Cupcakes

Last month I previewed a new type of flash trigger from Phottix, the Strato 4-in-1 Wireless trigger. This is the latest wireless flash trigger release from Phottix following on from the Phottix Atlas a couple of months ago. I mentioned then that it appeared to be a remote trigger that would be most useful for wedding and event photographers, as it features a TTL pass through. First, some basic specs, and then onto the test review.

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The Phottix Strato 4 in 1 Wireless Trigger is a 4-channel, 2.4GHx, with a range of 100m+ (330 feet) and syncs at 1/250. Not much different to a number of other offerings, except for one key difference – TTL. The unit features a TTL pass-through, meaning you can use your standard TTL flash on-camera and trigger non-TTL lights off-camera. It also works as a remote shutter for your camera.

The flash attaches via a hot-shoe on the transmitter and/or receiver. You have the option of attaching the transmitter to your camera and using that alone to trigger other lights, or attaching the transmitter and a e/iTTL flash to your camera, and triggering remote lights. Previously, to trigger remote lights while a TTL flash was on-camera, you’d need them to be all on the same system (ie all Canon or all Nikon), or you’d be reliant on line-of-sight optic slaves. With the Strato, you get the ability to use non-TTL remote units without the need for line-of-sight.

I wanted to test them in a real world situation. Not being a wedding photographer, I rarely shoot in situations where this type of setup would be needed, so I had to wait a few weeks until an opportunity presented itself. An old client contacted me asking me if I’d be interested in photographing a Saturday morning party for their daughter’s first birthday. I’d never photographed anything along these lines before, so figured it’d be a perfect opportunity to both shoot something different and give the Strato a test in real world conditions.

Arriving at the venue, I was presented with a moderately large room – maybe double the size of an average living room. It was also fairly light – I could probably have gotten away with just using the ambient light and a medium ISO. However, I wanted to put the Phottix Strato through its paces, so I set up two light stands in diagonally opposite corners of the room. On those went the Strato receiver unit, which screwed directly into the mounting screw on the light stand, and I slid a couple of older Canon speedlights onto the Strato’s hotshoe. In this case a Canon 550EX and a 540EZ were used. The Phottix Strato allows manual triggering of the lights, so I had then in M with the power backed off to 1/16. The Strato’s transmitter attached to the hotshoe of my Canon 5D Mark II, and I attached my 580EX II to the transmitter’s hotshoe. The 580EX II was set to E-TTL, mostly using a -1 flash exposure compensation. All the light meant I could keep the ISO at 100 or 200.

Phottix Strato and Canon 580EX II

I was very happy to see the two remote lights fired each and every time. The little fill light they allowed me to use made for some really nice light in the room. The 540EZ fired a couple of times without being triggered but I think that’s due to the speedlight itself and its age rather than the flash trigger, as I’ve experienced the same thing when using that light with Pocket Wizards, Elinchrom Skyports and the Phottix Atlas.

While the cupcake photograph above is from the party, I’ve elected not to include any photographs with people in them in this post as I didn’t want to bother having everyone sign model releases, especially as in most cases only one parent was present. I will say though that the chocolate cake was the best I’ve had in Taiwan.

Digression over. I believe that these units will become available very soon. If you regularly shoot weddings, events or in any other situation where you want to mix e-TTL/i-TTL with manual settings, the Phottix Strato 4 in 1 Wireless Trigger will do the job well. For the working photographer, I can simply say that it works and works well. It reliably does what it says it will.

Side view

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