit £100 (40% off with head) In the box Head, tube, standard reflector, lithium battery, charger, lamp cover and mains cable Maximumpower 600W/s Colour temperature

Speedlights are portable, highly automatedandprovideverybriefflash durations so are well suited to many occasions. If there is any drawback it might be a lack of outright power, especially when shooting outdoors. In this situation, the Pixapro CITI600 TTL could be ideal. It costs just £675 if you include the TTL trigger with the head, and you get a 600W/s portable studio light with the functionality of a speedlight. This includes IGBT technology for brief flash durations and flash sync up to 1/8000sec on suitable cameras. If you prefer you can use it as a manual head too, although in this case you could buy the manual-only version of the head for £450. This is a solidly made flash unit that I found easy to use thanks to push button controls and a simple menu to negotiate. If I had any complaints about the build quality, it’s simply that the flash adjustment bracket is a little stiff, and adjusting the angle of the head takes a bit of effort. One positive aspect of the design is the protruding flash tube. This helps to emit light sideways, as well as forwards, which will result in a more even spread of light when fired through a large softbox, for instance. Fitted with a standard S-bayonet metal reflector, I was getting flash meter readings of f/45.6 (at ISO 200) at 3m at full power in normal mode. Set to its minimum output of 1/256, you get a meter reading of f/2.8.6 which equates to f/3.5. Personally, I’d prefer power adjustment to be marked in figures rather than fractions. But you soon get used to it, and output can be altered in 1/3EV steps using the command wheel. Setting up the unit, selecting a mode and linking it with the trigger are all really straightforward. I was using a Nikon-compatible TTL trigger with Nikon DSLRs, the D810 and D3 s .

The trigger has 32 channels and five groups. Setting manual or TTL is achieved by simply pushing the Mode button to scroll through the options. Just remember that the active group is the central row of the small LCD display. The scroll wheel is then used to adjust output or the active group. To assess flash duration I photographed a domestic fan with a test chart alongside to see if colour temperature changes when output is varied. For this part of the test I used the D810’s flash white-balance preset. At 1/256 output in normal mode the t0.1 figure is 1/10,000sec, which goes down to 1/220sec at full power. It’s difficult to be precise, but comparing a shot of the fan taken at minimum output with one taken under ambient light at 1/8000sec, definitely shows flash duration is brief, and certainly shorter than 1/8000sec. Accuracy as power is adjusted incrementally is very good, with variances of around EV0.1 between full EV steps, so nothing at all to be concerned about. Colour temperature consistency was very good. To the naked eye the lower outputs were marginally cooler but not by much. This was confirmed by using Lightroom’s Color Picker on one of the white squares. For 1/256 this read R92.9, G92.5 and B91.5 output. At full power, the same square read R93.4, G92.7 and B91.7. In high-speed sync mode, a custom WB reading is good idea if you want out of the camera JPEGs to be correct. On the D810 and D3 s correct high- speed sync, even at a manually set 1/8000sec, was not a problem and coverage was even across the frame with no top to bottom gradation. This does depend on the camera model so worth a check. Diffusing output with a shoot-through white brolly and the head placed two metres from a colour test chart, the Pixapro in TTL mode

5600K +/-200K Flash duration 1/220sec to 1/10,000sec Flashmodes ETTL, ITTL, manual, multi Recycling times 0.01-2.5secs Manual power range

1/256 to full power High speed sync Up to 1/8000sec Radio frequency 2.4GHz Working range 100m with ST-111 transmitter, 32 channels, 3 groups Slave modes Canon and Nikon optical slave modes, manual slave S1 and S2 Modifier fitting S-bayonet Battery 8700mAh Lithium-ion, four recharge time Capacity 500 full-power flashes approx. Dimensions 220x245x125mm Weight 2.66kg Contact essentialphoto.co.uk

gave enough output at the camera shutter speed to allow the use of f/2.8 with a tweak of the exposure slider during processing. You get a better straight-out-of-camera result at f/2.8 by going down to 1/4000sec, and if you want to use f/4 you’ll need to drop down to 1/2000sec for a decent exposure. This aperture/shutter speed relationship continued, so at 1/500sec you get f/8. Venture into the world of high- speed sync and you don’t get heaps of power. But with the high quality of fast ISOs onmany cameras if you need to shoot at 1/8000sec at f/5.6 or f/8, assuming the subject isn’t too distant and an efficient modifier is fitted, that is a possibility with this unit. WC

A solidly made flash unit that I found easy to use with push button control Above The Pixapro CITI600’s protruding tube help gives even light spread with big modifiers. Below Using the lowest output of 1/256 the Pixapro CITI600 gave a very, very brief flash duration.

Verdict

A portable battery flash with lots of features, even coverage with high speed sync at 1/8000sec and plenty of power for £675 makes the Pixapro CITI600 TTL and trigger really excellent value. There is a great deal to like and it’s easy to use, whether you prefer manual or TTL control. Overall An excellent unit and recommended for location shooters Pros Great value, high power output, brief flash durations Cons Light adjustment bracket stiff, fractional output settings.

Top The info LCD is good and key info is easily legible while working in fractional power settings is quick to get used to. Above Control layout rates highly and buttons are clearly labelled.