430EX off camera w/ hotshoe adaptor...?

  • Thread starter englandshottest2
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englandshottest2

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Am trying to trigger my 430EX off camera, and am a little confused, (as usual) on how about to do it.... so I am wondering if these products (in theory) should work??

item 1 - the hotshoe/pc sync adaptor (for sliding the 430EX onto, and for plugging in the wireless receiver via the sync socket, since the flash doesnt have a pc sync socket like the 580EXII, and then for attaching it to a tripod)

item 2 & item 3- the transmitter & receiver units (transmitter on camera's hotshoe and receiver attached via the pc sync lead of the unit which the 430EX is on)

I have the ST-E2, but the reliability of it is cr*p basically, i just want something simple to do full manual, as sometimes I find its alot easier to use the speedlites rather than the Bowen's heads w/ battery pack for location work! I've also heard that the Elinchrom skyports don't work with the 430EX...

Any advice appreciated :).
 
thanks. okay fingers crossed all shall work :)! as who wants to lug around a 20kilo battery generator pack for just a portrait session lol
 
I have a 430EX II and I trigger it using some Cactus V2s 'eBay' triggers from Gadget Infinity and they have triggered them every single time so far with no miss fires *touch wood*. The best thing is you can get the trigger and receiver for around £20-25 delivered :) (more if you want extra receivers)
 
yes, i had some of those, but they would cause the flashes to fire like non stop for a series of 20 flashes, before i even took a pic! - some electrical fault or something i guess. but i ended up binning them! i have actually now invested in 2 x Pocketwizard transceiver units, one can plug straight into the 580EXII's sync port, and other will be used on camera, and 430EX set to slave. I also bought two of the hotshoe adapter units to act as the stand to go into the lighting stand for the flashes, but also incase there's some fault with the sync port on the 580EXII and the Pocketwizard doesnt sync when plugged into it!! Wish I could have gotten Skyports, but they apparently don't work with 430EX on slave!
 
Why do you want to use the 430ex on slave? You can't use any ETTL features with the pocketwizards or the skyports so slave doesn't serve any purpose does it? Or can you fire the 430EX from the 580EXII as a slave when connected to the PW?

Also wouldn't it have been cheaper to buy a skyport transmitter and two receivers than two pocketwizard transcievers?

So many questions, sorry!
 
I never use ETTL, just manual, as I don't see it's point, as I like the full control like a mini studio strobe, thus why 430EX as slave- just means it will fire when it sees the other strobe fire, which would be connected directly to the pocketwizard.
yes it would be cheaper to buy a skyport trasmitter and two receivers, but there would be no point to this, as the 430EX can't be used with one unless you have a hotshoe adapter, as it doesn't have a pc sync like the 580EXII does, now if you had 2 x 580EXII's, then you'd only need one receiver skyport, as the other could be on slave mode.
You then may be thinking why don't you get just one skyport receiver & transmitter, to be connected directly to the 580EXII's sync socket, and 430EX on slave.... well to my knowledge you cannot use the skyport in the sync socket of the 580EXII, as it doesn't fit, so again, would need the hotshoe adapter to plug into, if that would fit (not sure).

But just got my PW transceiver units today, and they are great.
 
I see what you are saying but I've got both my 430ex and my 580exII firing off my skyports. The 430 is off a hotshoe (which I know you said you didn't want to do) but the 580 is using the pc port. I had to do a bit of soldering to make my own connector but it works perfectly.

Also, personally I'd rather go down the fully radio wireless route as you're not going to be relying on line of sight between the two flash guns. It's a bit late for that for you so it's good you like the PWs and hope it's all working well for you.
 
yea, i couldnt face soldering! lol
i've got some hotshoe adapters comming, and plan to get a few more PW units to not have to reply on the slave mechanism too.
 
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