Radio poppers or Pocket Wizards

r9jacksonr9jackson Registered Users Posts: 129 Major grins
edited May 12, 2011 in Accessories
I need advice on which to buy: Radio Poppers or Pocket Wizards. It seems that PW is the industry standard, but price is still high. Seems like RP is a little less expensive and they seem to work better with E-TTL. I don't know for sure. Help!
Randy

SmugMug: www.randyjacksonimages.com
Email: randyjacksonimages@cox.net
Photography Blog: http://randyonphotography.com

Comments

  • Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited May 21, 2010
    Might want to take a look at Paul Buff's CyberSync's also......just a thought......I know nothing of the other 2 but I will attest to the customer Service of the Buff company's.....it is second to NONE.
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

  • r9jacksonr9jackson Registered Users Posts: 129 Major grins
    edited May 21, 2010
    Art Scott wrote: »
    Might want to take a look at Paul Buff's CyberSync's also......just a thought......I know nothing of the other 2 but I will attest to the customer Service of the Buff company's.....it is second to NONE.
    Art,
    Have you used the Cybersync's? Their price is a little more my liking.
    Randy

    SmugMug: www.randyjacksonimages.com
    Email: randyjacksonimages@cox.net
    Photography Blog: http://randyonphotography.com
  • Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited May 21, 2010
    r9jackson wrote: »
    Art,
    Have you used the Cybersync's? Their price is a little more my liking.

    No I have not used them.....I have been using RD 616 ebay triggers and they are still going quite strong...however the CyhberSyncs will be my next trigger purchase.....
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

  • Dan7312Dan7312 Registered Users Posts: 1,330 Major grins
    edited May 21, 2010
    I've only had PocketWizard Mini\Flex for a couple of weeks. So far I like them a lot, but I can't really compare them to anything else, they are the only radio triggers I've used. I'm not a pro and not all that experienced with lighting in general so take my comments with a grain of salt. Now that I have them I would never let them go.

    It seems like PocketWizards strongest story is the Flex and Mini with Canon flashes. 2nd curtain sync, higher light output for high speed sync, and boosted pre flash. The integration with flash meters more useful than I would have guessed. The also can be used as a remote shutter trigger.

    I had problems with their shutter cable on my 7D but PocketWizard is making up a special one for me out of a Canon manual trigger cable.

    They also say that they do some of this stuff with non-canon flashes to, but of course I haven't tried that.

    r9jackson wrote: »
    I need advice on which to buy: Radio Poppers or Pocket Wizards. It seems that PW is the industry standard, but price is still high. Seems like RP is a little less expensive and they seem to work better with E-TTL. I don't know for sure. Help!
    Dan

    http://www.danalphotos.com

    http://www.pluralsight.com

    http://twitter.com/d114
  • Moogle PepperMoogle Pepper Registered Users Posts: 2,950 Major grins
    edited May 21, 2010
    I love my cybersyncs. Affordable and does the job I want it to. :)
    Food & Culture.
    www.tednghiem.com
  • run_kmcrun_kmc Registered Users Posts: 263 Major grins
    edited May 22, 2010
    Cybersyncs = awesome.
    photos | twitter
  • gryphonslair99gryphonslair99 Registered Users Posts: 182 Major grins
    edited May 22, 2010
    It depends on whether you want ttl communication or not. If you do then you need either PW or RP's. If not the cybersyncs seem to be a great product at a good price. I'm a PW person because they are the industry standard, and that standard requires me to have a PW in most of the sporting venues I shoot. If it wasn't for that I would probably be using cybersyncs as well.
  • tenoverthenosetenoverthenose Registered Users Posts: 815 Major grins
    edited May 24, 2010
    I friggin' love the new Pocket Wizards. They offer so much more than the Radio Poppers do in terms of control and adjustability.
    www.patrickpike.com | twitter | facebook
  • CasonCason Registered Users Posts: 414 Major grins
    edited May 26, 2010
    I shoot manual and my Cactus v4 have not misfired and my wallet loves me for it.

    http://www.gadgetinfinity.com/product.php?productid=17204&cat=274&page=1
    Cason

    www.casongarner.com

    5D MkII | 30D | 50mm f1.8 II | 85mm f1.8 | 24-70mm f2.8    L | 70-200mm f2.8L IS II | Manfrotto 3021BPRO with 322RC2
  • joshhuntnmjoshhuntnm Registered Users Posts: 1,924 Major grins
    edited June 28, 2010
    run_kmc wrote: »
    Cybersyncs = awesome.

    those are not ETTL are they?
    Josh
    Las Cruces Photographer / Las Cruces Wedding Photographer
    Other site
  • vigorotakuvigorotaku Registered Users Posts: 2 Beginner grinner
    edited December 10, 2010
    Radio Poppers on Nikon Cameras
    r9jackson wrote: »
    I need advice on which to buy: Radio Poppers or Pocket Wizards. It seems that PW is the industry standard, but price is still high. Seems like RP is a little less expensive and they seem to work better with E-TTL. I don't know for sure. Help!


    Radio Poppers are just great. I use them on Nikon. So far they can't be beat on Nikon. See how I use them at <a
    href="http://vigorotaku.blogspot.com/2010/11/radiopoppers.html">vigorotaku.blogspot.com</a>
    I use the standard Pocket Wizard II's as well. I use the Pocket Wizards to trigger cameras.
    I hope that this helps.
    http://vigorotaku.blogspot.com/2010/11/radiopoppers.html
  • reyvee61reyvee61 Registered Users Posts: 1,877 Major grins
    edited December 10, 2010
    Cowboy Studio NPT - 04 at Amazon for 20 dollars...
    Had these for sometime now, inexpensive but they do what they're supposed to...simple triggers, reliable....
    Yo soy Reynaldo
  • JimKarczewskiJimKarczewski Registered Users Posts: 969 Major grins
    edited December 11, 2010
    reyvee61 wrote: »
    Cowboy Studio NPT - 04 at Amazon for 20 dollars...
    Had these for sometime now, inexpensive but they do what they're supposed to...simple triggers, reliable....

    I would consider the newer 2.4Ghz models from them. You can also wait a little while and get them direct from the MFG in China. Guess shipping is 2-4 weeks in the US, but you get a Transmitter + 4 receivers for $99. Plus a free remote trigger cable for your camera too...

    http://stores.ebay.com/hkyongnuophotoequipment
    Jim Karczewski - http://www.jimkarczewski.com
  • reyvee61reyvee61 Registered Users Posts: 1,877 Major grins
    edited December 11, 2010
    JimKarczewski wrote: »
    I would consider the newer 2.4Ghz models from them. You can also wait a little while and get them direct from the MFG in China. Guess shipping is 2-4 weeks in the US, but you get a Transmitter + 4 receivers for $99. Plus a free remote trigger cable for your camera too...

    http://stores.ebay.com/hkyongnuophotoequipment

    You're the second person to mention those, I better have a look see...
    Yo soy Reynaldo
  • TravisTravis Registered Users Posts: 1,472 Major grins
    edited May 12, 2011
    Radio Poppers JrX
    I made the switch recently from using the cheap cactus triggers to the Radio Popper JrX with the RP Cubes. Clear up one point - neither are ETTL or ITTL. You have to go with the more expensive Radio Popper Px System for that and at the time I purchased mine, it wasn't available for Nikon. Honestly, if you are a hobbyist, don't need a lot of range, and the occasional misfire isn't an issue, the cactus (or other ebay triggers) will work fine and they are cheap. The reason I went with the RP JrX and RP cubes was for greater reliability and that I can control the flash output power from the transceiver, something that Pocket Wizards didn't offer. Note that this functionality only exists with Nikon 600s but not the 900s. i don't shoot Canon so i can't speak to it. It really helps being able to control the output from the camera instead of having to manually adjust it at each flash head. It is the same for my Alien Bees.

    They do have some short comings. The dial controls on the transceiver for adjusting power are very sensitive. I wish they "clicked" for each incremental power adjustment but after awhile of using them, you get used to what the settings are. Still, in the heat of a shot, making adjustments can be frustrating. I also wish they had a sekonic module for firing them when metering without having to either use the meters continuous flash setting or rigging a sync cord but this is a minor issue. PW has this for sekonic but I haven't found it too limiting. I have experienced very few misfires with the Radio Poppers. All-in-all I'm happy with them.
    Travis Owney Photography
    My Images | My Lessons Learned and Other Adventures
  • Matthew SavilleMatthew Saville Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,352 Major grins
    edited May 12, 2011
    All in all, as a camera geek I feel like the Radio Popper system is more straightforward and less buggy. The RP system is 100% piggyback, it just converts the IR signal into a Radio signal, and then back again. The PW system tries to do all this extra stuff, attaching to the hotshoe of the remote flash instead of simply signaling the IR receiver on the flash.

    One advantage of the PW system is, however, that you can save yourself LOTS of light loss in high speed sync. (Allegedly, maybe Patrick can test this and confirm) I think the claim is, at like 1/8000 sec. the new PW system saves you 1-2 stops of light loss. As far as I know, no other system has this technology. There are Youtube videos explaining it I think. Anyways, it's got it's drawbacks and so far, I haven't felt compelled to purchase either system, even as a professional. I've done just fine using the built in IR system alone, and/or just using cheap Ebay triggers. I'm currently testing a new 2.4 Ghz trigger set for a friend who works with another Chinese company named Aputure. They're REALLY versatile, you can use them as a remote camera and flash trigger all at once, a feature that only the most expensive "classic pocket wizard" systems have...

    If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Laughing.gif, then you're probably better off just spending $60 on a set of Ebay triggers for now, just to practice wireless flash concepts in general...

    =Matt=
    “My first thought is always of light.” – Galen Rowell
    My SmugMug Portfolio • My Astro-Landscape Photo Blog • Dgrin Weddings Forum
  • joshhuntnmjoshhuntnm Registered Users Posts: 1,924 Major grins
    edited May 12, 2011
    I ended up going with some cheap radios from cowboystudio.com They work like a champ.
    Josh
    Las Cruces Photographer / Las Cruces Wedding Photographer
    Other site
  • MileHighAkoMileHighAko Registered Users Posts: 413 Major grins
    edited May 12, 2011
    +1 to RadioPoppers JrX system. It's an inexpensive way to get a lot of capability in an easy to use system. I have four receivers to match with two AB800s and two SB-600s (using cubes). Like Travis said, once you get used to making adjustments it is pretty much second nature. I'm very satisfied. I also have a set of cybersyncs for backup.
    http://www.adamcartwright.com
  • joshhuntnmjoshhuntnm Registered Users Posts: 1,924 Major grins
    edited May 12, 2011
    MileHighAko wrote: »
    +1 to RadioPoppers JrX system. It's an inexpensive way to get a lot of capability in an easy to use system. I have four receivers to match with two AB800s and two SB-600s (using cubes). Like Travis said, once you get used to making adjustments it is pretty much second nature. I'm very satisfied. I also have a set of cybersyncs for backup.

    I agree ETTL is over rated. you have to make adjustments with ETTL anyway. Shooting manual you have to make more adjustments, but it is not near as big of a deal as I once thought. I often find the camera or flash misreading the exposure and I say to myself, "If I am in a lighting situation that is not changing, I ought to just shoot manual. Let me get the exposure right once and don't let the camera think so much."
    Josh
    Las Cruces Photographer / Las Cruces Wedding Photographer
    Other site
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