Pocket wizards? how . where. why?

J

jolsterj

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,754
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi

Tell me about pocket wizards, how, where and why?

How do they work?
Where can I use them?
Why should I get one?

Can I use it on a Nikon D40x?
 
One sits on your camera and sends a radio signal to another attached to your flashgun

Anywhere - probably not in flight though

Cos you have too much money, Skyports do the same much cheaper; other than that where you need to light something with a flashgun not attached to your camera

Yes

:D

DD
 
They are the "gold standard"- meaning they are the most expensive. They do the same job as "ebay triggers" which are about £20 for a set, compared to £120 per pocket wizard. Some people swear by them (usually professionals).
 
Except eBay triggers are pretty unreliable and not the best thing to use if you are being paid to shoot.

Also, you can hold a PW in your hand and press the button, using it to trigger the one on your camera some distance away which in turn triggers the shutter. You'll see this setup behind goals at football matches.

Most general use though is to get the flash off your camera to create interesting lighting effects.
 
There are also different versions of the PW's Jo.

The MkIs had one transmitter and you needed a receiver for each flash, they did specific jobs and did it well.

With the MKII's they can be used as a transmitter/and/or a receiver so no worries about which is which, just pop 'em on and off you go. They have a brilliant range, like 100m and just WORK! All manual though.

They have just released a new system called the miniTTL and Flex5. The mini fits on the camera and the flex goes on the flash. They do ETTL as well as manual but be careful, they only do Canon ATM and there are report of unreliability around (I sent my mini back because the would not work with my plus II)

There are plently of cheaper alternatives and if you are not doing the weddings any more it might be worth investigating. Flash in The Pan is the blokie on here who does all things off camera flash wise.

Hope that helps.
 
Ali you are blinding me with science.:'(


Simple terms please:thumbs:

You are correct no more weddings etc...in fact just delivered the last album.


I have a nikon d40x now for messing about with.

Could anybody give me a link to what would be suitable, then I can investigate from there.:thumbs:
 
Google Pocket wizards youtube Some vids there will give you an idea on how to use them etc.
 
Tobers said:
Except eBay triggers are pretty unreliable and not the best thing to use if you are being paid to shoot.

Also, you can hold a PW in your hand and press the button, using it to trigger the one on your camera some distance away which in turn triggers the shutter. You'll see this setup behind goals at football matches.

Most general use though is to get the flash off your camera to create interesting lighting effects.
Click to expand...

Sorry I didn't mean to infer that the ebay triggers were just as good- they aren't (much like anything on ebay). I use ones from Flash on here and have had no problems as yet :)
 
A perfectly acceptable alternative (though a little less well documented) is the Bowens RadioPulsar trigger.

They come in ever so slightly cheaper than the PW's and still do the same job.

Plus, they may help you to find a free channel at a crowded footie match, as I believe they work on a slightly different frequency to Pocketwizards.
 
Good timing with this thread :D

I've been looking at PW's for a few days now... I like the idea of using them for remote shutter release as well as flash but realistically I would probably never use that feature.

The reports of shoddy build quality on the PW's is probably what puts me off more than anything. I've had enough cheap n nasty radio shutter releases to know exactly what people are describing... which is ok, because for 12 quid I don't expect it to be built like a Rolls Royce but for 300 quid I do...

The AlienBees Cybersyncs seemed to get very good writeups but it seems the manufacturer has become all xenophobic and now won't ship outside of the USA.
 
jolsterj said:
Hi

Tell me about pocket wizards, how, where and why?

How do they work?
Where can I use them?
Why should I get one?

Can I use it on a Nikon D40x?
Click to expand...

1. 100% reliably :)
2. Anywhere
3. See 1 and 2

Use them every day and never had a problem in 5 years.
 
desantnik said:
Good timing with this thread :D

I've been looking at PW's for a few days now... I like the idea of using them for remote shutter release as well as flash but realistically I would probably never use that feature.

The reports of shoddy build quality on the PW's is probably what puts me off more than anything. I've had enough cheap n nasty radio shutter releases to know exactly what people are describing... which is ok, because for 12 quid I don't expect it to be built like a Rolls Royce but for 300 quid I do...

The AlienBees Cybersyncs seemed to get very good writeups but it seems the manufacturer has become all xenophobic and now won't ship outside of the USA.
Click to expand...

I've never heard any reports of shoddy build quality, not with the regular Pocket Wizards, the TTL ones seem to be causing a bit of grief (can you hear Ali's teeth grinding? :lol:) but the regular ones are spot-on :thumbs:
 
Grrrrr, that's the noise of my teeth grinding! lol

I got my money back on a MiniTTL because it just utterly failed to communicate with my plus IIs.

The plusII's are the dog's danglies though, work at insane ranges, fire each and every time without fail.

I did a shoot with DiddyDave one day and we had a Lencarta head with a fresnel on it mounted on a balcony above where we were shooting, David took himself off to the gents and deciding there was actually some interesting architecture in there took a pic and "Ping" came from the light, one floor above through walls that were feet thick and about 3 90deg turns. Absolutely brilliant bits of kit. :)

I'll be looking for more PlusII's :)
 
jolsterj said:
Ali you are blinding me with science.:'(

Simple terms please :thumbs:
Click to expand...

The basic Pocket Wizard Plus II is a radio transceiver that will fire a flash or camera remotely, at some distance, in bright light (unlike optical systems) and even through walls. You need two, one on camera and other on the flash. They fire either off the camera's x-sync, or manually off the button. US and EC versions are incompatible as they use slightly different frequencies.

They are expensive US made and while some are critical of the build quality, they have an excellent reputation for reliability. They also have a high-speed processor which means there is no reduction in x-sync speed, unlike most (all?) cheaper radio triggers.

TBH, for most people I don't see they offer any advantage over the Yongnuo RF-602 for a tenth of the price (not to be confused with the even cheaper 'ebay' RF-04 type which don't work with some flash/camera combinations). I have both and will be selling my PWs as they are incompatible with my five RF-602s, which are a neater design and like the PWs can also be used as a camera trigger with the cord supplied. Only slight drawback that I have found with the RF-602 is a slight reduction in x-sync speed, down from 1/250sec on my Canon 40D to 1/200sec.

The new TTL metering Pocket Wizards are altogether different, only Canon E-TTL at the moment - Nikon has been delayed, promised early next year. These things are amazingly clever and promise to do everything that E-TTL does, and a few extras (like Hypersync - even higher x-sync than normal) plus all the other advantages of radio triggering.

Unfortunately, they have been fraught with problems, in particular RF interference from some Canon flash guns which effectively reduces the range to little more than you get with Canon's own built in optical system :thinking: The solutions they have come up with, including a massive shield that fits over the flash, are unimpressive. Unless Canon (and others) decide to supress the RF radiation of their guns internally, I think PW will have to change their frequency to make them work properly, but that would mean old and new PWs would be incompatible.

desantnik said:
Good timing with this thread :D

I've been looking at PW's for a few days now... I like the idea of using them for remote shutter release as well as flash but realistically I would probably never use that feature.

The reports of shoddy build quality on the PW's is probably what puts me off more than anything. I've had enough cheap n nasty radio shutter releases to know exactly what people are describing... which is ok, because for 12 quid I don't expect it to be built like a Rolls Royce but for 300 quid I do...

The AlienBees Cybersyncs seemed to get very good writeups but it seems the manufacturer has become all xenophobic and now won't ship outside of the USA.
Click to expand...

Give the Yongnuo RF-602 a punt - £28 a set from FITP gotta be worth a try with the camera cord.

Radio Poppers?
 
aligibbs said:
They are the "gold standard"- meaning they are the most expensive. They do the same job as "ebay triggers"
Click to expand...

No they don't. At least not for me. My eBay triggers are now failing about 15 to 20% of the time, or 100% of the time if I move a mere 10ft from my studio. Tried new batteries, tried rechargeables, tried everything. I even have dedicated "dead spots" when close to the studio, which makes no sense.

As a result, I purchased Pocket Wizards, no misfires yet.

I am not saying the eBay triggers are bad, just that MINES are bad.

Gary.
 
Just to reinforce the PW quality, reliability and range, I took this shot using PW II's. One PW on the camera triggering two PWs on the helicopter - one in the cockpit and one in the rear cabin. The helicopter was between 300m and 5m away flying around me like a mad thing. The PW's worked superbly throughout.

2984996644_bc16cec873.jpg


The full story of the shoot is here if you're interested.

Tobers
 
That's fab and shows quite wonderfully just what you can do with these little babies.

As for build quality, sure they do feel light but I've not lost a single shot due to Pw's not working and no problems with the connections on the hotshoe or the foot at all. :)

nominated them as my fave gadget of the decade. :)
 
AliB said:
That's fab and shows quite wonderfully just what you can do with these little babies.

As for build quality, sure they do feel light but I've not lost a single shot due to Pw's not working and no problems with the connections on the hotshoe or the foot at all. :)

nominated them as my fave gadget of the decade. :)
Click to expand...

I have....it was the rechargeable batteries that caused the problem though, put in regular Duracells and all was good in the world again :)
 
One problem I've come across is that the plastic hotshoe attachment on the bottom of the PWs is brittle and snaps off easily if dropped or in my case when my lightstand fell over.
 
That was tough luck Tobers, mine has fallen over a few times but I tend to weight them a bit better now and I don't know if it is because I leave it dangling but I've never had an impact with them. Which is more than I can say for my flashes. I bounced one of those off a pavement and it survived too :)
 
So am I missing the point completely or does a pocket wizard activate the flash remotely and that's it?
 
No it can also trigger a second camera too - so say you can rig another camera on a tripod at a different angle to a racing circuit and fire both with one click of the one you are holding.
 
If you are looking at getting triggers, I have heard great things about the Yongnuo RF-602 triggers FITP sells on here.. Might be worth looking in to :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top