Official Lightrein Radio Trigger LRDC-604 Review – REVISED 2010-06-30

Hello all, finally here is my review of the LightRein LRDC-604 Radio trigger. ( I do apologize for the poor quality of the picture but currently my studio isn’t available )

KEY FEATURES:

1- This device has extremely low power consumption.
2- It can be easily used within 5-10 meters indoor and around 20-35 meters outdoor.
3- You can use 4 channels to communicate
4- It can synch up to 1/250 second
5- 3 years warranty.

INCLUDED IN THE BOX:

1- Receiver
2- Output Jack with adaptor
3- The RF-604 Transmitter with battery included
4- Quick Manual

PRICE: Street price is 65$ but I could get it for ~50$ downtown Montreal.
NOTE: If you intend to use these Radio Triggers with a Cobra type flash (Nikon SB-600 for Example) you will need to purchase a universal hotshoe that is almost the same price of the Radio Trigger (Hama is well know and their Universal Shoes are priced around 30$)

My Personal Field Experience:

How do I use the LR triggers? Basically, I purchased a box of Velcro where I stick the rough side on my Radio triggers and the soft side on my flashes. (Camray C-300 or all my Nikon SB-600)

I have been mainly shooting with LR Radio Trigger for all my shootings since March 2010. Basically, I haven’t had any real issues for all my indoor photoshoots. If you place your Radio Trigger on the good side, they always trigger. It did happen that a flash didn’t trigger when required but not enough to mention. (Maybe 3-5 times over 1000 pictures)

I use either AAA Duracell 1000 mAh or AAA Sanyo’s Eneloop and they work just fine. Make sure they are fully recharged before each photoshoot and you’re good to go for at least 500 pictures probably more. They barely use any power at all.

As for the transceiver, this is hard for me to explain. I was probably using a defective one at the beginning, I had to replace the battery (not so easy to find 12VL1028 23A Alkaline Cylindrical) after almost every shoot BUT with a new tranceiver, I have been using the same battery for over 2000 pictures… But keep in mind that having a few extras is not really a bad idea.

Where I might have had issues with my LR Radio trigger is for my outdoor shooting using just one flash. If you move around your flash connected to the LR Radio Trigger with a big huge softbox, sometimes, the signal doesn’t get to the receiver. It wasn’t really a distance issues as I was probably around 2-3 meters from the LR receiver but I was in front of my Softbox on the other side where the receiver was sticked to my flashes. Basically, I would need to add/perform an additional test here which would be: Are they performing any better if I stick them (receiver) on the top of each flash? Honestly, I think they might just work better. TBD….

CONCLUSION – Pros
1- Extremely light and low power consumption
2- Not expensive at all
3- Quite reliable for the price
4- Excellent warranty (3 years)
5- Can be used with any type of flash which is great
6- Hot Shoe is really easy to fix and well built
7- Excellent Customer Service. (See point 2 in Cons)

CONCLUSION – Cons
1- Very fragile, the plastic casing can crack when changing the batteries too quickly
2- The cable fixed to the receiver can brake quite easily if you move it too much. I had 2 receiver changed free of charge no questions asked
3-  If you move around your flashes a lot and your receiver aren’t placed properly, you may be frustrated at time as they will not pop the flashes so make sure you align them properly to get the best out of them
4- The transceiver should use a AAA rechargeable battery. I don’t believe we can purchase or find any 12V 23a that can be rechargeable.

GOOD for:
1- Amateur and semi-pros
2- Photographers that do not reach for perfection, if you are, please go with Pocket Wizard (~199$ plus taxes)
3- Daylight photographers that requires flashes in their picture

NOT SO GOOD for:

1- Professional photographer
2- High budget photoshoot with High Synch requirements
3- When the photographer needs a transmitter that can activate the camera as there are currently no adaptator for this model.

Overall conclusion:

I strongly recommend those Radio Trigger for Studio shoots and all photographers that have a limited budget. Especially if you are using your Canon / Nikon / Pentax flashes outside, TTL doesn’t really work well on a bright sunny day while those Radio Trigger will work wonderfully if placed correctly.

I really enjoy those trigger and for ~50$, it’s really hard to get anything better than LightRein Radio Trigger. If you use them carefully, they will work very well and most importantly, I have the full confidence over LightRein Customer Service. So far, they have just been extremely good.

Enjoy your day and GOYA and shoot lots of pictures!

NOTE: For those who don’t know what GOYA means, well here goes: Get Off Your A.. and shoot lots of pictures!

Ghislain