pocketwizard alternatives?

[duncand]

Hi,
Anyone recommend a pocketwizard alternative? There a bit to expensive for me to buy three of the little chaps.

The inbuilt infa red control is not very good and has failed me so looking for alternatives.

Thanks.

[Martin]

Re: pocketwizard alternatives?

Firing what Duncan?

Speedlites or studio heads?

If the latter have you had a look at the Elinchrom system?

If the former, why have you ruled out the STE2?

Martin

[duncand]

Re: pocketwizard alternatives?

ha, sorry, I should have given more info. Ok, I've a 5d mk2 with 580ex2 and two 430ex on stands. So do would I need one transmitter and two receivers?

The Elinchrom Skyports seem to get good reviews.

Does the STE2 work out of line of sight and in dark rooms? How many if these units would I need?

[carregwen]

Re: pocketwizard alternatives?

I use an STE2 for speedlites, and it works pretty well in a studio. Haven't tried it much outdoors, where I think it's less effective as it may have no bounce walls for the IR signal. I thought they triggered however many speedlites are within range, but not sure on that.

I also have a Skyport Universal set (receiver and transmitter) Cost £125 a few weeks ago when I got mine. Works great on all studio lights, not just Elinchrom. I rang the Flash Centre before I bought it to check.

The Skyport won't work with a 430EX flash which doesn't have a synch cable port for the Skyport receiver. Have a look at this thread which offers a solution to that. http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=705149

I think with the 580ex2 you have a sync port? So the Skyport may work directly with those units. I thought the 580 flash can act as a master to trigger other flashes? Having said that, the advantage of the ST-E2 is that it's very light on the camera.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-Speedlite-Transmitter-ST-E2-Review.aspx

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-Speedlite-Wireless-Remote-Transmitter/dp/B0000C4G95

This is a good one... http://www.eosdoc.com/manuals/?q=ETTLRx

[Donavan]

Re: pocketwizard alternatives?

ST E2 works fine indoors and the will trigger behind doors and walls although this depends on the placement of your speedlights. The IR beams bounce around nicely.

My personal experience is that sometimes you just need to turn the camera if it isn't triggering eg to turn the ST E2 to the other side of the camera when shooting in portrait mode, so instead of wrist up turn your camera hand wrist down.. of course it depends on what side you have your speedlights as well. Hope that makes sense!

Outdoors the range drops off very quickly if there is no absolute direct line of sight. I use the photoflex xs softbox and now just reverse place my 580ex so that the IR receiver is facing backwards for better line of sight. Of course that makes adjustments to the speedlight a bit more tricky with the lcd facing towards the box, but once set up it works fine.

HTH

[EOS_Jim]

Re: pocketwizard alternatives?

I have both the ST-E2 and Skyports (which are used all the time in the studio). I can use them too for firing my 580EX (with hotshoe adapter). It is a goal of mine to start using the speedlites more often though and then I'll be able to see whether I'm happy to use manual (with the skyports) or ETTL (with the ST-E2).

A couple of issues I have with the ST-E2 though If you are slightly forward of the softbox, the ST-E2 may not fire as it doesn't see the IR beam. This is a pain. And also as noted above, when using a box, you may need to turn the flash around making any adjustments annoying.

The skyports would get around this - but with the loss of ETTL.

I would have looked at Radio Poppers but there is no UK version yet. PWs are just so expensive!

[duncand]

Re: pocketwizard alternatives?

I'm hiring a set of pocket wizards mini & flex from London Flash Centre next weekend, I'll let you know what I think.