****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Works flawlessly with the Canon 70D, 80D, 600EX-RT (no receiver required), 580EX II (w/ Phottix Laso receiver), and 430EX II (w/ Phottix Laso receiver) as well as the Yongnuo YN-568EX II (w/ Phottix Laso receiver). Far less expensive than Canon's official solution; build quality and performance justify a higher price point than other 3rd-party solutions.Other reviews ding this gear because you have to hold the power button for ~2 seconds in order to toggle power state. This functionality is pretty clearly an intentional design decision at Phottix in an effort to prevent accidents such as battery drain due to jostle and bump in a gear bag or like missing a shot because a component was unintentionally toggled off. This is an important functionality trade-off to consider against your most common use cases; if I shot more weddings, this might be a big detractor but in my case, this design is actually what I would prefer (I primarily do studio and outdoor portraiture where flash or reflector is my primary light source as well as sports and school events where flash isn't allowed, isn't effective, or isn't necessary).This Phottix wireless flash platform directly competes against, integrates with, and improves upon Canon's own ST-E3-RT-baesd wireless flash trigger system. This transmitter "just works" with the Canon 600EX-RT, and when coupled with a receiver, it likewise "just works" with all of my flash guns as listed in my first paragraph above. In my own testing, this kit performs as well as Canon's official gear in terms of misfire ratio, proper ETTL exposure, and range. Apparent build quality is also on par with Canon's. One of the best features which seems to get little or no billing is the ability to use this transmitter with a receiver for remote *shutter* activation (handy for sports and school events).This product also competes directly with Yongnuo's YN-E3-RT-baesd gear, which also directly competes against and integrates with Canon's native platform. I'm not familiar with the YN-E3-RT kit, but if it's comparable to Yongnuo's YN-622C-TX/YN-622C solution (which I've used extensively), Phottix is probably a better choice in spite of the greater cost.On that note, though not a directly competing product, you could actually go with the YN-622C-TX/YN-622C kit over this Phottix solution - but I would argue against that: * This Phottix gear doesn't eat batteries while off (*all* of my Yongnuo gear eats battery charge at an alarming rate while not turned on). * This Phottix gear appears to be of much better build quality than the 622C units. * This Phottix gear works with newer cameras like the 80D, whereas the world still awaits a Yongnuo firmware update to provide that same support. * This Phottix gear misfires less frequently than the 622C kit (though in my experience, misfire ratio in the 622Cs isn't horrid).
