Advice Re Pocket Wizards.

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I know nothing about this kit, but having had a look round, I'm torn between the Pocket Wizard Plus11 2 Transceiver set, and the Mini TT1 and Flex TT5. I'm only really interested in firing one flash remotely. I like the compactness of the Mini TT1 but suspect the range might be very limited in practice?

Have I got it right - the Plus 11 set has the greater range at up 160 feet. Is this a reliable figure?

Will my Sekonic L558 meter with radio module fire the camera and flash remotely?

Thanks in advance.. :thumbs:
 
I believe that the flex units have plus units built in in essence - if they are only triggering then they have as much range and reliability of the standard units but I would wait for firmer advice from someone who has used them not just read about them

I think flash has
 
CT said:
I know nothing about this kit, but having had a look round, I'm torn between the Pocket Wizard Plus11 2 Transceiver set, and the Mini TT1 and Flex TT5. I'm only really interested in firing one flash remotely. I like the compactness of the Mini TT1 but suspect the range might be very limited in practice?

Have I got it right - the Plus 11 set has the greater range at up 160 feet. Is this a reliable figure?

Will my Sekonic L558 meter with radio module fire the camera and flash remotely?

Thanks in advance.. :thumbs:
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Hiya mate,

The plus II's have a range of 1600ft :naughty: Not that I've ever desired to be that far away from my gear just yet, but they are extremely reliable, I've not had a single problem since buying a set of four last June.

Both will do the job but the TT1's are more geared for managing a bunch of flashes whilst retaining TTL. I've not used them yet as only the Canon types have been released.

As far as your meter goes, I really dunno, I can't afford one :lol: Does the sekonic have a jack input or pc sync port?
 
I checked out the Sekonic brochure on t'internet and the L558 is fully compatable with all pocketwizards and you can remotely fire from the meter to a range of 100 feet. :)

I don't have that feature on my little meter so I just fire the flashes using the PW off camera and take the reading that way before plonking it back on the camera. They have test buttons that come in handy. Saves using a synch cord too. :)

The range on the PW's is phenominal CT. I gave my povertywizards to a member here when I bought mine, I knew straight away that although they are expensive, I was not going to use anything else!

Have fun with them. :)
 
AliB said:
I checked out the Sekonic brochure on t'internet and the L558 is fully compatable with all pocketwizards and you can remotely fire from the meter to a range of 100 feet. :)

I don't have that feature on my little meter so I just fire the flashes using the PW off camera and take the reading that way before plonking it back on the camera. They have test buttons that come in handy. Saves using a synch cord too. :)

The range on the PW's is phenominal CT. I gave my povertywizards to a member here when I bought mine, I knew straight away that although they are expensive, I was not going to use anything else!

Have fun with them. :)
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Thanks Ali. I'm beginning to get my head around how they work I think. Just an idea I'm toying with at the moment.
 
PW's are an excellent purchase CT - highly recommend them :)

558 with PW module will trigger flashes yes. I use the 758 and find it fantastic being able to check exposure from head to toe with the remote triggering.

What will you be shooting? Do you need TTL?
 
rdh said:
PW's are an excellent purchase CT - highly recommend them :)

558 with PW module will trigger flashes yes. I use the 758 and find it fantastic being able to check exposure from head to toe with the remote triggering.

What will you be shooting? Do you need TTL?
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Thanks mate. Do I need TTL.? I think I'd certainly prefer it. With a TTL version would I be able to plonk the remote flash anywhere regardless of the camera to subject distance? I'm having a bit of trouble getting my head around how this can work. :D

I don't have a firm scenario for it's use, but it might be something like a wildlife setup with the flash at the site and the camera some distance away with a long lens if that makes sense?
 
I just found this video test of the TT1 which suggests the reliable range of the TT1 is about 35 feet, so much as I like the low profile unit at the camera end that would be a bit limiting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJbEsC27Quk
 
CT said:
Thanks mate. Do I need TTL.? I think I'd certainly prefer it. With a TTL version would I be able to plonk the remote flash anywhere regardless of the camera to subject distance? I'm having a bit of trouble getting my head around how this can work. :D

I don't have a firm scenario for it's use, but it might be something like a wildlife setup with the flash at the site and the camera some distance away with a long lens if that makes sense?
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Yes that makes sense. Long distance strobism for wildlife - great. Seen some wonderful shots of a guy who sets lighting up to capture dragon fly's - what a difference it makes.

TTL uses preflashes to analyse the flash exposure before the actual photo is taken. This is great for quick set-up's, but TTL is it's own 'mind', and therefore it's hard to get accurate consistency.

I'd go manual! You can still use the TTL connection to control the flash output, and you'll find solutions/setups that just work, and can be replicated exactly. Can't do that with TTL! You can move to full manual (i.e. manual over pocket wizards) after you've had some practice with TTL manual (with smaller distance). Once your flash is set to a relatively accurate position, if the weather changes, all you have to do is adjust aperture to control the flash exposure. Sorry if I'm being patronising there, thinking out loud :)
 
Makes sense - thanks Ross. :thumbs:
 
surely with wildlife flash- subject distance will vary, which would scupper manual work as you would need a test exposure and adjustment every time (if you use the ttl PW's you should be able to alter the flash power from within the cameras menu - part of what I am working on for my own designs). With fully ttl you will get a preflash which could startle the wildlife but less of a gap than you would with manual - also a ttl PW can fire flashes manually a manual PW can't use ttl if your looking for set up flexibility
 
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