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PIXEL KNIGHT TR-332 WIRELESS E-TTL II FLASH TRIGGER FOR CANON

INTRODUCTION
With the growth of the strobist community shooting off-camera flash, folks who want to shoot faster and adjust more quickly to changing light conditions have turned to TTL triggers such as the Pocketwizard TT5 and TT1 and the
Radiopopper JrX to leverage ETTL II and free themselves from the meteradjust-
meter-adjust sequence of normal RF triggers.What's the difference between a TTL trigger and the RF triggers of old? Well,what's the difference between a manual flash and a TTL flash such as the Canon EX series or the Nikon SB series? When you change settings on your camera (e.g. shutter speed, ISO, or aperture), with a TTL flash, these are
automatically relayed to the flash and taken into consideration to determine the appropriate amount of light fired by the flash. You can also do quick broad changes to flash output using your camera's FEC. In contrast, with a
PT04 (or even a Pocketwizard Plus II, Elinchrom Skyport, or any of the RF triggers) you would have to walk over to the flash(es)/light(s)/strobe(s) and estimate (or meter-adjust) the correct increase or decrease in flash power to
produce a correct exposure. What does Pixel's Knight trigger try to do, and how well does it do it? This
review looks at the Pixel Knight triggers using a 5D MKII, two 580EX II and a manual power speedlite.
A SESSION WITH THE KNIGHT IN TTL MODE

TRANSMITTER.
Mount the TX on the 5DMKII. Turn the camera on. Press TX Power/Ch- button for a full 2 seconds. TX displays a self-test, then the set channel and battery level bar.

Press TX's Set/Ch+ button for 2 seconds. Display shows "Set Gp A." Press Set/+Ch again to cycle through the groups.
While "Set Gp" is shown, press TX's Power/Ch- button to display current power setting. Press repeatedly to step through and change the power levels for that group. Set back to default Channel 01 and Group A. Using a 5D MKII,
then go to "group" 5D and turn it on. On 1/2-shutter, the TX's LED winks blue (transmit) then no indication.
RECEIVER. Mount the RX on a stand. The only settings required on the RX is the communication channel and the chosen Knight group - A to E. The Transmitter and the camera control all other settings. Press Power/Ch- for 2
seconds. RX displays Group and Channel number. The LED winks a slow red. Leave set on Channel 1 and Group A.
Attach a 580EX II Speedlite and secure, turn on Speedlite, which displays TTL mode at startup. On 1/2-shutter, the Speedlite's mode changes to ETTL, and displays aperture, zoom and distance. ZOOM. While on 1/2-shutter and for a few seconds after release, any change in a zoom lens's focal length is immediately transmitted to the Speedlite and
displayed. If Manual Zoom (M Zoom) is selected on 580EXII, then the zoom stays as set. Manual zoom can be changed on the Speedlite while still on the RX.
CAMERA’s SETTING.
Using the camera's Quick Control Screen or any of the older-style button settings will cause the Knight to transmit any relevant changes.
TAKE A SHOT. TX's LED winks blue before and after the shot. The Speedlite will indicate a successful exposure. The RX's LED winks blue before and after shot, then a longish break before resuming a slow red wink. SECOND CURTAIN. 2nd Curtain is not enabled. The flash fired only on 1st curtain open.
MODELLING LIGHT.
The modeling light can be used by pressing the Depth of-Field/Modeling light button on the camera.
FOCUS-ASSIST LIGHT.
The Focus-Assist light will be emitted when required by the camera. There can be a slight delay if the Knights need waking from standby, but there is no delay once activated.
HIGH SPEED SYNC. HSS is turned on when the Knights initialise, and remains set. The 5D MKII's x-sync is 1/200th, with HSS used above 1/250,1/500, 1/1000, 1/3200, 1/8000 speeds. Results for the subject were very even. The background darkened as expected. Very usable.
FOCUS EXPOSURE LOCK. FV lock is called FE Lock on Canon bodies. Pressing the FE Lock * on the camera usually produced an exposure preflash, sometimes two, sometimes none. However, when there was a pre-flash,
the main exposure flash did not fire. (TV, AV, ISO, EC, FEC etc) are transmitted immediately, just as with the lens
zoom. The Knight controller wakes and resets when the camera wakes from standby (e.g. 1/2-shutter).
RANGE
Tested at 150ft (didn’t go further), no hesitation or misfire. However if the Controller and Receiver is too close (1 metre apart), there are a couple of misfires.




THE CONTROLLER
The Controller has five groups, each of which can be set to Off, TTL or Manual power level. Setting a group to ‘Off’ can be useful to enable various combinations in a multiple light setup, or to kill a single remote light for ambient-only shots.
TTL can be used with EX Speedlites. Camera-set FEC, HSS and Hypersync is functional. Power level 1/1 to 1/128 can remotely set the power level on Mark II Speedlites from the Controller on the camera. Studio strobes can be triggered by any setting on the Controller, with power levels set manually on the strobe. Hypersync will be available till 1/500 on a
Jinbei RL-660 and till 1/640 on two Norman 200B. Depending on the studio strobes’ flash duration. However with (a single-pin) manual power speedlites, no hypersync above the 5D MKII’s sync of 1/250 is possible (5D MKII’s x-sync is 1/200).
HSS and HYPERSYNC
The Knight Controler sets the camera to High Speed Synchronisation (HSS),with the viewfinder showing the lightning-bolt-H icon. The Controller usually needs to be in TTL mode for HSS or Hypersync to be available. However, setting the Controller to M 1/8 caused a 580ex MKII to switch to that mode, but retain HSS capability.
Setting a 580EX II to M 1/1 and HSS, using an EOS 5D MKII, I found:
1. Placing the Speedlite on the Knight Remote shoe, with the Controller group set to TTL, will produce standard Canon HSS lighting.
2. Connecting the Speedlite to the Knight Remote by PC-sync cord, with the Controller Group set to TTL, will produce Pixel's Hypersync. It is fully usable at 1/250th (above 5D MKII x-sync). At 1/320th a small curtain shadow was evident, but care with framing will make a usable shot.
3. Keeping the 580EX MKII connected by PC-sync cord, but changing the Controller Group to M 1/1, will produce typical unusable shutter shadow in all speed.
USING ONE REMOTE
The simplest setup is to set the Controller Group A to TTL (the default), and place an EX Speedlite on the Remote, also set to Group A (default). The flash can then be used off-camera with FEC and HSS fully operational.
The 580EX MKII can also be set to Manual and a power level, and triggered by the Controller in TTL.
However, if ttl-capable flash is mounted on the Knight Remote shoe and another flash is connected through the Knight's PC-sync port, 1/2-shutter will cause the flash connected by the cord to rapid-fire and risk burn-out.


USING TWO OR MORE REMOTES
A 580EX MKII was mounted on a Knight Remote as Key light, in ETTL. The other 580EX MKII in Knight Remote can only used in manual power, setting different power level can done in the Controller. For 550EX speedlite, you
have to walk over to the speedlite (on a lightstand) to make changes. If you set the 2 580EX MKII in ETTL modes, they will fires in same ETTL setting as in the camera.
FLASH EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
The Knights enable FEC of +/- 2 stops, but only for Canon Speedlites in ETTL, and only when it is set on the camera.
CHANGING SETTINGS
Changing settings on the Knight Controller is like setting a watch - sequences of button presses. However, the button press sequence is not convenient, and may require that the camera be set down on a table so that both hands can
be used to manipulate the buttons on top. If the Controller case had been molded with a right-angle foot, we would be able to see what is going on from the back of the camera where photographers usually live, and button access
would be easier.
FOCUS ASSIST
When the focus assist light was needed, a significant red tinge in-shot was observed.
BATTERY LOW INDICATOR
The Product Manual and the Packaging both say "100 hours" standby. That would be our experience, twice having to replace the Controller's battery during testing. The listed claims of 500 or 1000 hours standby seem optimistic.
CONCLUSION
Overall it’s working accordingly (to Pixel configuration) with the Canon 5D MKII and two 580EX MKII. The price is mid-level, and is matched by a midlevel feature set. These include FEC, HSS, E-TTL and Hypersync.
The Group settings provide for considerable freedom and creativity, and possibly hassle as you discover what works. Pixel could be more helpful with a much detailed User Manual.

Tim Low