Hahnel Modus 600RT Mark II gets flash new features

The Hähnel Modus 600T is already one of our favourite flashguns, but it is getting a refresh at Photokina next week. The Modus 600RT Mark II makes two small improvements to the design of this popular hotshoe speedlight.

The most visible difference is in the hotshoe attachment itself, which now uses a quick-lock mechanism – rather than the screw locking mechanism found on the original version.

New hotshoe lock replaces screw-down ring on the original Modus 600RT

The other key change is with the new USB charger. One of the big advantages of the 600RT strobe is that it is powered by a bespoke rechargeable battery – rather then the AA cells used by most other guns. This provides a fast recycle time of 1.5 secs, which is claimed to be four times the speed of rival flashguns. The HLX-MD1 Extreme lithium ion pack provides 600 shots at full power from the flash, which has a Guide Number of 60 (m/ISO100). It can alternatively give 1000 flashes at half power. To make it easier to charge this battery whilst on location, the pack now comes with a new MD1 Mk II charger that can be powered through a standard USB lead.

The flashgun has a built-in wireless transmitter and receiver, using the 2.4GHz standard, for simple off-camera operation – allowing the unit to be used as the master or slave in a multiflash set-up.

New ultra-compact USB charger for the Modus 600RT battery

The flashgun is available to work with the following DSLR and mirrorless camera systems: • Canon • Nikon • Fujifilm • Micro Four Thirds - Panasonic & Olympus • Sony

The other key features of the flashgun remain unchanged
Guide number: 60 (m/1S0100 at 200mm)
Flash coverage: 20mm - 200mm
Flash duration: 1/300 - 1/20,000sec
Tilt head: 0-360° rotation, -7 to 90° tilt
Catchlight panel: yes
Diffuser panel: yes (14mm coverage)
Modes: TTL, Manual, Second Curtain Sync, High-speed sync, stroboscopic Dimensions: 79 x 143 x 123mm

Hähnel Modus 600RT Mk II – kit options

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Hahnel Modus 600RT Mk II Pro Kit for Sony - two flashguns plus Viper trigger

The new Modus 600RT Mk II will be sold on its own, or in two different kits

The Wireless Kit pairs the flash gun with Hähnel's Viper TTL wireless trigger – which attaches to the camera hotshoe to fire the flash when used off camera in strobist set-ups.

The Wireless Pro Kit comes with a pair of Modus 600RT Mark II speedlights and the Viper TTL trigger.

Modus 600RT Mk II with Viper TTL trigger

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Chris George has worked on Digital Camera World since its launch in 2017. He has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making and technology for over 30 years – and has edited numerous magazines including PhotoPlus, N-Photo, Digital Camera, Video Camera, and Professional Photography.

His first serious camera was the iconic Olympus OM10, with which he won the title of Young Photographer of the Year - long before the advent of autofocus and memory cards. Today he uses a Nikon D800, a Fujifilm X-T1, a Sony A7, and his iPhone 15 Pro Max.

He has written about technology for countless publications and websites including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, Dorling Kindersley, What Cellphone, T3 and Techradar.

Hähnel Modus 600RT Mk II – kit options

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