Westcott FJ-X3 flash triggers come in Sony and Universal flavours and have almost 1,000ft range

Westcott has announced its newest flash trigger, the FJ-X3. There are two version of the trigger, the FJ-X3 M for Nikon, Canon, Sony (with an adapter), Fuji, Panasonic and Olympus and the FJ-X3 S specifically for Sony – because Sony likes to be special and different when it comes to their hotshoe.

The FJ-X3 comes with a new removable lithium-ion battery, allowing photographers to swap out and charge as needed without the hassle and cost of single-use AA batteries. It has an all-new button layout with an enhanced user interface with a new multi-selection pad for easy adjustment of power settings, modelling lamp, audible beeps and more. Westcott says the new interface design allows for multiple group settings to be displayed at once so you don’t have to dig through multiple menus to adjust each one.

The new trigger is compatible with the Westcott FJ400 and FJ200 strobes as well as the FJ80 speedlights and FJ-XR receivers for use with 3rd party strobes. When using Westcott’s lights, you get full TTL and High Speed Sync capabilities but when using the FJ-XR receivers, as they just use a simple 3.5mm sync socket, you don’t. In that case, you essentially just get manual control and have to stay below your camera’s sync speed, but this is pretty common to most flash systems when using receivers with 3rd party lights. That being said, Westcott do say the trigger also syncs with Canon RT speedlights.

They boast wireless triggering capabilities up to a whopping 985′ (300 metres) with “enhanced performance in high-interference locations like weddings and events”. They do operate on 2.4Ghz, which is pretty heavily flooded these days, so I am curious to see just how well they reject interference in the real world once they start getting into the hands of users and reviewers.

The triggers are compatible with Canon, Fuji, Nikon, Olympus and Panasonic and there is a list of compatible cameras (and whether you get full compatibility or just manual) on the Westcott website. There’s also a mobile app for both iPhones and Android that lets you remotely adjust the power of FJ wireless flashes. Groups are colour coded for quick recognition when you need to change settings, and for studio shooters that regularly bounce between different setups, you can also save lighting scenario settings for instant recall in the future.

The Westcott FJ-X3 M is available to pre-order now for $99.90. The Sony-dedicated Westcott FJ-XM S is also available to pre-order now for $99.90 and spare batteries for both are available to pre-order now for $29.90. Items are expected to start shipping in the coming weeks.