Sep 10, 20186 min read

Nissin MG10 + Air10s - By Marc Alhadeff

Thanks to Degreef & Partner, Nissin distributor for Benelux and France, I could test the Nissin MG10 and Air10s system.

Presentation
Nissin MG10
Nissin Air10
Usage
Conclusion

1 Presentation

The Nissin MG10 is sold in kit with the Nissin Air10s for Sony for 700euros

in the box you will find

The Nissin MG10 flash
A L-bracket to mount it
A lightstand adapter
An adapter for AA batteries and one for 26650 Li-ion Batteries
A filter holder and a diffuser
A bag
The Nissin Air 10s with 2 cables for remote triggering (1 for E mount, 1 for A mountain and a nice case

There is a small startup guide, but I recommend you to download the full user guide on their website.

2 Nissin MG10

2.1 Introduction

The MG10 is a handle mount flash that work only in wireless mode with the Air10s, there is no screen on it, everything is happening with Air10s. No Need of cable just put the Nissin Air10s on the flash hotshoe

The provided L-braccket and the rail available on both sides of the MG10 allow to mount it on the left or on the right of the camera.

There is a motorized Zoom, a rotating head, a big button for wireless remote shutter, a dial to choose channel and one for the group.

There is a socket to connect a shutter cable and a plug for an external battery pack (Nissin PS8)

2.2 Specifications

2.3 Power & Alimentation

The MG10 has a huge GN of 80 @200mm (165Ws)

It can be powered either by

8 standard AA batteries giving a 250 full power flashes with a recycling times of 3 sec or by
2 x 26650 Li ion 5000mAh batteries giving a autonomy of 500 flashes and 2.8 sec recycling time at full power
and can be completed by Nissin PS8 battery pack (160 euros – 800g): for an additional 550 flashes at full power and 1.5s recycling time. The PS8 battery pack can sustain 2 flashes at the same time and has also a USB socket to e.g. charge your phone

I did a full afternoon wedding with the 26650 batteries and did not exhaust it and I never had to use the huge full power of GN80

2.4 Performances

In practice during the wedding with the 2650 batteries I never had to wait for the flash to recycle, it was always ready and did not overheat

I did some performance test comparing the MG10+PS8 and the Godox V860II with Li ion battery

I set both on 1/16 power (knowing MG10 1/16 is more powerful than the V860II)
I set my A7RIII on High frame rate : 8 frames / sec
- Nissin MG10 : I could fill the fill the buffer of the A7RIII without missing a flash : 80 photos and 80 flashes
- Godox V860II : I had 15 missed flashes out of 80

Of course you have less portability than a traditional cobra flash but if you need the best possible performance , the MG10+PS8 does a very impressive job

The system is cooled by a ventilator that help to avoid overheating

The MG10 has also an “Open” mode that allow 2 Air10s to command the same MG10 flash

2.5 Remote trigger

The MG10 + Air10s can be used as remote trigger up to 100m , first set the MG10 group Dial to 0 (in red)

1 Trigger only :
- Connect the provided cable between the Air10s and the camera but do not place the Air10s on the hotshoe
- Trigger the release by pushing on the big button with a blue circle on the MG10

2 Trigger + Flash ;
- Same but mount the Air10s on the hotshoe
- The flash will also be triggered but its power can not be controlled with the Air10s (bug ?)

2.6 Modeling light and Zoom motorisation

The MG10 is the only flash I know that does have a modeling light working remotely with Sony E
The motorized zoom is quite impressive also

Clikc on the below video to see it in action

3 Nissin Air 10s

3.1 Specifications

The Nissin Air 10s is quite similar to the Nissin Air, but it adds

100m range instead of 30m
A much lower battery consumption : 3000 shots with one set of 2AAA instead of 300 for the Nissin Air
A graphical display very much like the Nissin i60 instead of small leds
Firmware can be upgraded through a micro SD card
TTL to Manual transformation
Compatible with 2nd curtain in wireless
Delivered with cable to do remote triggering with MG10

It keeps its ease of use with one function one button, the Godox XPro is maybe a little bit richer in term of functionality but more complex to use

Like the Nissin Air , we can not mix Manual and TTL mode across the different groups

Coupled with the MG10 the modeling light is functioning ! This is the only system I know where this work on Sony E mount cameras. It still does not work on my Godox or flashes

3.2 Setup

Pairing
- on the Air10s : Hold the lock button and power for 3 sec
- MG10 : on the Nissin MG10 set channel to Auto , Hold the Open button and power for 3 sec

Firmware update
- Compared to previous models , Nissin has improved and allows now for an upgrade via a micro SD card (more easy than Godox that requires USB connection only working on windows)

3.3 Usage

The day to day use is very easy and intuitive : one command one button

Power can be adjuster very easily with the wheel

If you switch from TTL to Manual it will set itself to the same power as the last TTL shoot. This is useful if you had a correct TTL shooting and want to maintain the power constant

3.4 Multi flashes

The Nissin Air 10s can obviously command the older Nissin Flashes like the i60 or Di700

However please make sure your channel on the Air 10s is set to something else than 1 (only compatible with MG10)

4 In practice

4.1 Accessories

There is one diffuser and 1 Gel holder provided with the flash + 1 sample gel

You can also unplug the zoom head to mount some standard flashes accessories like a Light Sphere or Light Bouncer

I used it with Magmod MagSphere and Magbounce

I could also use it with a Godox To Elinchrom SpeedLite adapter and mount it with an Elinchrom Octobox

You can also use the provided Lightstand adapter than include the possibility to fix an umbrella

4.2 In practice

Some photos taken mostly in HSS mode with the L-bracket

5 Conclusion

The Nissin MG10 and Nissin Air10s (700 euros in kit) is a flash system targeting the Professionals, mainly reporter, weddings pro but can also be used by mode professionals or any heavy duty flash user

I am glad that Nissin dared to produce such a flash system.

Having used both the Nissin MG10 and the Godox V860II during a wedding, I had much more pleasure to use the Nissin than the Godox. With the MG10 I had a better balance and handling, and I did not had to fight with the menu system like I had on the Godox one (I had to tweak it several times to get back to the desired settings on the Godox)

The L bracket is really well thought and you can carry the Flash + camera + Sony 70-200 F2.8GM with your 2 hands without hassle

I could also mount my MagMod light bouncer & diffuser on it and I also use it on a nightstand plugged into an Elinchrom Octobox

All that without needing to change settings from “on camera flash” to wireless flash as it always works like a wireless flash anyway

MG10

Pro-s

GN80 : the max of all flashes / 165Ws
Easy configuration
Build like a tank
Perfect match with Nissin Air10s
Very well balanced with its L Bracket
Capable of 80 flashes in Burst 8fps at 1/16 Power without slow down (with PS8 battery pack)
2 mounting systems : L bracket and Light stand mount
3 Powers options giving you plenty of juice !
Modeling light
External battery pack PS8 reducing recycling time to 1.5 sec at full GN80 power
Compatible with standard accessories like MagMod
Compatible with adaptors for Softboxes
Firmware can be upgraded via Micro SD card

Average

Price : Cheaper than Sony more expensive than Godox but you get a real complete professional bundle for 700 Euros

Con’s

Not a standard flash that you can mount on your camera quickly for every occasion
Heavy (1Kg)
Big
No Multi flash (Stroboscopic)

Air10s