​Nissin introduced TTL radio wireless capability with the Di700A shoe-mount and Air 1 transmitter (reviewed here). Now this same wireless capability comes to Nissin’s latest flash, the i60A.
 
What sets the i60A apart from the Di700A is the new shoe-mount’s compact size and more extensive feature set. Does this mean it’s a better fit for you and your style of shooting? Let’s see…
​

But First a Few Words about Nissin TTL Radio Wireless Flash
Nissin labels its proprietary 2.4GHz TTL radio wireless technology NAS, for Nissin Air System (not to be confused with NAS, or network-attached storage, drives). Hence the “A” designation in both the Di700A and i60A – for Air-compliant. Out of the box, and without accessories, both shoe-mounts support on-camera and wireless TTL operation – but without radio triggering. It takes one key additional component to activate radio triggering, the Air 1 transmitter.
 
“Air” represents a key link in the system. An integral component (albeit optional) is the Nissin Air 1 transmitter, which sits in the camera’s hot shoe. The Air 1 controls and triggers the Air-compliant off-camera flashes, which are said to be slaved to the Air transmitter, or master.
 
All output and zoom settings are made on the Air 1. Only Group (and, where applicable, channel) settings are made on the remote units. You might want to designate different remote flashes under separate groups for better lighting control of subject and background. (Channel settings are rarely required and usually only come into play to prevent interference with devices on the same channel.)
 
If you use a TTL-dedicated, non-Air-compliant flash, whether Nissin or another brand, simply attach the optional Nissin Air R remote receiving module to the flash by way of the hot shoe and you’re in business, with camera, Air 1, and all remote components talking to each other to deliver reliable TTL flash exposures.
 
Radio control in this wireless system, according to Nissin’s specifications, will work with off-camera flash units to roughly 100 feet. Typically, radio triggering has the added advantage that it works even when those remote strobes are situated around corners or behind obstacles, in contrast to photo-optical and infrared triggering, which require a direct line of sight. And radio triggering is more reliable outdoors.
 
Keep in mind that these A-designated flashes will not trigger TTL dedicated strobes in any fashion (not even other Nissin strobes). They require a separate Master module, whether radio or optical/infrared, to trigger them in order to produce TTL flash exposures. However, they will trigger any flash that has a built-in photo-optical sensor, for conventional flash operation using manual exposure control.
​

​Nissin i60A: A Closer Look
The i60A is rather odd-looking. Seated in the camera’s hot shoe with head down (default position), the i60A presents a remarkably low profile. It manages to fit 4 AA batteries and all the circuitry into a squat little form factor.
 
So, what’s odd about it. Sitting on that compact battery housing/control center is a ginormous flash head. At least that’s how I’d describe it. The base of the i60A measures roughly two-thirds that on the Di700A in height. But the flash head itself is a tad longer than the head on its older sibling – by about 1cm. The depth of the head on the i60A (measured at the face, top to bottom), is about 2cm less (not including that odd bump toward the back of the i60A - possibly housing the capacitor). But when you add it all up, the head looks out of proportion, judging by its size relative to the base. Nothing wrong with that, but the overall size does warrant closer examination.
​

​Small, Yet Packs a Punch
Getting past the look of the flash, let’s see what this little shoe-mount is all about. For starters, the i60A is pimped up with all the shooting modes found on the Di700A, but with even more control. That means full TTL flash operation on camera and remotely. Remote operation extends to optical/infrared TTL wireless, photo-optical non-TTL wireless, and TTL wireless radio operation.
 
While we rarely use Guide Numbers (GN) in this day and age of TTL dedicated flash, the GN does give us a sense of the effective reach and power of the unit. And in that sense, it serves as a practical guide, hence “Guide” Number.
 
At ISO 100, the i60A will cover a distance of 89 feet (27 meters) at the 24mm zoom setting. At the 200mm setting (ISO 100), that jumps to 198 feet (60 meters). Compare that to any camera’s built-in flash. The i60A’s built-in diffuser panel and included dome diffuser will knock these numbers back a bit.
 
By the way, the i60A is a bit more powerful than the larger Di700A. At the 200mm zoom setting, the GN for the Di700A is 178/54 (ISO 100, ft/m). And the new flash is considerably more capable than the even smaller and older Nissin i40. The i60A is also the most expensive flash in the current Nissin lineup, even more than the flagship Di866 Mark II. The i60A draws on much of the functionality from the 866 Mk II while replacing more esoteric features and expanding on others.
 
The i60A adds one more feature not found on most shoe-mounts: a video light. This light, consisting of two LEDs (diffused), can be adjusted in brightness. And it’s bright! I didn’t realize it at first, but this video light would really come in handy at some point in a studio setup. And, if nothing else, it makes a great flashlight in a pinch. (You’ll also find this feature on the earlier i40.)
​

​The Interface – User-Friendly… to a Point
The interface on the i60A consists of a color LCD panel, dials, and buttons. The LCD panel is small but easily readable, if you have fairly good eyesight, that is. It is, however, difficult to read under bright lighting. I recommend you shade the display outdoors when changing settings.
 
Somewhat disconcerting, the panel dims almost immediately and there’s no way around this. But you can bring it back to full brightness by a press of any button, except, obviously, the on/of switch, or when changing modes.
 
The control dials may be a bit harder to read for some, especially if you suffer from astigmatism. The lettering is tiny and the detent marker on the mode dial doesn’t precisely align with the mode settings - nor is it clearly marked (it's raised), so you may do better paying close attention to the LCD display to get a better sense of the flash mode than to the mode dial itself. And in dim light, that may be the only way to read flash modes, unless you bring a flashlight or a cell phone with you.

​Speaking of Those Control Dials
The dial on the left is for flash modes, with the following options. For on-camera (hot-shoe) usage: the green “A” is for fully auto TTL flash, whereas “TTL” gives you more complete TTL flash control, with the added option of onboard flash exposure overrides (to +/-2, in 1/3-step increments).
 
For remote operation, the dial offers SD (for pre-flash digital), SF (non-TTL-flash exposures with any optical flash/trigger), and A/B/C. The A/B/C settings are used with the Nissin Air radio-controlled system. (More on wireless operation below.)
 
The dial on the right provides settings for wireless radio channels (1 to 8) and manual zoom. The other settings control audio (beeps) and high-speed sync for cameras that don’t have that option built-in (not applicable to Nikon DSLRs). The key problem with these controls is that they’re so small that you need a fingernail to access them. Hold down the button until the display changes to the required parameter, for example, zoom focal lengths. Then turn the outer wheel, which is also used to change output settings for the applicable modes. The central button locks in settings.
​

​Wireless Operation
By the way, and this may confuse the issue somewhat, my D610’s built-in flash can be used to trigger the i60A in any wireless mode. In the absence of the Air 1 trigger, the A/B/C settings can also be used for non-radio (that is, optical/infrared) wireless TTL operation of either or both the i60A and Di700A, in the current example, with Nikon CLS controlling exposure.
 
You should also be aware that the i60A (and the Di700A) respond to the built-in flash on the Nikon D610 regardless of channel setting made in the camera or on the i60A. (There are no channel settings on the Di700A.)
 
In the final analysis, what’s really important is that TTL wireless control works reliably, whether via radio or optical/infrared control.
​

​Now More on That Flash Head
The flash head itself raises, lowers, and swivels without the use of a release button. The detents appear to be well enough engaged that the head won’t drop easily when you’re running around with the flash head up at an angle. Adding heavy bounce panels or other accessories to the head may, however, cause a precipitous and unexpected drop if you jostle the flash too much. However, the flash appears constructed well enough to tolerate a bit of mistreatment.
 
We should point to one practical consequence of this disproportionate head on the i60A. When you raise the head fully erect and position it on the mini-stand, the flash will topple over backwards, owing to a high center of gravity. Either lower the head two or three notches or, better yet, reverse-mount the flash on the stand for better support while still maintaining the original stance.
​

​Size Matters
The raison d’etre for this flash is its compact size. Compactness is one thing. But we do have to evaluate how this shoe-mount’s size affects performance. As it turns out, size does matter. But not as much as you’d think.
 
One of the reasons we avoid using the camera’s built-in flash with people (and sometimes animals) is because the on-axis light produced by the flash results in red-eye, where the pupils take on a pronounced blood-red color (due to bounce-back of light off the back of the retina). To mitigate against this possibility, we prefer to use flash off camera, or at the very least use a full-size shoe-mount flash. You could use a red-eye reducing pre-flash, but that destroys the spontaneity of the shot – not to mention the likelihood that your subject will move during that interval.
 
The i60A sits low enough that it could conceivably result in that same red-eye effect encountered with a pop-up flash. We can’t say that categorically, since numerous factors come into play – but I’m just throwing it out there as a possibility, perhaps even a strong probability.
 
We also have to consider the lens barrel and/or lens hood (lens shade) getting in the way and blocking the light. The good news is that tests with my Tamron 70-300mm lens, with and without lens shade, on my Nikon D610, bore out that, at normal shooting distances, you don’t get that arc-shaped shadow at the bottom of the screen, which would typically occur when the lens blocks the flash. So I decided to push it further. It proved to be true even when I moved in close with the lens.
 
I had even used a Tamron 90mm macro lens with attached lens shade on my Nikon D500 with no observable ill effects, shooting some very tight close-ups, I might add. I also tested the flash with my Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8 lens (with built-in lens shade), which has an 82mm filter diameter – a wide schnoz going up against a compact head – with no ill effects to report in terms of light blockage.
 
However, and this is not directly related to size, further tests revealed that light coverage was uneven at very wide lens focal lengths, as tests with the aforementioned 15-30mm lens on my D610 bore out. In fact, I’d recommend you shoot no wider than 24mm, even with the diffusion attachments. You may not notice this in everyday subjects, unless you’re shooting a wall or other uniformly toned flat surface.
 

​No Confusion about Diffusion
In contrast to the Di700A, the i60A does come with a dome diffuser (diffusion dome), or “soft box,” in Nissin’s parlance. There is also a built-in diffusion panel that you pull out of a slot (for use with ultra-wide lenses) – but, in contrast to other shoe-mounts, here this panel extends from the floor, as it were, not from the roof of the unit.
 
What’s more, Nissin cleverly separated the bounce/kicker panel so that it slides out from the top of the unit, somewhat like an awning. On most flashes, trying to extract this panel means first withdrawing both the diffusion and bounce panel together, then returning the diffusion panel to its default position. Much simpler this way when you quickly want to add a catch light to someone’s eyes when using bounce flash.
 
Take all this to the next level. Let’s say you want to diffuse the light further. Simply raise the diffusion panel in place, then snap on the diffusion dome.
 
Now let’s take this one step further. Shooting with bounce flash but feel you’re losing too much light? Simply slide the bounce panel in place – without even removing the plastic dome. This flash opens up a world of opportunities in lighting, and we haven’t even taken it off the camera yet or added other strobes to the mix.

​In Use
Even after a few days, I’m learning new things about this flash. That’s not to say that there’s a long learning curve. Quite the contrary. I put the i60A to use as soon as I pulled it out of the box and installed batteries. But that may be easier for me, since I’ve only recently worked with the Di700A, not to mention a spate of Nissins in the past.
 
I first set about creating a tabletop set with a musical jewelry box in the form of a grand piano, with twirling ballerina on top. The initial setup used the i60A and Di700A as off-camera flashes triggered by the Nissin Air 1 transmitter seated in the Nikon D500’s hot shoe. I’d set the background flash – the Di700A – as Group B with a lower output setting, with the i60A at full power as the key light from in front and to the side. Everything worked as expected. Now came the next phase, capturing the ballerina performing a pirouette atop the piano. But, as is, there wasn’t enough ambient light to record the movement.
 
So the next day, I made a few changes. First, I draped black velvet inside the light tent. Black velvet has a way of catching the light as undulating waves, which adds depth to any still life set.
 
Then, just when I was about to set up the i60A as the key flash, with the Di700A again playing a supporting role, a voice in my head loudly chastised me, saying, Hey, use the video light! So I did. A few tests later and I had the light at the right brightness level.
 
I don’t know that I would call either shoe-mount the key light in this instance. After all, the contribution made by the video light was just as important to the shot as the flash illumination provided by the Di700A. By the way, to soften the light from the flash, which does not come with a diffusion dome, I added a small bounce panel.
 
What did the video light do? I set the exposure for slow-sync flash. That means, I used a relatively long exposure. At first I tried a half-second, then a full second. Still not quite what I wanted. So I pushed it to two full seconds – and that did the trick. The spinning figurine recorded as a soft blur of movement by the video light (which we’ll consider our ambient lighting) and was at the same time frozen in time by the flash.
 
I also added a silver panel directed at the front of the piano, notably for the legs and foot pedals (see the set shot). And if you’re wondering why I raised the piano lid all the way up, that’s because the ballerina kept bumping into it and getting knocked off balance – and the rod supporting the lid partially blocked the dancer.
 
I also took the flash outdoors. But I’ll let the pictures and captions tell the rest of this story.
​

Who Should Use This?
Any amateur just starting to use flash or who wants to add something extra to an existing flash setup.
 
Capsule Comments
Fairly easy to use and compact; multiple operating modes for both on-camera and off-camera use, including TTL optical/infrared and TTL radio wireless flash; digital LCD plus an array of dials and buttons (which may be difficult to see/use for some); dome diffuser included, along with built-in diffusion and kicker panels; powerful for its size; built-in adjustable video light. 
​

​Conclusions
The i60A represents a step up for Nissin. This flash builds upon the flagship Di866 Mark II and improves upon it, while doing all that in a smaller form factor.
 
For starters, the i60A is a complete package. It offers full TTL flash operation on camera and TTL wireless operation off camera, including radio triggering (as a slaved unit). The only thing missing is being able to use this flash to trigger remote strobes in a TTL configuration. Hopefully that will come in the next generation Di866, which is due for a refresh, complete with that “A” (Air) designation and radio control (both transmitter and receiver).
 
A welcome first for a Nissin flash, when the i60A is set to a non-wireless mode, which includes the video light, the flash enters standby when the camera is switched off, and is re-animated when the camera comes back to life. Previous Nissins failed to be put to sleep or awakened by the camera. (Wireless operation mandates that the flash remain in a ready state.)
 
Complete mastery of the controls does involve a bit of a learning curve – considerably more so than with the Di700A – but you’ll get the hang of it soon enough. I’d say this unit is better suited to younger individuals. Those with failing eyesight and arthritic fingers would do better with the Di700A.
 
Finally, Nissin stands head-and-shoulders above those cheap knockoffs of OEM (original equipment manufacturer) shoe-mounts. Some may argue over whether these Nissin flashes can go toe-to-toe with gear from the original manufacturer. However, given a very inviting price point combined with a full feature set that includes every practical mode of TTL wireless flash operation, Nissin gear can’t be beat. And the Nissin i60A shoe-mount is certainly a step in the right direction.
​

Compatibility
The Nissin i60A is available for Nikon, Canon, Sony, Micro Four Thirds, and Fujifilm systems.
 
SELECTED PRODUCT SPECIFICATIONS (per Nissin)
Guide no. (at ISO 100): GN60 (in meters, at 200mm zoom head position)
Focal length coverage: 24mm – 200mm (16mm when using built-in diffuser)
Power source: 4 size-AA batteries
Recycling time: 0.1- 5.5 sec
LED video light operation time: 3.5 hours
Flash Duration: 1/800- 1/20,000 sec
Color temperature: 5,600K
  Wireless mode: 2.4Ghz Nissin Air System radio wireless, Optical wireless TTL slave, non-TTL Slave (SD, SF mode)(*4)
EV compensation on flash: +/- 2EV in increments of 1/3 EV
Bounce/swivel: Up: 0°- 90°, left/right: 0°-180°
Operation panel: Color LCD with dial control
Manual mode power ratio: 1/256 - 1/1 (1/3-step increments)
Mode: Auto, Manual, SD, SF, Wireless with A, B, C & channel selection (2.4Ghz Nissin Air system & optical) (*4)
Dimensions: 112 (H) x 73 (W) x 98mm (D) / 4.4 (H) x 2.9 (W) x 3.6” (D)
Weight: 300g/ 10.8oz (excluding batteries and soft box)
​

Manufacturer
Nissin
 
Distributed by/Order From/More Info:
www.neidllc.com (order from authorized resellers)
 
How much is it?
$339.99
​

Additional Reading (click the highlighted link)
Read my introductory feature story on TTL wireless flash in Shutterbug Magazine (online).
 
Read my feature story on No Strings Attached With Wireless TTL Flash for multiple-flash photography in Shutterbug Magazine (online).

I’ve reported on Nissin flashes for years (see Additional Reading below). And these strobes never disappointed. The one thing that always struck the right chord with me about Nissin shoe-mounts in the past was their system compatibility with my Nikon gear, or, more specifically, with Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System).
 
Well, Nissin has upped the ante, bringing you a user-friendly, priced-right multi-mode wireless flash system that will take your flash photography to the next level – with radio remote TTL flash control as a featured mode in the Di700A. Don’t really care about radio control or wireless operation in general? Well, this flash doesn’t stop there.

​Di700A and Air 1 Commander Combo
Out of the box, the Di700A can simply be used as an on-camera flash. As with its predecessor, the flagship Di866 Mark II (which remains in the lineup), it features a tilting/rotating head and full TTL-flash integration. TTL flash practically guarantees usable exposures.
 
Unlike that found on the flagship model, the control panel on the Di700A is simpler, yet stylish in its simplicity, as it’s an uncluttered color display. It certainly beats the uninviting display found on the Di600.
 
You can purchase the Di700A ($259) and Air 1 ($89) separately. However, you’ll save about $50 when you order the combo package at $299. The Air 1 commander/controller is only necessary if you plan to use the Di700A as a radio-controlled remote (off-camera) TTL flash. Otherwise, the flash is fully functional on its own or in other wireless setups. (Note: you can’t mix and match radio and non-radio triggering and still achieve full TTL flash exposure control.)
 
Separately, the Di700A is actually less expensive than the Di866 Mark II, which sells for $275, and in my book a much better buy than the older flash, unless you need esoteric functions such as built-in sub-flash (for fill with bounce lighting) and stroboscopic mode. 

​Di700A TTL and Manual Flash Modes
The graphical user interface on the Di700A offers up numerous operating functions. A, for Auto, is the most basic TTL-flash setting and doesn’t allow you any additional options on the flash itself. The flash takes over, but it remains tied to the camera’s settings, where overrides (such as ISO, f-stop, shutter/sync speed, and flash exposure compensation) still come into play.
 
For more control, use TTL mode. At this setting, you’re presented with the option to increase or decrease flash output on the flash unit itself, up to +/- 2 steps, in half-step (but not third-step) increments. I’m not sure why, but I’ve always found that setting flash compensation on the flash proved more reliable than making similar settings in the camera. And since Nikon cameras only give you +1 flash compensation (albeit going as far as -3), the maximum override of +2 on the flash itself may prove handy.
 
M (Manual flash output) lets you set output from full to 1/128, in whole-step increments. (If you need an interim setting, try diffusing the flash or moving the flash further away from the subject to decrease output, moving it closer to increase.) Manual mode should ideally be used in conjunction with a flash meter, but you can play around and arrive at usable settings without that handheld accessory. 

​Wireless Flash Modes: Non-Radio Triggering
Next we have the wireless settings that come into play with the Di700A as the sole off-camera flash or in tandem with other flash units positioned off camera. There are two modes for use with conventional (non-radio) wireless triggering. The first is SD (“D” for Digital). Use this setting when you use any TTL flash system that emits a pre-flash, which would typically be any camera-dedicated TTL-flash. The triggering pulse is infrared or optical/infrared. When it comes to Nikon, the Di700A supports Nikon CLS for non-radio-triggered TTL flash exposure control. The camera can be set to any of these modes: Manual, Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority. You should manually set ISO.
 
SF (which I take to mean “Standard Flash”) wireless mode is for use with non-dedicated strobes that are used to trigger the Di700A, such as a studio flash (for instance, in this setup you might use the Nissin flash as a kicker for a highlight or as a hair light). That said, the built-in flash on my Nikon D610 did also trigger the remote Di700A. The triggering pulse for SF is photo-optical. Set the camera to Manual shooting mode for SF triggering, so that you have full control over both flash and ambient light components, via, respectively, F-stop and shutter/sync speed. You should also manually set ISO.

​Radio-Frequency Wireless TTL Flash
The final, and newest for Nissin, wireless flash mode is radio-frequency wireless TTL-controlled remote, or simply TTL radio (radio TTL) remote. For this mode there is an icon, which kind of looks like the more familiar podcast icon. The working distance is about 100 feet, about three times the reach of typical infrared or optical triggering. What’s more, radio signals are not blocked by trees or walls, in contrast to infrared and photo-optical signals. So you can trigger a flash in another room, to prevent the space from being seen as a black void if it shows in the picture. However, electrical wiring, steel beams, and electronics may interfere with the signal. I’m told that even an intervening snow bank can limit the effective reach.
 
Important: this radio remote system operates at 2.4GHz and, according to industry sources, can be used around the world without interfering with other devices. (But when in doubt, check with local authorities.) Devices that use other frequencies may be restricted and categorically illegal overseas.
 
When in radio remote mode, the Di700A is not typically triggered by a camera flash. However, if there's no radio signal, Nikon CLS kicks in with the built-in flash on my Nikon D610, triggering the Di700A for full TTL flash control.

As with all radio systems, a triggering device, or transmitter, is required. For radio-controlled TTL flash, that trigger is the Air 1, which sits in the camera’s hot shoe, electronically carrying on a conversation between camera and flash. (Note that the foot on the Air 1 has all the needed pins to coincide with those in the camera’s hot shoe.)
 
When I first set up the system, I wondered why my Nikon D500 had the radio setting grayed out. Typically, when using Nikon’s own dedicated radio transmitter, this setting must be activated. Well, I learned that Nissin’s system, as with other third-party TTL wireless radio systems, bypasses such settings. In fact, you still get full TTL flash control. More to the point, in contrast with Nikon’s own system, which currently limits wireless radio TTL flash control to Nikon’s own system and the D500 and D5 bodies, the Nissin system can be used with any Nikon DSLR that supports TTL flash control. Which is why I ended up using it with the Nikon D610 – and did so without any hassles. It worked every time.

​In Use
I tested the Nissin radio-controlled TTL flash system with both the Di700A and with a Nikon SB-900, in conjunction with my Nikon D610 DSLR. The only difference: the Di700A was triggered directly, without requiring any accessories, as it has a radio receiver built in. To trigger the Nikon flash, I had to attach the SB-900 to an optional Nissin Air R module.
 
The Nissin Air 1 is the radio trigger that was seated in the camera hot shoe, triggering both off-camera strobes – the Di700A and, via the Air R, the SB-900. Everything worked fine, with the setup reliably delivering usable TTL flash exposures.
 
When testing the flash in SD (pre-flash digital) wireless remote mode, I used the built-in flash on the D610 as the trigger, setting the flash internally so it wouldn’t fire and contribute to the flash exposure, but instead would simply trigger the remote unit. No problems here either, with everything working smoothly.
  
In short, when it came to shooting with my Nikon D610, I’d call my tests with the Nissin Di700A and Nissin dedicated Air system a resounding success. I’ll put the next Nissin flash – the compact i60A – to the test with my Nikon D500 when that flash arrives.

Shoe-mounted flashes are handy tools. Where space or weight is a concern, a kit with two or three shoe-mounted flashes is much easier to carry than even the smallest power pack/head combo or a low-output monolight, and more versatile.

Case in point, on two separate photography assignments I employed no more than two shoe-mount strobes to light-paint the huge blue whale model exhibited at New York’s American Museum of Natural History (in collaboration with museum photo staff). In fact, there is an entire subculture among pros that favors shoe-mount strobes – aka “strobists” – over bulky and expensive studio lighting gear for location work and even in the studio.

The dedication to the shoe-mounted flash for other than run-and-gun photography is largely centered on finding portable lighting gear that will reliably deliver the kind of results we expect of larger strobes.

Among the “third party” shoe-mount strobes I’ve come to trust is the Metz brand. Reliable German engineering and a long-standing reputation reinforce that trust. And the company’s new flagship Mecablitz 64 AF-1 digital flash promises to keep that reputation intact. Metz also makes my favorite ring flash, the wireless and ultra-compact Mecablitz 15 MS-1, which also played a part in this review.

The Mecablitz 64 AF-1 retails for $449 and is available in versions for Nikon, Canon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, and Pentax cameras. I tested the Nikon version of the flash. READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW.

No doubt about it, a camera’s pop-up flash is handy. There’s nothing extra to carry around or leave home. And there’s no added expense. But as convenient as it is, this built-in flash also drags you down, limiting what you can do. Recycling times are painfully slow; it prematurely exhausts the camera’s battery; the light reach is fairly restrictive at low ISO levels; a long lens barrel or lens shade (hood) can get in the way and obstruct part of the light (toward the bottom of the frame); and it almost invariably produces red-eye in people and many animals. What’s more, the lighting is flat and harsh when used as a primary light source.

Enter the accessory shoe-mount flash, or simply shoe-mount. This flash slides into the camera’s hot shoe (“hot” meaning there’s a singular electrical contact point whereby releasing the shutter triggers the flash).

Making things even simpler, on practically every camera today that accepts an external flash, that hot shoe features a camera brand-specific array of “dedicated” contact points that allow the camera and flash to communicate with each other. This dedicated hot shoe gives any flash unit amazing capabilities centering on the ability to effortlessly deliver usable exposures tailored to the subject and surrounding conditions automatically, with little or no user input, aside from switching on the camera and flash and selecting TTL mode on the flash.

What this does is, when using any camera autoexposure (AE) mode, it directs microprocessors in both the camera and flash to talk to each other to determine a proper exposure for a given subject and situation. And all by reading light through the camera lens (TTL), much the way normal ambient-light exposures are made—and the way the built-in flash works. This is what allows camera and flash to deliver balanced fill-flash so that backlit faces are not lost to the murky depths of shadowland.

TTL flash is also usable when the camera is set to Manual mode, but here you have to set both the lens aperture (f-stop) and shutter speed. With shutter-priority autoexposure mode, you need to set a flash sync speed or slower so that the flash is triggered at the right moment. If you use aperture-priority AE mode, the camera should set a suitable flash sync speed, and in program AE mode, the camera also sets the required f-stop as well.

TTL flash, in any camera mode, does away with having to manually calculate flash exposure when: the flash is bounced, filters and/or lens extension is employed, and the flash is used off-camera—it’s all calculated automatically.

Of course, there is one piddling little problem with a shoe-mount. Most are big clunkers, whereas the small ones can’t really do much. So a flash worth carrying is often a pain to carry around and it weighs the camera down when mounted.

Well, that picture has changed with the new Nissin i40. This is the one shoe-mount flash you’ll want to carry with you all the time. Unlike its more robust siblings, the Di866 Mark II and MG8000 Extreme, the i40 is not a bells-and-whistles kind of flash. There’s no fancy display. It’s understated in size and appearance, yet packs a punch where it counts. You might say it’s flashy without being obvious. And it’s small. Really small.

Just Dial It In
In contrast to some of the more high-tech flashes, with their fancy and sometimes colorful LCD panels, the i40 simply relies on two mechanical dials and accompanying indicator lights to set modes and output. Unfortunately, for those of us who need reading glasses, using the mode (“function”) dial unaided can be a chore and, for anyone, reading even the larger output (“power”) dial under low light levels is not an easy task. A flashlight would be handy (or your cell phone).

The main mode is TTL. When TTL is selected, a white indicator light glows next to TTL and a corresponding white indicator light glows alongside the power dial setting, where you adjust output upwards or downwards, up to +/- 2 steps.

Whereas detents on the mode dial are positive enough to lock in the mode without fear of moving the setting, the same can’t be said of the output dial. I’ve noted the setting inadvertently changed by apparently a slip of a finger. So that’s something to keep an eye on.

There’s also an Auto setting, but this deactivates the power dial, so, for me, this setting is meaningless. However, you might feel more comfy with it if you don’t fully understand when and by how much to override the flash exposure. (Tip: use plus settings for more fill light or when encountering overly reflective subjects; minus settings for the opposite effect.)

Manual mode is something you’ll rarely use, so one wonders why Nissin bothered with it on this flash. Select this mode and the power dial selections switch to the left side. You can choose full (“1/1”) to 1/256th power output. The reason to choose Manual is where you don’t want the camera controlling output. Specifically, unlike TTL flash, where output can vary from one exposure to the next just by the inclusion of an object passing through the frame or by reframing, Manual output is constant. You have tighter control over a sequence of exposures. If you hadn’t guessed, Manual mode requires a more studied approach.

Manual mode is also the only mode that supports manual zooming. In contrast to the majority of TTL flash units, which offer manual zoom overrides in practically any mode, that’s not the case here. Disappointing that Nissin chose to take this route, but it’s not a major flaw.

One little extra you’ll find on this flash is a built-in video light. Consisting of two white LEDs, light output can be increased or decreased with the power dial. Frankly, this light is not strong enough to be of practical value, but it does make a great flashlight. Since it’s a mode and not a separate function, it can’t be used to help with focusing in flash photography.

Tilt & Swivel
The i40 has both tilt and swivel functionality, although it does lack a couple of things. For one, there’s no negative (macro) tilt to lower the flash head for close-ups, but this is not a feature ordinarily found on compact shoe-mounts. Also lacking is a locking mechanism that prevents head movement when the head is fully raised. That means that attaching accessory flash panels such as the weighty Rogue FlashBender is an iffy proposition because the flash head might plop down under the weight.

In fact, the detent positions are not all that secure—they’re fine to work with, but can easily be knocked out of position if the head brushes up against something. Not a major concern, but something you should watch for when running around. That being said, raising and rotating the head is made that much simpler because there is no lock-releasing mechanism to deal with.

Wireless Operation
In wireless operation, the flash can be used remotely, that is, off camera, without any sync cords connecting flash to camera. A triggering pulse (the “Master”) triggers the remote flash (the “Slave”). That triggering pulse can come from a camera’s built-in flash (where that function is provided—it’s not available with all cameras or all camera models), or from another flash (again provided this function is built in) or triggering device seated in the camera’s hot shoe. There are different kinds of wireless technologies. This describes a simple scenario, and when all connections and devices support TTL auto flash operation, it’s known as “TTL wireless” or “wireless TTL.”

The mode dial features several wireless settings. The i40 supports TTL wireless flash when the mode dial is set to A, B, or C. These represent Groups, which must correspond to the Group setting on the Master/transmitting pulse. In theory, any number of flash units can be assigned to any Group.

TTL wireless operation on the i40 is omni-Channel. That is, there is no Channel selection required and the flash responds to pulses from any Channel on the Master/triggering unit. Normally, you’d select a Channel for the Master/triggering flash and that same Channel on the Slave/Remote flash to avoid other flashes from triggering yours if they’re on the same frequency (Channel). That is only likely to happen when you’re among a crowd of photographers, and only if they’re using compatible flash units specifically set to trigger remote strobes. Which is rare, so it’s not a real concern.

Nissin offers two additional wireless modes. In contrast to the TTL A/B/C settings at one end of the Mode dial (where output is controlled by the Master device, whether that be the Master flash or the camera, in the case of the Nikon D610/D300 that I was using), the SF and SD modes let you select output by way of the Power dial.

Unfortunately, you need to access the e-manual to find out how to use these modes. And, frankly, as often as I’ve written about it, I don’t entirely get the SD mode. Normally, any wireless flash (other than Nissin) that I’ve worked with made jumping through such hoops unnecessary—it was all controlled by the microprocessor.

That said, SF wireless mode is a nice touch. SF allows the flash to be triggered by any flash pulse, so the i40 can be used as a kicker or fill light when used together with a conventional studio strobe. Otherwise, you’d need an optical Slave connected to the flash, which in this case would not be possible, since there are no input terminals on the flash.

Keep in mind that wireless operation with the i40 and compatible triggers requires a direct line of sight. Also, outdoors bright or glinting light can interfere with the signal. And distance between trigger and remote flash should be kept short. Indoors you have more leeway, but don’t place the flash in a different room or otherwise block the sensor from receiving the triggering pulse. The signal will bounce off walls and furniture, but it won’t go through them.

In Use
I loaded up the i40 with four freshly charged Ansmann 2850 mAh NiMH batteries and hit Chicago’s Michigan Avenue and surroundings. The flash was seated in the hot shoe of my Nikon D610, with Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 VC lens attached.

When I work with my Nikon flashes, I typically attach the included diffusion dome (dome diffuser). It may reduce overall output and reach, but the dome softens the light, making on-camera flash less harsh, and produces a more uniform light spread. And often I’ll use the dome in conjunction with bounce flash. Yes, outdoors there’s nowhere to bounce light off of, but the flash in this instance either provides a kicker or fill for a candid portrait or, again, creates a less harsh light when shooting close-ups. So, I employed the diffusion dome that came with the i40, with the head in bounce mode, where warranted.

I must admit. This tiny flash surprised me, very nicely, I might add. Okay, it’s not perfect. Light distribution on the raw head (sans diffusion), when used with a Nikon D300 and 60mm Micro lens (sans lens shade), was uneven. It was visibly weighted toward the upper half of the frame (horizontal format), with some vignetting occurring in the bottom corners.

I brought the i40 indoors for a simple studio still life, to test wireless flash. I set up a resin figure inside a rectangular light tent with both my new Nikon SB-700 and the Nissin i40 providing all the light, triggered by the D610’s built-in flash serving as Commander (Master/triggering pulse). I set up output for each flash on the D610’s menu, with the camera in Manual mode and each flash in TTL mode. I often prefer Manual mode on the camera for tighter control, whereas TTL mode on the flash allows camera and flash to talk to each other and deliver the best exposures without worrying about light lost with diffusion and bouncing and flash-to-subject distance. Of course, things aren’t really that simple in the real world. You do have to play around with settings to arrive at the right combination for the two flashes, as well as positioning each relative to the subject. A practiced hand can do this in minutes. Give yourself time if you’re new to wireless photography. And if you don’t have a second flash, no worries. Use a bounce card instead. There are always workarounds.

Conclusions:
You really can’t go wrong with this flash, especially for travel. Although it doesn’t automatically adjust beam spread for sensor size, the Nissin i40 worked flawlessly with my Nikon D610 and D300. In wireless TTL mode, I had no problem triggering the flash with the pop-up strobe on either camera in the corresponding Group (A/B/C) setting.

One small thing that concerned me: the lack of a low-battery indicator. The flash does enter standby mode (on/off indicator—aka test flash button—blinks) after a short spell. However, it doesn’t respond directly to the camera’s on/off/standby status, unlike Nikon’s dedicated strobes. But it’s easy enough to press the microswitch on the flash and turn it off when it’s not needed. Besides, after 60 minutes of sitting idle, the flash shuts itself off.

Pros:
Very user-friendly; tiny size; lightweight; appears to be ruggedly built—certainly feels that way; wireless functionality (remote only); durable metal foot; included dome diffuser proved very handy in a variety of situations.

Cons:
Difficult to remove flash from camera hot shoe (not for arthritic hands); flash head does not lock in position; output dial can too easily be moved to another setting; mode dial is difficult to read (both dials are difficult to read in very low light); requires the e-manual for a fuller explanation of how to use the flash.

Compatibility:
Canon, Nikon, Sony DSLR systems; 4/3 & Fujifilm mirrorless (Canon E-TTL II/ E-TTL, Nikon iTTL, Sony PTTL, 4/3 TTL, Fujifilm TTL).

Tested version:
Nikon iTTL.

Where can I get more info?
www.nissindigital.com

E-manual:
www.nissindigital.com/files/EN_i40_rev_1_1.pdf

Manufacturer:
Nissin

Distributor:
Minox USA. 

P.O. Box 123 Meriden, NH 03770
TEL: 866-469-3080 / 603-287-4840 / FAX: 603-287-4834

www.minox.com/usa
usa@minox.com

How much is it?
$269. At B&H and Adorama.

What’s in the box?
Nissin i40 flash, mini stand, dome diffuser, quick guide instruction sheet, padded soft case.

Does It Reach pixelPERFEXION? (100 pixels is best):
Nissin i40: 90 pixels—eminently practical for travel and everyday use, and a great kicker/fill light for the home studio. Leave the padded case at home and you won’t even know the flash is in your jacket or vest pocket.

Selected Specifications:
For complete specs, visit: http://www.nissindigital.com/i40_spec.html
Guide Number (GN) @IS) 100/ft: 89 (at 35mm zoom position)
Auto zoom range: 24 – 105mm
Bounce/tilt: Yes/Yes
Interface: 2 dials (modes & power output); on/off button
Special features: video light; spring-loaded release
Power: 4 x AA
Recycling: 0.1 – 4 sec
Color temp: 5600K
Size: 3.35” (H) x 2.4” (W) x 3.35” (D)/85 x 61 x 85mm
Weight: 7.16oz (w/o batteries)/203g
Design and specifications subject to change without prior notice.