CITI400 PRO & CITI600 PRO - Comparing our Powerful PRO Series Flashes

The CITI Units are some of the most popular units currently sold by PiXAPRO, with the CITI600 PRO and the CITI400 PRO being the newest additions. In this Blog, we take a look at these two flashes, and see just how different they really are.

Similarities

Let’s start with what these two units have in common. As with all the PRO Series flashes, these lights are excellent at accurately representing colour during your shoots. This is evident by the fact they both share the same Colour Temperature of 5600±75K, helping to give you shot an extra vibrancy to it and accurate representing the colours being displayed.

Making sure that you have an in-depth control of the power of your flashes is hugely important, as it allows you at adjust the light source to suit each individual shoot you find yourself on. The CITI600 PRO and CITI400 PRO have taken this into consideration, as they allow power adjustments between 1-1 power all the way down to 1/256 power. This is further helped by the ability to adjust the power in 1/10^th Stop Increments, meaning that you are given incredible amounts of control regarding the power of either light.

The Channels and Groups offered by these flashes are also the same, with 32 channels and 3 groups available. Having these many channels allows you to trigger all your lights at the same time, or allows you to split you lights up into different sets, meaning you can flash some and then others at different times. Multiple groups are important as they allow you to individually separate each flash and change the settings of these units to better suit their requirements.

Each flash comes with a built-in 2.4GHz Receiver, meaning you wouldn’t need to attach any addition receivers to the units. As they come with a built-in receiver, this makes these flashes part of the PiXAPRO ONE System, meaning they can be used in conjunction with our entire range of flash lighting (apart from the RIKO400), and all units can be controlled together by the same PiXAPRO Trigger. The Built-in Receiver gives you a transmission range of 80m, meaning that you aren’t required to be directly next to your flashes during use, giving you complete freedom of your set.

Differences

So, whilst there are quite of few similarities between these two lights, there are also a few differences separating these. As mentioned in their names, the CITI600 PRO is a 600Ws Battery Powered Flash and the CITI400 PRO is a 400Ws Battery Powered Flash. Given the 200Ws more power output of the CITI600 PRO, it is the brighter of the two units. This is further evident by the Guide Numbers offered from these flashes.

With the Standard Reflector and at ISO100, the CITI600 PRO offers 87m and the CITI400 PRO offer 71m. So, if you find yourself wanting a very powerful and dependable light, then the CITI600 PRO is the one to choose, but the CITI400 PRO is still very powerful, reliable and more than capable for most types of photography.

Making sure that the Flash Duration of the flash is super quick is very important, as it better allows you to capture motion and remove any potential blur. The CITI400 PRO has the better Flash Duration at 1/240s - 1/12,820s (T0.1), compared to 1/220s - 1/10,000s (T0.1) offered by the CITI600 PRO. The difference should be down to the power difference between the two units, but either the CITI600 PRO and CITI400 PRO will be perfect for allowing you to capture motion during your shoots.

 

Making sure that the recycle time is super-fast is important to help keep a steady pace during your shoot. Recycle times are the time periods it takes for the camera to reset the flash before another shot can be taken. The CITI600 PRO has a very slight advantage when it comes to the Recycle times, as they offer 0.01-0.9 seconds compared to the CITI400 PRO that offers 0.01-1 second. So, whilst the CITI600 PRO is slightly quicker, either of the lights would be great for photography such as sporting events or action.

Whilst both of these lights are Lithium-ion Battery Powered, they do differ to help with the power differences between these units. The CITI600 PRO offers 28.8V/2600mAh to get the most out of the 600Ws power output and the CITI400 PRO offers 21.6V/2600mAh for the 400Ws power output. Due to the difference in power also, the amount off full powered flashes is different. The CITI400 PRO offers approximately 390 full powered flash and the CITI600 PRO offers approximately 370 full powered flash, so there isn’t much of a difference between the two units. Either way, both lights would be more than suitable for a long day on location shooting.

The lights differ in shape and size also. The CITI600 PRO is the largest of the two lights at 22cm x 24.5cm x 12.5cm and weighing 3KG, which isn’t too large compared to some standard studio flash units. The CITI400 PRO is noticeable smaller, at 22cm x 10.2cm x 12.8cm and weighing 2.1KG, making it compact. Even with the difference in size, both lights are very portable and ideal for location photography.

Conclusion

Both of these units share quick a few things in common, and whilst there are a few differences between the two units, both the CITI600 PRO and CITI400 PRO would be excellent Battery Powered Flash Units.