Yongnuo YN-622C wins the day.

Why? I’ll tell you why I purchased the Pixel King and then returned it just days later in favor of the Yongnuo triggers. First of all, shame on me for not doing my standard amount of research before purchasing. I made some assumptions that bit me in the rear when it came to the actual functionality of the Pixel King triggers. Based on the available hot shoe on top of the Pixel King Transmitter, I assumed that I could place an ‘on camera flash’ atop the unit. I was wrong and this was my primary reason for going with the Yongnuo trigger. Sure, the main reason to buy a remote flash is so that you can get the flash off of your camera, but I wanted to option to keep a flash unit on camera for fill light if needed and this was simply not possible using the Pixel King unit as the hot shoe has been disabled.

HEAD TO HEAD – VS.

1. Pixel Kings do not allow on camera flash VS Yongnuo Yn-622C do allow this.
2. PK have a worthless/blinding focusing assist beam VS Yongnuo-622C has a nice useful grid-pattern.
3. PK will not allow group/ ETTL ratio shooting VS Yongnuo-622C does allow this.
4. PK costs about 130 dollars for a set VS Yongnuo costs about 100 dollars.
5. PK has a transmitter and a receiver VS Yongnuo are transceivers, so as few as three units gives backup.

BUILD QUALITY AND EXTRAS

The build quality of the two units is nearly identical. They are both large, as you can see in the video on this page. As I said, the Pixel Kings do come with a couple extras. BUT, I think you can live without the cute carry bag. Obviously I really like the extra added features of the Yongnuo YN-622C, but additionally  I really like the transceiver design. By purchasing two sets you are able to trigger three remote flashes! That’s because any of the units can be used as either a transmitter or a receiver.

What’s Good about Both Units?

Both units take AA batteries. This is nice because chances are, so do your speedlite(s). They both have high speed sync HSS. They both have focus assist, although the FA on the Yongnuo is far superior.

What’s So Good about the Yongnuo YN-622C

The AA batteries are great. The High speed sync is great. The focus assist is great. The transceiver design is far superior. It offers on camera E-TTL pass through hot shoe  Second curtain sync. The settings are saved automatically. It has the support for a number of inexpensive compatible flash options. When used with a newer Canon camera you have in camera flash control; all the way from the 450D-650D, the 40D-7D, the 5DII-6D, and the 1Dx-1DIII. Some of the compatible flashes include:

Canon – 600EX(RT), 580EX II, 430EX II, 320EX, 270EX II YongNuo (with HSS) – YN568EX YongNuo (without HSS) – YN565EX C, YN565 II C, YN468 II C, YN467 II C, YN465 C Nissin (with HSS) – Di866 II – may require a factory settings reset to function correctly (and in manual etc) with the 622c Metz – 58 AF-2, 48 AF-1 (possibly AF-56 and AF-50 yet to be confirmed)

LIMITATIONS of the Yongnuo YN-622C

Unlike the Pixel King, there is no USB port for future firmware updates. However, you should never count on any company actually giving a worthwhile firmware update anyway. So no love lost there for me. Also, mixing E-TTL and manual groups is not allowed from the remote menu in camera, but could be done directly on the flash unit itself. Some people have mentioned that it is easy to accidentally bump the channel button and then confusion sets in about why they aren’t working until you realize you are on the wrong channel. I’ve used the units and have this has not been a real issue.

UPDATE: I’ve used these at several events now for our Chicago Wedding Photography, and have been extremely pleased with their performance. I have accidently hit the test flash button a couple times, and I have accidently hit changed the channel once or twice; but it doesn’t take me long to realize it. I still have super high praise for these triggers, especially at their awesome price point. Happy Shooting. And below; you can see them in action. This is not my video, but Dan does a nice job.