Remote flash triggering - how/options?

[johnmc]

Hi guys,

I'm keen to setup some remote flashes (using my speedlite and old hotshoe units I have) for some "garage space studio" shots and to be honest I have absolutely no idea on how best to trigger them.

I know my 10D has a PC sync connection (I'm yet to find anything that will connect to it) - but it seems there's lots of other options available including wireless options and even some basic optical slave triggers.

Whilst not neccessarily going down the path of these particular units (although they do seem to be a cheap way to try out the options, I'm not expecting awesome build quality) some of the things I have found include:

Optical slave trigger
Wireless Trigger with remote

I'm leaning toward the wireless trigger, or possibly a combination of both, as without an off camera extension or wireless trigger, the optical slave trigger means my primary flash is stuck on the camera.

Any thoughts or recommendations welcome

Cheers,

John

[J.Davis]

I bought one of those wireless triggers and it didn't work so returned it and found this one on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Wireless-Hot-Sho ... 6|294%3A50
It works both by slave and wireless - good value I think for a starter kit.

[MATT]

I grabbed some wireless triggers from Poon off flea bay.. Seem to work fine.

MATT

[tntman]

I grabbed some wireless triggers from Poon off flea bay.. Seem to work fine.

MATT

Whats the working range on these units? Are they really 30m with line of sight?

[surenj]

IF you have Canon speed lights they can sometimes interfere with the flea bay (AND new pocket wizards!) due to them being RF noisy!

I found that poon's triggers are the most reliable. Some of the first gen ebay one's were hit and miss [it took me several months to find a frequency that worked consistently]

[johnmc]

Thanks for the replies guys,

looks like I might have to get some from Poon... anyone care to share his fleabay details? (or is that what J Davis posted?)

Cheers

[whitey]

heres the ebay link for hksupplies which is poons business. FYI once you are a full member of this forum you can purchase from him through dslrusers. Details are in the FAQ faq.php

Edit: the link would be useful http://stores.shop.ebay.com.au/Hong-Kon ... QQ_armrsZ1

[gstark]

FYI once you are a full member of this forum you can purchase from him through dslrusers.

And at even better prices.

[tntman]

IF you have Canon speed lights they can sometimes interfere with the flea bay (AND new pocket wizards!) due to them being RF noisy!

I found that poon's triggers are the most reliable. Some of the first gen ebay one's were hit and miss [it took me several months to find a frequency that worked consistently]

Is it the PT-04 MK II??? Is this one the most reliable of the lot?? Yes I do have Canon 430EXII and 580EXII flashes.

Is this better than a STE-2 transmitter???

[J.Davis]

The triggers on HKSupplies site are the same ones that I had fail, and they are only radio operated. The ones I refered to seem to be better built too. My $0.02.

[surenj]

I will post a photo of Poons trigger tonight. I am not sure of model numbers! [They are quite generic ]

[scoobydoo]

I just received my Catcus v4 triggers from gadget infinity a few days ago. They aren't as cheap as the DX's triggers there (also considerably cheaper as pocket wizards..) but early usage of it seems to work just really great!.. Even triggers my 300w strobes You can never have enough remote flashes.. hehehe

http://www.gadgetinfinity.com/product.p ... 274&page=1

[surenj]

Here is poon's trigger. I use it with my 430EX with reasonable success 95% and 100% success with studio strobes.
[url]
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/RT-16-16-Channel ... 1|294%3A30[/url]

I seem to have misplaced mine for the moment!! I was using the 430EX to trigger the studio flash today!

[surenj]

Found it

[Alpha_7]

surenj - what sort of useable range are you getting from the triggers. I'm on a knife edge to take a plunge with pocketwizards, but give how often I may or may not be using them its a lot of money to drop, I've just been wary of all kinds of "ebay" triggers.

[surenj]

Alpha, it depends on batteries.

Fresh batteries - around 10 m ( I haven't tried any further )
Rechargable and slightly old batteries - much less ( 5m or so inconsistent )

In short these have been great for indoors and very short distances outdoors provided the batteries were fresh.

I wouldn't be doing ANY pro work using these. Can't rely on them at that sort of level. But they are great for learning off camera flash. [Canon makes it $258 more expensive for us than the nikon equivalents = built in]

[rex]

hi. i hope you excuse me for cutting in in your thread, i just have question:

can a remote trigger fire one nikon and one canon flash simultaneously? :

trigger on nikon body—> slave1:nikonsb800 + slave2: canon flash

afterwards:
trigger on canon body—> slave1:nikonsb800 + slave2: canon flash

i wonder if this work. then me and a friend will just take turn on using the setup.

[gstark]

can a remote trigger fire one nikon and one canon flash simultaneously? :

Hi Rex,

Basically, yes.

Using the Phottix Tetra as an example (these are what I have leftover from PMA in June) the kits consist of one trigger, and either one or two slaves.

The trigger sits on the camera hotshoe and fires a RF pulse to its slaves.

The slaves can connect to the strobes in a variety of ways, depending upon the strobes' setups. For instance, each slave might be connected to the strobes' hotshoe foot, or they might be connected via the pc sync cord.

As long as you're not expecting to use any of the camera flash system functionality (CLS or eTTL), then what you're proposing is a very simple task. Set the strobes to traditional A mode, or to M mode, and then set the power and balance the lights' output, and you're done.

And if you and your friend each buy a trigger, you should be able to to take turns without waiting to swap it over. And going back to the Tetra kits, if you each buy one of single receiver kits, you're both ready to go.

[aim54x]

The PT-04II Tetra looks to be a better option than the RT-16 Triton that Surenj has as it has both hotshoe and PC Sync. Tempted by this, but I think I am going to go with a SC-28/29 and CLS to get my kit working for now.

[surenj]

Also, have a look at this for extending the range of your trigger on a budget

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lotto1/472239389/

[rex]

As long as you're not expecting to use any of the camera flash system functionality (CLS or eTTL), then what you're proposing is a very simple task. Set the strobes to traditional A mode, or to M mode, and then set the power and balance the lights' output, and you're done.

And if you and your friend each buy a trigger, you should be able to to take turns without waiting to swap it over. And going back to the Tetra kits, if you each buy one of single receiver kits, you're both ready to go.

im back w a trigger.

initially i was planning to buy just one trigger kit, thinking that when attached to remote A (nikon sb800) will relay the pulse to remote B (canon 580EXII, w/o receiver) by just enabling its built in slave function, if ever there is. but the salesguy said i can do that the other way around.

so now me and my friend each has remote trigger kit (not phottix). but still cant make it work. the case right now is i have a kit with 4-switch channel and she has a 2-switch channel model. could this be the cause? do i need to match the trigger models/brand to fire the canon flash? what more if i buy another sigma flash for my self.



TIA

[gstark]

do i need to match the trigger models/brand to fire the canon flash?

Most likely, yes.

With different brands, they may each be transmitting on different frequencies, and with the different channel settings that you've described, the likelihood of matching channel settings is probably in low zeros or less.

Buying a different flash head is not the answer to your problem: having matching trigger transmitters and receivers is.

[surenj]

Dude,

As Gary said, you need ONE transmitter and MULTIPLE receivers (one for each flash) of the SAME type of trigger. Buy all in one go. If you have nikon flashes with SU4 function (SB600 onwards I think) then you could potentially use them as optical slaves but reliability may be low in bright sunlight.

Suren

[DVEous]

... Obsolete ...

[aim54x]

The Sb-800 and the SB-900 have the SU-4 (optical trigger mode), Very useful I have to admit.

Have a look at the Nissin Di622 if your after another unit for off camera flash work...they are cheap ($200ish of ebay), powerful, have an optical trigger as well as being completely compatible with iTTL (or eTTL if you get the Canon version). The Nissin Di866 is a bit more exy but is meant to be CLS compatible as well!

[rex]

thanks so much guys and for the thread starter

Buying a different flash head is not the answer to your problem: having matching trigger transmitters and receivers is.

As Gary said, you need ONE transmitter and MULTIPLE receivers (one for each flash) of the SAME type of trigger. Buy all in one go.

i wish i could buy just the receiver. i think they always come in set (at least here in hong kong).

The Sb-800 and the SB-900 have the SU-4 (optical trigger mode)

probably id buy the sb600 and stick to CLS when shooting alone.

[gstark]

As Gary said, you need ONE transmitter and MULTIPLE receivers (one for each flash) of the SAME type of trigger. Buy all in one go.

i wish i could buy just the receiver. i think they always come in set (at least here in hong kong).

You can buy the Phottix receivers on their own, and in HKG too. Talk with HK Supplies, who are HKG based, and the manufacturers of them.

But unless you already have Phottix transmitters, buying just their receivers would not be a worthwhile exercise for you, for the reasons already noted.