Remote flash triggers

Foques

Looking at the alienbees site and seeing a set of wireless triggers... now they are running considerably less then the PocketWizard triggers..
Can anyone tell me why should I go for Pocketwizards VS Alienbees, please?

additionally, why do I want to get an external triggers if I have a commander mode?

thank you.

Blurmore

Commander mode on a Nikon if it is anything like Canon is line of sight. Paul C. Buff has had a sordid history with triggers, his first set operated in the 900mhz range and had many conflicts with other devices sharing that bandwidth. That issue is supposedly worked out. Advantages to AB triggers, you can control the light power from the sender. Disadvantages...not TTL. Standard PWs are the industry standard radio trigger, the new TTL triggers work well for Nikon but so far have bugs with Canon. Personally I use Quantum Radio Slaves to trigger my big lights, and wireless E-TTL to fire off camera speed lights. If I had to get new setup it would probably be the radio poppers, which offer ETTL capability as well as the ability to fire "dumb flahses" like my alien b's and Sunpak 622. Try out commander mode, you may find it is all you need.

Foques

Gotcha.. I came to this understanding last night as I was playing with the commander mode.

it appears main restrictions are the distance and line of sight.
While for now it will be enough..as I am learning.. it appears I will need to get something that uses radio frequency eventually.

I'm not going to give up on this.


thank you.

Scott_Quier

What is your application? If it is a small studio setting and/or close (less than, say 50') working distances, you might be able to use much less expensive alternatives. Art Scott is someone that comes to mind - he's a strong advocate for the less expensive triggers available from many EBay sellers.

I have a friend who shoots weddings with triggers that cost him less that $20 per unit. He's been using them with manual flashes (Vivitar 285HV) for 3 or 4 years now and get's amazing results. But, of course, there's not E-TTL going on there just as there isn't with the AlienBee strobes.

Art Scott

Below is a link to the triggers I use and the reseller also....I have had no problems with them and been using for well over a year.

16 channel wireless (RF) flash slave triggers

Reason for wanting a wireless RF trigger is pretty simple.....they are very dependable and for me at least have never failed me.......the commander mode on my D300 is great most of the time......and it helps knowing that shooters like Joe McNally use the commander mode a lot helps too......but in bright daylight with flash atop a flash bracket and I really do not like cables then the triggers come into play...plus I usually have another flash being used at same time......so all is connected wirelessly..............

kdog

If you want a real simple alternative, try small optical slaves like the Wein Peanut. They run about $12 each. I've been playing around with Vivitar 285 flashes combined with my Canon 580 EXII flashes and they work great for my little studio setup. Manual flash mode of course, with wireless function set to off so that the peanuts don't false trigger on any pre-flash communications. The nice thing about the peanuts is that they're dead simple. No knobs to tweak, no settings, no batteries, no nothing. Just plugin 'em in to your flash, and they work.

Scott_Quier

kdog wrote:

If you want a real simple alternative, try small optical slaves like the Wein Peanut. They run about $12 each. I've been playing around with Vivitar 285 flashes combined with my Canon 580 EXII flashes and they work great for my little studio setup. Manual flash mode of course, with wireless function set to off so that the peanuts don't false trigger on any pre-flash communications. The nice thing about the peanuts is that they're dead simple. No knobs to tweak, no settings, no batteries, no nothing. Just plugin 'em in to your flash, and they work.

Have you tried setting your 580 to manual? No pre-flash. I've done this with my AB800, as they have an integrated optical slave trigger.

angevin1

Foques wrote:

why do I want to get an external triggers if I have a commander mode?

thank you.

I don't know..like my avatar states!

What I do know is, the commander funx on your Nikon is terriffic. in an enclosed space: one with walls, it'll fire easily, even pointing it away from the slave, because IR light waves bounce, just like visible waves do; more easily seen if you use a mirror to reflect them.

Some folks feel that outside there are huge limitations. I know that too. I have found them, and I also find they are within the framework of my desired use. The only time I have had trouble outside is when I let the batteries get low in the receiving SB.

The idea bout the radio poppers/PW's? eBay trig's is that hopefully you never have to say, I'm sorry...meaning lets shoot that over because my flash didn't fire~

Foques

Main goal is to learn how to shoot with flashes.... and, hopefully, get close to you guys...knowledge wise

pathfinder

kdog wrote:

If you want a real simple alternative, try small optical slaves like the Wein Peanut. They run about $12 each. I've been playing around with Vivitar 285 flashes combined with my Canon 580 EXII flashes and they work great for my little studio setup. Manual flash mode of course, with wireless function set to off so that the peanuts don't false trigger on any pre-flash communications. The nice thing about the peanuts is that they're dead simple. No knobs to tweak, no settings, no batteries, no nothing. Just plugin 'em in to your flash, and they work.

Joel has a good point - in your OWN studio, where you are the ONLY person shooting with a flash, the peanut slaves are dead reliable. I use them there frequently.

The problem comes in public, when just before you press your shutter, little Sally pops a frame with her P&S, which al fires your flashes end empties their capacitors, so that a second later when you press YOUR shutter, you end up with a dark frame from no flash. Using optical slaves in a public setting like a wedding is asking for a major headache. DAMHIK Joel:D

In a public setting, radio triggers of some sort, are worth whatever they cost. Reliability is critical. Using AA batteries is also a very good thing. Basic PWs do both.

Scott_Quier

pathfinder wrote:

Joel has a good point - in your OWN studio, where you are the ONLY person shooting with a flash, the peanut slaves are dead reliable. I use them there frequently.

The problem comes in public, when just before you press your shutter, little Sally pops a frame with her P&S, which al fires your flashes end empties their capacitors, so that a second later when you press YOUR shutter, you end up with a dark frame from no flash. Using optical slaves in a public setting like a wedding is asking for a major headache. DAMHIK Joel:D

In a public setting, radio triggers of some sort, are worth whatever they cost. Reliability is critical. Using AA batteries is also a very good thing. Basic PWs do both.

Yup ... want a pair? Just so happens I have a pair up for sale here.

Foques

I think i'm going to hold off on the triggers for now and use the commander mode..

thank you for all the great information, gents. Highly appreciate it.

time2smile

I agree with Angevin1 about CLS.

as far as trigger go I like my RF602's you can get a set to fire the shutter on one body mounted on a tripod, while you hold the other body in your hand, I think for a setup like that you would need 3 sets of transmitters. Next week I may pick up another transmitter, so I can remotely fire the camera and the flash at the same time. I'll keep you posted

kdog

Scott_Quier wrote:

Have you tried setting your 580 to manual? No pre-flash. I've done this with my AB800, as they have an integrated optical slave trigger.

Yep, 580 on manual, only that's not enough. You also have to specifically turn wireless off by setting the Slave/Master setting to the "off" position so that the unit connected to the camera is neither a slave nor a master. That's because even in manual mode, the master flash triggers the slave using pre-flash communications.

If you want to use extra Canon flashes in conjunction with non-Canon flashes, you must run all of them with optical triggers. You can't combine any Canon wireless communications with optically triggered flashes.

Cheers,
-joel