How do you trigger multiple studio flash heads?

iPhoto

iPhoto

Suspended / Banned
Messages
741
Name
Mark
Edit My Images
Yes
I have 2 x Bowens GM400 Flash Heads and 2 x Lencarta EP600 Flash Heads. As I have built up from 2 heads to 3 heads and now 4 I have found the process of getting reliable triggering on all 4 to be a little hit and miss with radio triggers.

I am thinking, 1 transmitter on Camera and 1 receiver triggering 4 units connected by cabe is the way to go?

Are there any of you out there that run 3 or 4 light setups? and if so what you using to trigger them?

Cheers

Mark
 
I tend to use either a radio trigger or sync cable on my main light and use the slave cells on the others, rarely have a problem with them not firing.
 
EdBray said:
I tend to use either a radio trigger or sync cable on my main light and use the slave cells on the others, rarely have a problem with them not firing.
Click to expand...

Sadly, I find the opposite, the slaves rarely give a reliable triggering of all 4 units :shrug:
 
If I'm on my own I use one RF-602 radio transmitter/receiver pair and use optical triggering for the slaves.

If I'm in an environment with other people firing off strobes, such as a TP "studio" meet then I put a radio receiver on each of my strobes.
 
iPhoto said:
Sadly, I find the opposite, the slaves rarely give a reliable triggering of all 4 units :shrug:
Click to expand...

That's unusual. Optical slaves are generally very reliable unless the ambient light is high. Do you have the slave cells close to other modelling lights, or a shaft of sunlight catching them, or are they shielded from the triggering flash?

Either way, the answer is to have radio receivers on each head. They're pretty cheap.
 
EdBray said:
I tend to use either a radio trigger or sync cable on my main light and use the slave cells on the others, rarely have a problem with them not firing.
Click to expand...
Sadly, I find the opposite, the slaves rarely give a reliable triggering of all 4 units
Click to expand...
Then you're doing something wrong, and there are only 2 possible problems. Either there is TOO MUCH ambient light or NOT ENOUGH flash light.

Too much ambient light is either direct sunlight hitting the slave sensor or the light from a modelling lamp aimed straight at the sensor.

Too little flash light results from using a restrictive light shaper (such as a spotlight, honeycomb or snoot) that prevents light from reaching the sensor. The answer is to use a broad light shaper such as a softbox or an umbrella on the triggered light
 
Last edited:
Garry Edwards said:
Then you're doing something wrong, and there are only 2 possible problems. Either there is TOO MUCH ambient light or NOT ENOUGH flash light.

Too much ambient light is either direct sunlight hitting the slave sensor or the light from a modelling lamp aimed straight at the sensor.

Too little flash light results from using a restrictive light shaper (such as a spotlight, honeycomb or snoot) that prevents light from reaching the sensor. The answer is to use a broad light shaper such as a softbox or an umbrella on the triggered light
Click to expand...

I think “Your doing something wrong” is a bit harsh :lol: It is due to high ambient light as it happens but short of having total control of light at a number of locations there is little I can do about that :shrug:

So coming back to my original point its a toss up between 4 wireless receivers and a single transmitter or 1 of each triggering a cable setup. It stands to reason the more receivers you have the greater the chance of 1 not getting the signal each and every time.

So I guess I am leaning towards favouring hard wiring the 4 lights, its not really a major problem as each has to have a 240v cable feed to power it.

So as nobody is using any sort of off the shelf 4 way cable box I guess I need to build one. I will do so using optical isolators to protect the heads from each other and the receiver from overload.

Cheers all. :wave:
 
I don't think I'm being harsh, I'm just stating facts - and my answer has helped you to identify the problem as being high levels of ambient light. I'm sure that you can do something about that.

If you really can't then getting some extra mains powered radio receivers is the obvious answer.
It stands to reason the more receivers you have the greater the chance of 1 not getting the signal each and every time.
Click to expand...
Not really, radio triggers are just simple 1-way radio transmitters/receivers. The chance of a radio signal not carrying a few feet to a receiver is pretty low.
So as nobody is using any sort of off the shelf 4 way cable box I guess I need to build one. I will do so using optical isolators to protect the heads from each other and the receiver from overload.
Click to expand...
These things used to exist years ago, I'm guessing that very few people want them now.

Hard wiring the lights together is really the worst possible solution, you'll have extra wires going everywhere, people are bound to trip over them and damage either them or the lights - but of course that's your choice
 
^^^ :agree:

And when it comes to moving lights around, fixed cables are just a damn nuisance, as well as a liability.
 
Lighten Up Garry, that was said tongue in cheek if you look again at the smileys.

The ambient light issue wasn't ever the point, I discounted reliance upon the sensors because i know ambient light in certain locations is outside my control.

I’m at a loss, if you have to have a mains power cable to each unit, which I do, how can an extra sync cable, tie wrapped to it present an extra trip hazard?

Say what you like, Wireless trigger reliability / interference is always an intermittent issue, none are ever going to be 100% reliable so using 4 increases the likelihood by 4.

So in the absence of a commercial solution, its solder iron, and build my own 4 way box with isolated outputs.
 
Mark,

Whether you were being serious or not, my answer was right, and if you really can't do anything to control ambient light then a piece of white or silver reflective material a few inches above each sensor will stop high levels of ambient light from raising the levels too much, at the same time providing a reflective surface to intensify the effect of the flash - job done.

And there are untold thousands of event photographers who, because of the constant problem of point-and-shoot flashes triggering their studio lights, have to switch their sensors off and rely on a radio receiver for each light - with no problems.

Of course, if you feel that hard wiring is the answer for you then go ahead and do it - but you will have wires going from one light to another to another to another, in addition to the mains leads, which go in different directions - so it isn't a course of action that I personally would consider.
 
I wouldn't hard wire, too many chances of something getting caught up, we have to put up with power cables but even they can be a liability.

I user the Cactus v5 trigger/receivers and they are great. I use them outdoor and in with no issues. I bought 6 for about the same price as a single of certain other brands. Not missed a beat as yet.
 
Yongnuo RF602 radio triggers are cheap as chips and damned reliable.
I use them for my Safari and speedlights, with up to four receivers in use and no misfires.
I say up to four, because that's as many as I have, but it wouldn't make a difference if I had an awful lot more, I have no reason to believe they wouldn't all fire reliably.
 
Michael Sewell said:
Yongnuo RF602 radio triggers are cheap as chips and damned reliable.
I use them for my Safari and speedlights, with up to four receivers in use and no misfires.
I say up to four, because that's as many as I have, but it wouldn't make a difference if I had an awful lot more, I have no reason to believe they wouldn't all fire reliably.
Click to expand...

Thanks Michael, It’s not about price either though. I have 6 of the newer Yongnuo RF603 transceivers but using 1 as a transmitter and 3 as receivers I have found about a 5% failure rate during shoots. Your first thought is always batteries, a duff unit etc but using 4 of the 6 means I can swap and change but as I said, it stands to reason the more units you use the greater the chances of failure.

I will go back to 1 TX, 1 RX and link the heads by cable via an opto isolated box built for the job. Clearly there are down sides to all systems but this is going to fit my needs and reduce failure rates.
 
Wonder if you're just unlucky with your set of triggers. I've had mine from within a few weeks of their original availability, and very, very few failures. Down to either a duff battery, speedlight not fully seated or quite simply, not turning the damned thing on :bang:
 
If you're suffering trigger problems, I'd look at the triggers before trying a new approach.

Hard-wiring them, unless it's a static set-up that will NEVER move, isn't the best idea for the reasons already stated.

We've had the same problems at my work studio since we painted it black. Too little flash and we had optical slave issues so now all the lights are rigged up with triggers and its 100 per cent solved the problem. We use Bowens Pulsars; providing the batteries are kept fresh (as with any trigger) they always work and even with lights set to minimum power and facing in totally opposite directions, this system works flawlessly.
 
RF-602s and 3s run off a similar wave band as Wifi so you might get interferance.

If you want failsafe triggering look at something like Bowens Pulsar, Pocket Wizard, Elichrom skyport, all of those use the 433mhz wave which is far enough away from wifi and other wireless electronics to not worry plus there all solidly built and work from further away.

Persoanl experience I just didn't get on with the RFs they would sometimes miss fire, there cheap and cheerful and they 99/100 do the job but if you want a full proof fail safe aproach then some of the better quality triggers are what you need.

I use Phottix atlas which is a direct copy of the PW I now have 1 for each light and they work every single time :) and use AA batteries which I've not yet changed.
 
kiteninja said:
RF-602s and 3s run off a similar wave band as Wifi so you might get interferance.

If you want failsafe triggering look at something like Bowens Pulsar, Pocket Wizard, Elichrom skyport, all of those use the 433mhz wave which is far enough away from wifi and other wireless electronics to not worry plus there all solidly built and work from further away.

Persoanl experience I just didn't get on with the RFs they would sometimes miss fire, there cheap and cheerful and they 99/100 do the job but if you want a full proof fail safe aproach then some of the better quality triggers are what you need.

I use Phottix atlas which is a direct copy of the PW I now have 1 for each light and they work every single time :) and use AA batteries which I've not yet changed.
Click to expand...

Good call :) I think local RF interference may be the most likely cause of the OP's problems. Radio ham next door, taxi service etc. Those Yongnuos are normally 100% reliable, with 100m range.
 
You may be on to something with the Wifi, I have a MacBook Pro, an iPad and iPhone and a blackberry all linking to the broadband wifi router 24/7 :-(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top