Pocket Wizard Plus III for cable release?

Helvegr

I was watching the informational videos about the new Pocketwizard Plus III, and how the test button acts just like the camera's shutter release. Seems like since the PW can be used to fire remote cameras, it would work just fine as a cable release?

I suppose the downside is that some cable releases have other features for things like exposures greater then 30 seconds and such.

Am I missing anything? I've never used Pocket Wizards before, but was considering replacing my cheap remote triggers, and this thought crossed my mind.

perroneford

I have a number of pocket wizards. And yes, they can easily replace the cable FOR MOST THINGS. But they are a still battery operated, radio controllers. And you'll still need to hook a wire from the PW to the camera, so you aren't totally wire free for remote triggering.

Dan7312

You can put a PW Flex on the camera, add the trigger wire to it, and the remotely trigger it from another Flex or Mini.

perroneford wrote: »

I have a number of pocket wizards. And yes, they can easily replace the cable FOR MOST THINGS. But they are a still battery operated, radio controllers. And you'll still need to hook a wire from the PW to the camera, so you aren't totally wire free for remote triggering.

perroneford

Yes, that's exactly what I was saying. I trigger up to 4 remotes doing this.

Dan7312 wrote: »

You can put a PW Flex on the camera, add the trigger wire to it, and the remotely trigger it from another Flex or Mini.

richardandre

one way to use it is as a normal cable release
i went home and tested this with 1 pw II and my 1dmkII on Bulb- mode
i set the settings on my camera and connected the cable
i hold down the test button on my pwII too trigger the shutter and then "switched on" the cable (keep alive mode) and when the times was up i just switched the cable off and camera closed the shutter

think i will use this setup for night photography exposures over 30sek worked like a charm.

Zerodog

Here is the thing with PW remote camera capabilities. It is the cable that makes it all work. There are a million of them. And they are $$$$. It is really tough to make the right choice, at least it was for me with my 3 nikon bodies. I got the flex tt5 and thought this would be a snap. Wrong. You need to do things with the auto meter off timer in your camera. Both cameras need to be set to never turn the auto meter off. This sucks batteries. How fast? Not sure, I need to test with 2 fully charged batteries.

This might not be the case with the new 3 though. That thing might wake your camera up with the new half button push feature on the test button. There is a big learning curve with these suckers. I watched the videos and thought it would be no big deal. Set up a remote camera at a MX race and was really really disappointed. But next time, I will be ready. I really think I want to get the multi max. It seems like the one to have for the heavy duty stuff. It has a lot of really cool features that can be programed into it. The one I am really interested in is the interval timer for time lapse shooting. All of my cameras do it. But they are limited to 999 shots. This really sucks. Whats up that Nikon?

perroneford

Zerodog, I am not familiar with this "auto meter off" that you are referring to. I've done remotes with the PW a number of times, and I just plug them up and go. I have 4 TT5 units and 2 multimax units. They all seem to work just fine for me. But yes, the cables are pricey. Fortunately, most people don't need many.