Behind the scenes photoshoot and review!
Power, how much do you actually need? Having powerful lights in your hands used to be a huge step to make. It is a little less now with the PIXAPRO Citi 1200pro. For all you power-hungry photographers, this might be the one for you!
You may not know this but Pixapro’s line of flashes and accessories and GODOX’s products seem to come from the same factory, which means they are all compatible. You can mix these flashes and trigger them with the same remotes.
I did this recently, you may have seen the stories on my Instagram.
I used the same setup for my swim athlete's photoshoot.
I used both 1200 pro's for my rim lights but replaced the AD300 pro overhead light later on with the AD1200 pro because I didn’t have enough batteries.
Now do I need that much power? In the studio, the answer would be yes and no.
Yes, if you freeze movement and if you are more into action photography the AD1200 pro will help. If you often use burst shots and shoot extensively on location. This is my case, during these sessions I only had one battery for the 1200pro and it lasted all day. I had to charge the AD300 and AD600 pro in between sessions to work all day.
Of course, if you only do portraits, in a fairly dim environment or in a fully controlled studio, 1200 watts of power is overkill.
Now let's go outdoors, with this quick session I did recently. This is in preparation for a photoshoot that unfortunately will only happen in early 2022.
I brought the 1200pro with me because I knew I would work outdoors. And this is where that much power can be crucial for your work. It is the middle of the day and you want to knock down that ambient light for a more dramatic look.
For the very first image you saw, depending on the model, I was almost at full power. A result that would have been impossible without 1200pro. I could have made something similar with a less powerful light, but not with these settings.
So I’ve said this already in the past. It all depends on you, your work, your workflow. I personally need that power. I often work on location, I can last all day with this flash without worrying about running out of juice. I know I won’t use it at full power most of the time, but this means faster recycling time so I won’t miss a shot. WIth this strobe I know Artistically I can now almost do whatever I want, power won’t be an issue.
This flash is really well built. I love the look and overall feel of the battery unit. The chord cable that attaches to the head is long enough and feels sturdy. The flash head itself is super light, in fact maybe too light. Overall it’s very light plastic, cool in terms of weight, I am not so sure in terms of robustness in the long run.
It comes with a nice roller bag and a battery charger. And there is an independent case for the battery that I use as a weight on the light stand.
My main concern with the AD300 and AD600 pro was the ability to find spare parts, and accessories anywhere. What if I have a problem with a photoshoot in France, in Europe in the UK? I know that I can find a fix now knowing the compatibility with GODOX products. Why am I concerned about that? Because it happened to me so many times.
There are great brands out there that propose amazing tools, but they are hard to find in some parts of the world and when that’s the case they usually also have non-existent customer service.
There is a shortage in everything electronics these days so now you have an additional option if you are heavily invested in Godox products.
The Citi 1200 pro made it in my top 5 of my favorite photography and filmmaking tools of 2021.
We’ll see later down the road how it holds up, but so far I really enjoy working with it. You will probably see it again and again in future Behind the scenes videos so I will most certainly keep you updated.
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