Pocket Wizards

ILockert

Ok this may be a long post.

I currently have a Nikon D300 with a Sb-800 and an Sb-600 the I fire from the D300. Im about to pick up to more flashes and I like Nikon CLS system but Im not to happy with always having to be in sight of the inferred things. So I was thinking time for Pocket wizards, but Before I spend the money on them I wanted to find something out. Controling the flashes can it be done from camera or will I have to do like I do with my ebay goodies and walk around to make adjustments.

I also like my ebay triggers and recivers I just hate that I have to keep adjust the flashes from the flashes and cant do all my changes from the top of the camera.

TIA for the help.

Ivan

SloYerRoll

ILockert wrote:

Ok this may be a long post.

I currently have a Nikon D300 with a Sb-800 and an Sb-600 the I fire from the D300. Im about to pick up to more flashes and I like Nikon CLS system but Im not to happy with always having to be in sight of the inferred things. So I was thinking time for Pocket wizards, but Before I spend the money on them I wanted to find something out. Controlling the flashes can it be done from camera or will I have to do like I do with my ebay goodies and walk around to make adjustments.

I also like my ebay triggers and recivers I just hate that I have to keep adjust the flashes from the flashes and cant do all my changes from the top of the camera.

TIA for the help.

Ivan

No ttl data is transmitted with PW's. If you need to make adjustments. You'll need to hoof it to your individual strobes.

Ever consider the SU-800 instead? It gives you gnats @ss control at your fingertips and is more reliable than a body or SB-800 in commander mode.

Still, NOTHING on the market is as reliable as PW's though. They are a great tool to have.

ILockert

SloYerRoll wrote:

Ever consider the SU-800 instead? It gives you gnats @ss control at your fingertips and is more reliable than a body or SB-800 in commander mode.
.

I tought about a SU-800 but never really heard any good or bad reports on it, then again I only wanted it for about a day then start looking at the PW.
I may just stick wiht the Ebay specials for now and put the money towards more strobes.
My ebay ones have a decent range and haven't missed fired but a couple of time.

aktpics

ILockert wrote:

I tought about a SU-800 but never really heard any good or bad reports on it, then again I only wanted it for about a day then start looking at the PW.
I may just stick wiht the Ebay specials for now and put the money towards more strobes.
My ebay ones have a decent range and haven't missed fired but a couple of time.

Check out what Alien Bees is planning on releasing at the end of the summer. Looks pretty interesting, but won't work with the lights I already have.

SloYerRoll

aktpics wrote:

Check out what Alien Bees is planning on releasing at the end of the summer. Looks pretty interesting, but won't work with the lights I already have.

I can't wait to see a review on these. It's about time (hopefully) PW stopped monopolizing this market. I know there are a few other brands theat "compete" but this will help bring prices down if it's comparable to PW's.

If it's any good, I'd have no problems selling my remaining 3 PW's and scooping up a few of these and having some extra cash for goodies.

aktpics

SloYerRoll wrote:

I can't wait to see a review on these. It's about time (hopefully) PW stopped monopolizing this market. I know there are a few other brands theat "compete" but this will help bring prices down if it's comparable to PW's.

If it's any good, I'd have no problems selling my remaining 3 PW's and scooping up a few of these and having some extra cash for goodies.

Yeah, I may jump on that bandwagon too.

cmason

How about a radiopopper?

http://radiopopper.com/products/view/radiopopper_p1

SloYerRoll

cmason wrote:

How about a radiopopper?

http://radiopopper.com/products/view/radiopopper_p1

If that's a general question pointed at all:
Tried em.
Garbage IMO.

ian408

I'm a PW fan. Reliable and easy to use.

If you're using them to control studio strobes, you probably don't need TTL
functionality as you've carefully metered the scene and adjusted the lights
accordingly. I think the same is true when using them with things like the
430ex.

dangin

i have 3 PW II plus and 3 SB-800 flash units. i never use CLS anymore. it just doesn't work well for me. line of sight is oftentimes difficult to accomplish when i'm shooting weddings. CLS doesn't seem to like working outdoors for me either. i set my SB-800 units to manual power output and adjust the beam width accordingly before i use trigger them remotely. if i need to make adjustments, rather than running around to each flash head, i'll just adjust my exposure in camera. the distance the PW covers is just incredible. they're not cheap as the radiopopper or the skyport devices but the PW II plus are transceivers and don't require seperate receivers and transmitters.

cmason

SloYerRoll wrote:

If that's a general question pointed at all:
Tried em.
Garbage IMO.

Really, didnt think it was shipping till June??

rwells

IE: Radiopoppers

SloYerRoll wrote:

If that's a general question pointed at all:
Tried em.
Garbage IMO.

Really

---

Are you sure about that statement?


Do elaborate...

SloYerRoll

rwells wrote:

IE: Radiopoppers



Really

---

Are you sure about that statement?


Do elaborate...

Good catch Rwells and camason.

I somehow crossed wires and was thinking Elinchrom. Which I do think is garbage.
I got to shoot w/ them (Elinchrom) and out of 500 shots. 78 of them were misfires.
That's a 16% misfire rate.

Sorry about the mixup though :cry

PhotoGuy40

I see a potential problem with the Alien Bees radio triggers.
Most wireless routers & cordless phones operate at the 2.4GHz band
I presume this might cause an interference issue with other devices.

Just a thought

sellis

I've been thinking about something along these lines myself. Not to hijack this thread, but can the SU-800 control older flashes like the SB-26 or SB-28? The PW's can though, right? And can either trigger studio lights like White Lightinings?

Thanks,
Sam

dangin wrote:

i have 3 PW II plus and 3 SB-800 flash units. i never use CLS anymore. it just doesn't work well for me. line of sight is oftentimes difficult to accomplish when i'm shooting weddings. CLS doesn't seem to like working outdoors for me either. i set my SB-800 units to manual power output and adjust the beam width accordingly before i use trigger them remotely. if i need to make adjustments, rather than running around to each flash head, i'll just adjust my exposure in camera. the distance the PW covers is just incredible. they're not cheap as the radiopopper or the skyport devices but the PW II plus are transceivers and don't require seperate receivers and transmitters.

dangin

sellis wrote:

I've been thinking about something along these lines myself. Not to hijack this thread, but can the SU-800 control older flashes like the SB-26 or SB-28? The PW's can though, right? And can either trigger studio lights like White Lightinings?

Thanks,
Sam

the older sb-26 and sb-28 do not have nikon's CLS and therefore cannot be controlled remotely by the su-800. i'm not sure about the sb-26, but i believe the sb-28 has a pc sync connector which can connect to a pw. pw units can trigger other brands of strobes as long as they have compatible sync connectors (like white lighting, alien bees, bowens, elinchrom, photogenic, etc.)

SloYerRoll

dangin wrote:

the older sb-26 and sb-28 do not have nikon's CLS and therefore cannot be controlled remotely by the su-800. i'm not sure about the sb-26, but i believe the sb-28 has a pc sync connector which can connect to a pw. pw units can trigger other brands of strobes as long as they have compatible sync connectors (like white lighting, alien bees, bowens, elinchrom, photogenic, etc.)

SB-24's also have a PC connection. Unsure about the SB-26 is or not. But that's easy enough to figure out.

sellis

SloYerRoll wrote:

SB-24's also have a PC connection. Unsure about the SB-26 is or not. But that's easy enough to figure out.

Thanks guys. I didn't know if the SU had something that went on the remote flash or if it was just a commander-type unit.