CITI300 Pro / AD300 Pro
I recently purchased the Pixapro CITI300 Pro, (otherwise known as the Good AD300 Pro) to allow me a little extra power over my AD200’s and AD100’s when I need it, but also baring in mind I didn’t want to lug around anything heavy, so the CITI300 Pro seemed to be perfect. Even more so with Pixapro’s 11th anniversary discounts!
The CITI300 Pro is a really compact 300w flash that uses a cool little rechargeable 2600mAh Lithium-ion battery - almost identical to the AD200 batteries (I believe you can use the AD200 batteries on the 300 but not the other way around). So this flash unit like I said is perfect compromise of added power and portability, which I will use mainly on location, but also in studio environments - Something I can’t wait to put to use now.
As I mentioned, the CITI300 is portable and not heavy to carry in the bag - in fact the unit comes in at weighing around 1.25kg (including battery) and can fit in the majority of standard camera bags, taking up no more room than a camera body with small lens on.
The battery on the AD200 & 100 is in my view brilliant and I haven’t had a shoot where any of the batteries have died on me (yet) so to know that the CITI300 Pro battery was effectively the same, filled me with confidence with the type of shoots I do. At a capacity of 2600mAh it should provide enough juice to get around 300-320 shots on full power - something that is plenty for me!
I love how the CITI100/AD100 pro is, in terms of looks and ergonomics. It is a vast improvement on the AD200’s styling and something that also attracted me to the 300pro. Having the ability to scroll through the power in 1/10 stop increments is perfect when I want to dial in a stop with almost pin point accuracy. Another thing which the AD100 won me over with was the effectiveness of the modelling lamp - although it’s not the most powerful, it was certainly better than the 200’s and the fact that the 300pro has an improved Bi-colour LED modelling light, fills me with confidence that in the right scenarios, il be using the modelling light to full effect, possibly even as the odd video light when needed.
On top of all the other added features the CITI300 Pro has, the one thing I am interested in trying is the built in Godox mount. Again, this isn’t a make or break deal but if there’s anything that helps the ever on-going battle of keeping kit to a minimum, I’m going to be interested. With the Godox mount built into the flash unit, it allows me to now purchase modifiers that don’t need a mount adapter to fit and from research, the Godox mount modifiers have a smaller fold down than the majority of other modifiers at the moment. It may just be a gimmick but time will tell and il report back when I’ve used the CITI300 Pro + Godox AD-S65S Softbox enough.
For a great service in the UK with a great community to join in with, make sure for your next light or modifier purchase, you check out the guys at PIXAPRO. (www.essentialphoto.co.uk)
