Nissin Digital has a new flashgun on the way, called the Di700. At the Kenro booth for the Focus On Imaging trade show, we didn’t get the opportunity to go hands-on with a working model but there were some dummy units on display. Separately, the full specifications have been released, so now we know for sure what the Di700 will offer.
Packing in a 24–200mm zoom head, the metric guide number is 35 (at 35mm) or 50 at the longest (200mm) zoom setting. The head rotates 180°, tilts up 90° and down 7° (for close-up photography). Using the rear display (which is not actually rows of LEDs: the look is “synthesised using a computer”) a photographer can choose manual (down to 1/128 power), TTL, non-TTL auto, wireless TTL slave (but not master) and non-TTL slave modes.
At full power, the recycle time is four seconds, which will be quickened when running from an external battery pack. The marketeers bill the Di700 as “the only flash in its category equipped with an external power socket”, presumably a nod to the Nikon SB-700
The release date is April 2013, at a price to be confirmed.