List Price: $339.99
Sale Price: $215.00
Today's Bonus: 37% Off
I'm a professional wedding photographer, and I use this kind of product at every wedding.
I've been using the trusty Cowboystudio radio trigger set for about 2 years now with very positive results. I love how easy they function, and they are reliable and cheap.
I never wanted to spend $600 for i-ttl compatibility with my radio set, so when I heard about the Pixel King set, I was happy to hear I could get them for less than $200.
Overall they are a 5-star product for the price/functionality combination. The only thing I wish they would fix is the AF lamp on the transmitter (to work better with the Nikon AF system and eat less battery)
Pros:
easy select channel and group
button configuration and setup is very simple
very reliable with manual flash settings
i-ttl flash functions work excellent
battery life on the RECEIVER is decent (anywhere from 15-25 hours of life with consistent use, I'm unsure how long they would last if you kept it on without using the product) I swap the AA's for the receivers every 5 weddings.
relies completely on radio signal (no transmitting IR data to radio then radio to IR, such as the Radio Popper PX system (which relies on flash specific brackets for Nikon or Canon) Less hardware is a plus for these units
small and compact, and they fit right on the hot shoes
zipper soft-pouch included with the product is a great plus!
Cons:
the autofocus lamp on the transmitter is junk, and nearly useless, and it also eats the AA batteries. I rely heavily on my Nikon AF assist in the dark of the night during receptions and the AF was very reliable. Now that my camera thinks I am using i-ttl flash, the AF assist within my Nikon bodies do not function when the Pixel King transmitter is on my bodies. This wouldn't be an issue of the PK lamp was useful, but it is WAY too weak. It's a red LED type lamp, but for some reason the Nikon AF system doesn't pick up on it as well as the in-body Nikon AF assist lamp. Re: battery life since the AF lamp is triggered every time you press the shutter, it eats the battery life. I have to swap the AA set on the transmitter every 3 weddings (so that is about 9-15 hours of battery life)
sometimes i-ttl functionality is a bit wacky when using light modifiers on the receiver flash, but I've heard this is common even on name brand models. Sometimes you have to reconfigure the flash and how close it is to your subject for it to work consistently. I've only noticed flash inconsistency when using light modifiers such as snoots on my SB-600 or 800.
the transmitter and receivers look too similar they need to change something on the transmitter to make it stand out from the receivers.
the bracket on the receivers need to be metal, just like the transmitter (the receiver feet, where they would connect to a flash bracket or the like). I had a light stand fall about 10 feet, and although the receiver still functions, the foot cracked. Now I have to rely on the threaded foot for all my bracket needs. The transmitter foot is made of metal, and is much stronger.
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