If you shoot with off camera flash you have probably heard of the Godox AD200 or in this case (from Pixapro) the Pika 200.
Also, you don’t have to look very hard on Instagram to find an image lit with one or a few of these little lights, but why are they so popular? Other than them being quite possibly the best small location lighting kit on the market today (IMO) they offer a lot for not a whole lot of money in the grand scheme of lighting gear.
You get 200ws of power which is about equivalent to 3 speedlites, TTL, HSS ( High Speed Sync) and all in a portable lighting kit that is at home in the studio and on location.
Power range wise you get a range of 9 stops (1/128th to 1/1 power) in 1/3rd stop increments or 1/10th stop on the Pika 200 Pro.
I have had my Pika 200 kit for a good few years now and in that time they have been used for commercial work, personal work, weddings, events, as key lights, kickers, background lights.. you name it. They just constantly perform great.
Not only are they a great little light individually they also bring with them quite the selection of ad-ons and additional options to expend what they can do.
My Pika 200 Kit a it is today. Which contains …
1. A Dual Pixapro Pika 200 TTL Kit – Which includes 2 Pika 200 TTL lights and the dual head bracket which allows you to put two Pika 200 on it for 400ws of flash.
Pixapro Dual Head Pika 200 TTL Kit https://essentialphoto.uk/6nooq
2. Two Pixapro Pika 200 Extension Heads – These allow me to place a smaller head away from the main body of the lights if I need to get it in to a smaller space or boom it. The body of the flash can then act as a counter weight.
3. Couple of smaller ball heads. – these work far better when mounting the Pika 200 directly to a light stand or spigot.
4. The ghetto DIY flags and hair bands.
I also have a few of the smart brackets that can hold a Pika 200, Hybrid 360ii, CITI 300 Pro or 400 Pro and allow me to run my Bowens mount modifiers on them.
You can get a lot of work done with that kit.I also have small 5” reflectors that will fit directly to the bare bulb head of the Pika 200 but they mostly live in the studio.
With the kit above I can run any of my modifiers and I have a choice of two 200ws lights with bare bulb and Fresnel options or one 400ws light by combining the two Pika 200’s and the dual bracket with bare bulbs
The dual bracket also has handy modelling LED lamps and whilst they are no good for video they do provide enough light to help AF in a darker environment like a studio.
I have said many a time that if all goes wrong with the studio I would move to a small kit of Pika 200 lights and work on location and rent studios as needed.
If you are a head shot and portrait photographer, they are the best bang for buck on the market today.
If you looked into them today you may also see that you have two versions on the market.
The Pika 200 TTL ( AD200 ) – The original.
The Pika 200 Pro ( AD200 Pro) – The latest generation.
If you are wondering what the difference is between the two let me explain.
The hey both use the same bulbs, batteries heads and accessories which is great but the pro brings a few tricks with it.
1. Improved flash durations. (shorter flash durations)
2. Better Colour – 100k shift over the power range VS 200k on the original
3. 1/10th power increments. – This is something I am missing on my location lights at the moment. You may think that having power control in 1/3rd stop increments is all you would even need but 1/10th is where it is at for me.
I have gotten used to having the 1/10th stop power control on my studio lights and miss it on location. If I was buying the Pika 200 today, I would go for the pro version.
Before the Pika 200 same along I had never seen a light that gives bare bulb and Fresnel head options with 200ws of flash output in one light.
First Dance lit by Pika 200’s and an on camera (bounched) speedlite for fill.
Pika 200’s and Fresnel heads on light stands nested amongst the DJ speaker stands make for great back light, side and direct lighting options on a dance floor at weddings and events. You can add fill by bouncing a speedlite off a wall or using a speedlite with a modifier as a fill light.
Pika 200 TTL with Fresnel head fitted.
The best thing I have found with the Pika 200 is the choice of heads.
Out of the box we have the Fresnel & Bare Bulb. The Fresnel is best used if you need as much output as possible and a hard light source when you don’t have any other modifiers to hand, it can also be handy to bounce light.
The Bare bulb is the best one to use in modifiers like softboxes, standard reflectors and beauty dishes. You can also use it with umbrella modifiers but is it best done along with the small 5” reflector you can pick up to control light spill.
In additional to the two heads that come with the Pika 200 you can also buy a round head attachment which gives a cleaner light pattern than the Fresnel, this does eat a fair bit of power as it has a frosted front.
Pika 200 / 200 Pro Round Head
The LED head can be used for video but I find it handy for AF assist or finding items in a bag when working in a dark environment, I don’t own one myself, but my 2nd shooter does. The Fresnel head also has an LED light on it which I have used to light the path when taking bride and groom outside for shots during the evening. Saves someone tripping over in the dark.
Pika 200 / 200 Pro LED Head - handy as a torch for dark venues or paths.
Personally, I have not added the round head to my kit as I don’t feel the need for it, plus I have the GI01 roundhead speedlite in the bag already.
If you do decide to go for a round head attachment you can then use the magnetic modifiers provided in the Round Head Accessory Kit. This kit includes a snoot, grid, bounce card, diffusion dome, barn doors and correction gels.
Round Head Accessory Kit. - also works on the GI01 roundhead speedlite. https://essentialphoto.uk/4Ag9s
I have some of these items for my round head speedlite but not the full kit yet. I just needed the grid and correction gels so opted to get those.
Let’s take a look at some images where the Pika 200 was used.
Pika 200 with Fresnel Head and Grid
Pika 200 with Fresnel Head and Grid
Pika 200 Dual Head Kit - Bare Bulb. Modified by a Easy Open 120cm Octa https://essentialphoto.uk/kc5Ss
Pika 200 Dual head and 120cm Octa on a very windy day. Image courtesy of my friend Stuart.
Pika 200 Dual Head Kit & 120cm Easy Open Octa
Pika 200 and Beauty Dish https://essentialphoto.uk/hGj2w / Pika 200 and Large Umbrella as fill https://essentialphoto.uk/T20h7
Let’s take a moment to talk about usability and user experience.
I have had no issues with the Pika myself. They have taken anything I have thrown at them and the battery life is great. I don’t baby my gear.
A friend of mine uses them to shoot Moto Cross and they have survived being covered in mud and just keep going. They can take a licking.
The only time you need to watch the battery life or have spares is if you use the dual head modelling LED’s a lot like at a photo booth setup for example.
The display on the head is a fixed but it nice and clear and easy to read. It displays all the info you could need when looking at the flash itself.
Power setting.
Channel / Wi-Fi mode
Mode ( Manual TTL, Multi)
Battery Life
Grou
Pika 200 Rear Display
It can even be set to display the t0.1 flash duration at the given power setting so you can tell if it will stop the action you are shooting.
The power button is a slide switch and I think this is the only thing I would ever change. For me it would be better as a lockable long press type power button to prevent the light being powered on in your bag. I am yet to have an issue in that regard but just food for thought.
Recycle time is nice and fast even at 1/1 power and like all lights only gets shorter as the power is lowered.
The Pika 200 is small enough to stack a few in your main bag or pack out a dedicated lighting bag ( which is what I have done).
Oh one more thing I wish they would include with the light is the bulb protector so you can then store the bare bulb head with bulb safely in a camera bag.No big deals they are only £5 anyway so easy enough to grab a couple when ordering the Pika.
Out of the box you get a nice protective case that will hold the Pika body , bulb, battery, charger and both heads so they are well enough protected for packing/transport.
Overall you will not find a better lighting kit for on location work and that has a ton of options to expand its use cases for a wide range of photographers.
Thank you for reading.
Rick