Any benefit to using a trigger system

Steve Purcell

Steve Purcell

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Hi all, I'm quite new to using off camera flash, I have been using my 7D with a couple of Yongnuo 568, I use the pop up flash on my 7D to trigger the flash and it all works fine, would there be any benefits to using a YN622c trigger system or pocket wizard?
Regards :)
 
There are many times when you don't want the on-camera flash to operate, or you don't want line-of-sight triggering. In those circumstances you need radio.
 
My main issue with using a flash to trigger my main flashes is if your somewhere where other people's flashes are triggering yours . I normally use off camera flash when photographing the 1 st dance at weddings , I use a trigger now but before it used to be quite amusing watching the guests looking at the back of their cameras wondering why they had a pure white screen instead of a picture .
 
Yellowbelly said:
There are many times when you don't want the on-camera flash to operate, or you don't want line-of-sight triggering. In those circumstances you need radio.
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If you don't want the pop-up flash to fire, then set it to disable - then it won't fire for the actual exposure and will only send the pre-flash master signals.

Biggest advantage of radio triggers is they're reliable outdoors, with far greater range and they're immune to bright sun that washes out light-code signals.
 
i just order the pingpong triggers from amazon - ordered yesterday, came today. much better than my ebay cheapos, stronger signal and much better quality build too.
 
HoppyUK said:
If you don't want the pop-up flash to fire, then set it to disable - then it won't fire for the actual exposure and will only send the pre-flash master signals.
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Ouch! Forgot about that. It's been a long time since I used the on-camera flash. (Must be getting old ... where's my teeth? Oh yes, on the hall stand.:oops: :$)
 
Steve Purcell said:
Hi all, I'm quite new to using off camera flash, I have been using my 7D with a couple of Yongnuo 568, I use the pop up flash on my 7D to trigger the flash and it all works fine, would there be any benefits to using a YN622c trigger system or pocket wizard?
Regards :)
Click to expand...

With a trigger system like Pocket wizard you don't have stay in sight of the speedlights to trigger them...
 
Off the top of my head... from a technical perspective: Range issues, ambient light issues (try triggering via the pop up on a very bright day over some distance), line of sight, interference from other flash lighting, draining the main battery on your camera unnecessarily & potentially slowing time between shots due to recycle time on the onboard flash. I'm a fan of radio triggers ;)
 
Plus with triggers your not restricted to 1/250 which is the limit for most pop up flashes. Provided your triggers support hss.
 
kar1 said:
Plus with triggers your not restricted to 1/250 which is the limit for most pop up flashes. Provided your triggers support hss.
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Thanks that's reason enough for me to get some triggers, I seem unable to use 2nd curtain when off camera with my set up, would a trigger rectify this ? Or am I doing something wrong ?
Cheers
 
kar1 said:
Plus with triggers your not restricted to 1/250 which is the limit for most pop up flashes. Provided your triggers support hss.
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Steve Purcell said:
Thanks that's reason enough for me to get some triggers, I seem unable to use 2nd curtain when off camera with my set up, would a trigger rectify this ? Or am I doing something wrong ?
Cheers
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Thats not quite right. Sync speed will depend a lot on your sync speed, lights, triggers etc etc. Above 1/250 you'll lose a lot of power as well.

2nd curtain is normally dependent on shutter speed anyway. It only really works at speeds below which both shutter curtains are fully open (about 1/30) which might be whats causing the issues
 
Steve Purcell said:
Thanks that's reason enough for me to get some triggers, I seem unable to use 2nd curtain when off camera with my set up, would a trigger rectify this ? Or am I doing something wrong ?
Cheers
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HSS is primarily a flash gun feature, though you also need a camera with the ability to trigger it at the right moment. Some lower end Nikon DSLRs don't have this in any case, and with Canon remote HSS is not available when using the pop-up as master. However, it is available via all other wireless TTL master triggers, radio or light-code, that I'm aware of.

boyfalldown said:
Thats not quite right. Sync speed will depend a lot on your sync speed, lights, triggers etc etc. Above 1/250 you'll lose a lot of power as well.

2nd curtain is normally dependent on shutter speed anyway. It only really works at speeds below which both shutter curtains are fully open (about 1/30) which might be whats causing the issues
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Yes, second-curtain sync doesn't actually function until shutter speeds drop below 1/30sec, even when it's enabled, and it's not really effective or noticeably different to first curtain sync until speeds get longer than that, like 1/8sec or so.

For some unknown reason, wireless remote second curtain sync is not available with any Canon-brand triggers, including the new 600EX-RT. It is available with all third-party TTL radio triggers, or certainly most of them.
 
Steve Purcell said:
Thanks for the responses, my question regarding 2nd curtain is that the menu option in camera is not available when flash is off camera but is available with the flash on camera
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Yes, as I said above. The only way to get remote second curtain sync with Canon is either to use a dedicated cord (that acts like the flash is on-camera) or a third-party E-TTL radio trigger.

Short answer to your OP is YN-622 triggers. You mention PW, and they have some very cool features that can make a useful difference if you need them, ie optimised second curtain sync, optimised HSS, and optimised tail hyper-sync. But otherwise they're expensive, a bit clunky, and have some RF interference issues (cutting range with some Canon guns).
 
HoppyUK said:
Yes, as I said above. The only way to get remote second curtain sync with Canon is either to use a dedicated cord (that acts like the flash is on-camera) or a third-party E-TTL radio trigger.

Short answer to your OP is YN-622 triggers. You mention PW, and they have some very cool features that can make a useful difference if you need them, ie optimised second curtain sync, optimised HSS, and optimised tail hyper-sync. But otherwise they're expensive, a bit clunky, and have some RF interference issues (cutting range with some Canon guns).
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622's on order :)
 
HoppyUK said:
For some unknown reason, wireless remote second curtain sync is not available with any Canon-brand triggers, including the new 600EX-RT.
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How bloody annoying is that. Why wouldn't they include it on the new flashes, surely it's not that difficult technically? It's not like they aren't charging enough for the units.

I've just bought a bunch of 600EX-RTs anyway, but I'm sure the lack of second curtain on the radio is going to **** me off from time to time.
 
Jayst84 said:
How bloody annoying is that. Why wouldn't they include it on the new flashes, surely it's not that difficult technically? It's not like they aren't charging enough for the units.

I've just bought a bunch of 600EX-RTs anyway, but I'm sure the lack of second curtain on the radio is going to **** me off from time to time.
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It makes no sense. Clearly there's no technical reason.

I have speculated before that it may be an ancient patents issue, but nobody has been able to confirm that. Or maybe it's some historical backwards compatibility thing, but either way it needs sorting. Yongnuo are shaking the tree these days, and leading the way with the right products at the right prices.
 
If it's an ancient patent issue surely it would have run out by now and be longer relevant? Although it would depend on how ancient, ancient was.

Out of interest are you hoppy from scoobynet? I used to post on there years ago but rarely go there now.
 
Yellowbelly said:
There are many times when you don't want the on-camera flash to operate, or you don't want line-of-sight triggering. In those circumstances you need radio.
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Or you can put an infra red filter over the on camera flash. An optical trigger will still see it.


Steve.
 
I do a lot of long exposure light painting. I want to trigger the flash independently of the shutter so I use triggers. Also a lot easier for OCF when the flash is held to the side...
 
Gary Kinghorn said:
If it's an ancient patent issue surely it would have run out by now and be longer relevant? Although it would depend on how ancient, ancient was.

Out of interest are you hoppy from scoobynet? I used to post on there years ago but rarely go there now.
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Yes, Scoobynet (y) There are a few of us one here :)
 
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