Help me get it right 1st time with wireless triggers

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photopaul

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Paul
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So I have a Canon 5d Mk1.

I am wanting to buy a hotshoe flash, probably the 580EX II and a wireless flash trigger. The canon one seems really expensive (ST-E2), and the Phottix Stratto II seems to offer me what I need, I think. Do I have to go with Canon for it to adjust the flash power or is that what the TTL thing is about on the Stratto?

If it helps, I am wanting to do some outdoor climbing/bouldering shots, so I will be mainly using the flash away from the camera, and the camera could be 20m away from the flash, but quite close to a climber for example.

I just don't want to spend money on a trigger that i'm left wanting with, at the same time I don't want to buy something that's unnecessarily expensive.

Thanks for any feedback this may get.

Oh, and keep it simple please :)
 
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There are a few options:

itsdavedotnet's suggestion of the rf603 is the cheapest option and works very well - but it limits you to setting the power of your flash manually (and on the flash itself).

The phottix Stratos are a step up in price and functionality. They allow you to use off camera flashes if you set the power manually, whilst having an on-camera flash using TTL. You can't use TTL flash off-camera.

The ST-E2 and its non-Canon equivalents (which are slightly cheaper) allow full TTL off-camera, but at two costs. One is the price - the other is that it uses infra-red signals rather than radio signals. This means that you need line of sight (direct or reflected) which limits your range indoors to about 10-15m and outdoors to about half that. In direct sunlight you may find that the range is down to just a couple of meters.

The top-end options are the Pocket-Wizards (Flex and/or Mini) or RadioPoppers - they are pricier (approx £350 for a transmitter and receiver) but give you full TTL off-camera using radio signals. I get around a 60m range outdoors without issues.
 
Mark thank you so much for that answer. Didn't really want to spend that kind of money.

I assume that if I just used a cheapo trigger, I have to set the power of the flash manually on the flash head, is that correct?
 
photopaul said:
I assume that if I just used a cheapo trigger, I have to set the power of the flash manually on the flash head, is that correct?
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They might be el cheapo, but they work fine. At least they sync super at 1/160, a sliver of shutter curtain visible at 1/200.
 
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