Pixel TR-331 Flashgun TTL Trigger - First look

Well I must admit I bought this on a whim. The inbuilt CLS of Nikon is probably more than I will ever need, and give me the flexibility to create pretty much any shot I would probably want to do.

I would often look at the pocket wizards and think how cool. Even many of the cheaper ebay wireless flash triggers would probably suit most people. Lost of strobists (I would not call myself one) shoot in manual, and never use iTTL or eTTL (except I guess for balanced light or high shutter speeds that these modes give you).

So let my first out say, I am not an expert this is just my first thoughts into them.

So I picked up the transmitter and two receivers from ebay. Plugged the transmitter into my D700, one receiver into my SB-600 and the other into my Nissin Di622 (great cheap alternative to Nikon flashes, if you don't need it all).

Pretty easy to use.. set one of them as the master and all subsequent receivers as slaves. I didn't bother to change the channel from the default of 1, as I know the 2.4gHz networks around me are up high (channel 11).

So I lined up the shot, pressed the trigger, and bam, both flashes fired. Set the camera in manual, shutter speed of 1/200, pressed the trigger, no problems.

So test 1, do they work ? yes they do..

Do I need to test them a lot more before I blog such information ? yes..

For more information, please see Pixel's website.. And watch this space.

http://www.pixelhk.com/en/prolist.asp?c_id=322

There are a few threads out there that say there are many problems with these devices. They were not around when I bought them, I hope I do not experience the problems that these guys did. I did get miss fires, but I was not really paying attention to what was going on.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157622664286875/page4/

http://www.insidetheviewfinder.com/pixel-tr-331-ttl-wireless-flash-trigger-part-ii/

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2009/12/first-look-pixel-tr-331-ttl-remote.html

Update 16th Feb 2010

Just talking out loud here people. What have I noticed.

• Black/blank images, where the ttl message was not recieved by the flash units, or cut off to early, or fired too late. (resulting in a black frame). In most cases this was fixed by half pressing the trigger a second or two before taking the photo, and then it would communicate with the externals.
• Flashes going to sleep, and not being woken up by the TTL signal.
• Inconsistent light from the flashes, model in the same position, no changes in ambient light.
• Flashes not firing at all. (normally when I have been talking to the model, and then pressing the button without the pre-press wakeup shutter press.

I don't know if I would want to rely on these little triggers, they are just to unreliable in my controlled studio testing. If I was shooting a wedding, and I was relying on them to fire off two flashes for that moment... I think I would be taking a big risk. I do not recommend these flashes.

I will use them more, after-all they cost a lot, and there are no refunds on ebay. If I find out the magic to get them to work consistently, I will certainly put up more information here, but for now stay away.