Full review - Lighting Rumours
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1. is right there with good finish a metal flash foot with dust water protection similar to Canon flash The user guide manual is thorough and easy to read a nice improvement over the Pixel King Pro user manual with very small characters and succint explanation Most functions on the flash are self explanatory and do not even need the user manual apart perhaps for the wireless function which requires the wireless button to be pushed 1 second in order to activate the function The flash is equipped with a lock position The Icd display is very readable and the duration it is lit can be customized in order to preserve the batteries 2 Specifications basic functions test As stated above the flash main features are similar to Canon high end 580EXII It has notably ETTL II support optical infrared wireless 4 channels 3 groups manual flash from 1 1 to 1 128 in 1 3 stops increment 1 and second curtain sync HSS sync external power supply socket metal foot dust water cover protection horizontal swivel 180 both directions overheat protection circuit pce sync port and has some features that exceed it notably zoom coverage 20 200 mm 14mm vs Canon 580EXII 24 105 mm coverage flash firmware can be upgraded via usb located in battery housing most outstanding feature is the modeling light function developed later Very good ergonomy user interface m2. PIXEL MAGO Canon version test report sn 310105000068 firmware E7A 003 Material used for test Canon DSLR bodies SDMKII 5D Canon flash 580EXII Canon ST E2 speedlite transmitter Sekonic L 358 flashmeter PixelKingPro wireless transmitters Westcott Apollo softbox User background professional photographer Using Canon DSLR since 2001 Canon D30 10D 1D 1DMKII 5D 40D 5DMKII SDMKII web sites http www eventtography com http www happygraphy com Findings developed later GN equivalent as Canon 580EXII at 24 and 105 mm zoom position lower by 2 3 stops at 5 0mm position External power supply not compatible with Quantum Instruments Canon battery cables Incompatibility with Canon STE2 wireless transmitter Stroboscopic mode mentions up to 500 times on intro page 4 while LED menu provides 100x at 1Hz to 30x at 500 Hz same as manual page 7 No info for cable and external power supply part numbers in user manual Test Protocol Unpacking User guide reading Specifications and basic functions test Stress test Optical master slave function test with Canon 580EXII and Canon STE2 LED function test with Pixel King Pro Apollo soft box Tests results 1 Unpacking User guide The flash is delivered in a quality packaging and bundled with a proper bag stand and light diffuser cap stofen type but no color gels Build quality and basic specifications are on par with Canon 580 EXII flash The feeling of a quality product
3. pproach to overheating and the standby mode is triggered very fast causing the flash to be unavailable Nissin has tried to approach this issue with their Extreme flash so that I am curious to see how good the Mago rates on this When working on assignments such as weddings I almost always use lateral bounce light wich requires usage of the flash at 1 2 or full power Therefore I always pair the flash with external batteries such as Quantum Turbos Godox PB960 As soon as I will know which cable reference to buy I will test the flash on a wedding assignment 4 Canon equipment compatibility The flash has been tested with the following Canon equipment Canon 5D MKII and Canon 5D classic dslrs Canon 580 EXII flash Canon ST E2 wireless transmitter The flash has been found fully compatible with Canon 5DMKII Flash External Menu function the flash settings can be modified from the Canon body itself with the limitations Canon has set for instance zoom range is limited to Canon 580EXII flashes zoom range 24 105 on the SDMKII and the EV can be 2 00 vs Mago 3 00 capability Infrared Wireless Master Slave compatibility The flash has been found fully compatible with Canon 580 EXII flash on a Canon 5DMKII body in multiple Master Slave scenarios AUAUAEAEAEAEAEAOAUAEARARARARERARARURDRUREAUAUAUADADADAUADADADADADADADADADADASARADARAUAUAEAOAEREAUARDOAORRDORRREDODE When using a Canon ST E2 wireless transmitte
4. r as Master on Canon bodies both 5DMKII and 5D the Mago fired but out of sync so that no flash exposure was recorded I repeated the test with two STE2s same results while Canon 580EXII would sync OK I checked Pixel web site for a firmware upgrade but did not see any available for the Mago AEDADADARARDADAEARUADARAREADADASAADADASAADAUALARDADAEAREADASARDADADAOAADADASDADADARARDADARARDADAEARDADARAELADALAOD 5 Special functions LED modeling light The function that sets the Mago apart from other speedlights is its integrated led modeling lights 2 leds behind a removable diffuser which allows the user to assess the direction quality of light produced prior to flash exposure Pixel literature insists on the led main function to assist autofocus in video low light environment but to me I see it mainly as the way to assess my light positioning when working in photo studio environment This has always been an issue with Speedlights vs studio strobes which have an integrated modeling light This is a definite plus that the Mago provides over the competition I have tested the Mago in a studio environment with Pixel King Pro wireless transmitters and a Westcott Apollo softbox in which the Mago was housed In a studio environment with muted low ambient light the Mago led is powerful enough can be improved to let the photographer assess the light s effect through the softbox see 3 images appended This will probably not be the ca
5. re powerful flashes like Quantum or Godox Witstro but with its modeling light that allows to pre visualize where the light will hit I see it as a very attractive part of my portable studio set as a hairlight for instance As a speedlight it is 100 competitive with high end optical wireless speedlights as Canon 580EXII at a fraction of the cost I suspect Other minor area of concern is full compatibility with Canon STE2 wireless transmitter and compatibility of the external power supply socket with other brands cables Congrats to Pixel for this new product and many thanks for letting me test it Test summary Packaging 5 5 Accessories 4 5 no gels included Finish 5 5 Basic specs 4 5 power socket compatibility Canon compatibility 4 5 canon ste2 issues Special Functions 5 5 led modeling light
6. se in highly lit environments but this restriction is valid for studio strobes modeling lights as well Led modeling lights restrictions The user manual states clearly that the modeling light cannot be used for along time so that it should be used to assess the light effect and then turned off Also worth noting that all flash functions settings are deactivated when the led is turned on As expected the PixelKing Pro are fully compatible with the Mago so that the flash output could be set from the King transmitter without having to remove the flash from the softbox One very welcome addition would be the ability to turn the led flash on off from the Pixel King Pro transmitter I hope that Pixel will integrate this in a newer firmware version if possible and or in the next generations of wireless transmitter receivers 6 CONCLUSION The Mago is a very solid offering on the market and while unknown to me I expect the price quality ratio to be of high value for customers looking for a full featured speedlight with a unique modeling light offering As stated previously ability to turn the modeling light on off from the Pixel King transmitters would be a definite plus as it would allow the photographer to perform all operations from the camera standpoint and for instance not to have to open a softbox in which the Mago is located to use the modeling light Being a speedlight the Mago does not compete with studio strobes or mo
7. uch better than Canon 580EXII The excellent user manual is almost not necessary to activate all flash functions very good recycling time at full power we measured 3 seconds user manual states 4 seconds external power supply we could not actually test since it uses different cables than the Quantum Instruments cables that we use for our Quantum Turbo external batteries on a Canon 580 EXII european version 3 POWER Guide Number The flash power was tested at 1 1 full power with a Sekonic L 358 flashmeter At 24 and 105 Mago GN is equivalent at Canon 580EXI while at 50mm zoom position we recorded a 2 3 stops difference less vs Canon 580EXII Stress test I used fresh rechargeable batteries for the stress test since we could not use our Quantum batteries as the cables we have are not compatible with the Mago power socket I set the flash at full power and activated it each time after full recycling 3 seconds vs 4 seconds mentioned in user manual It took almost 4 minutes 80 full power flashes before the Warning Batter temperature message appeared on the lcd and put the flash in standby It took then about 10 minutes before the message disappeared and the flash could be used again For photojournalists availability of the flash in all circumstances is critical and I am looking forward being able to test the flash with an external battery to assess this further Canon flashes have a very conservative a
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