cherryrig
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This was posted in the Reviews bit but I thought it would make more sense in here. Quite a lot of questions have poped up about radio triggers and this it just a indepth view into the Elinchrom Skyports, which are becoming so of the best triggers for the price. Beats any old eBay slave hands down!!
Here is my Skyport Radio Slave Trigger Review....
Elinchrom Skyport
First Thoughts
Ive been using the Skyport radio trigger slaves since July 2007 and I must say these things are so good. If eBay slaves keep letting you done and PWs are just too expensive then these little beauties are the middle men.
The Skyport Universal Set comes in a box which contains two different manuals, one about the transmitter and one about the receiver. The Universal Set only contains one transmitter and one receiver but extra receivers are becoming more widely available. The receiver has an internal battery which needs to be charged via charger which is included in the box. The charger covers all UK/USA/Euro plugs. The transmitter is powered via a round flat battery, like the ones you get in watches. Also the box comes with many different adapter cables such as 3.5mm to 3.5mm miniphone, 3.5mm to EL socket and 2.5mm miniphone to PC sync. The only cable it doesnt include is a 3.5mm miniphone to PC sync, which is needed to connect the Skyport to flash guns which have a PC sync socket - SB-24, 25, 26..... For this you need to buy a normal PW cable which comes with the PWs.
Transmitter
The transmitter is connected to the camera just by sliding it into the cameras hot shoe, however there is no way to lock it into the hot shoe which is a slight con as you might knock it off the hot shoe. This has never happened to me though. A long the side of the transmitter is where you can change which flashes you fire. OFF - GROUP - ALL. When selected in GROUP mode the flashes which are in a group on the receiver only fire and the other flashes dont. When selected in ALL mode all the flashes fire no matter what groups on the receiver the receivers are. All on the transmitter is a test button to trigger the receivers.
Receiver
The receiver just like the transmitter is small in size. Quite a good thing really as it means you can fit it almost any where in your camera bag unlike the PWs. Unlike the transmitter the receiver doesnt have a switch to turn it on and off but has a button which needs to be pressed. Early models of the receiver did have a switch but this has been replaced to the button. The major downside is that you could accidentally turn them on in your bag however when I bought my extra receiver January it included a hard case to put the Skyports in. The receivers have a wrist strap on them as well as which is useful in securing the receivers to the flash. When the receiver is turned the green LED flashes to say that it is on. Along the side of the receiver is where you can choose which group you want the receiver to be. The receiver as well as the transmitter has a tiny aerial which is seems quite fragile so just be careful with these! When you plug in the charger into the receiver the green LED is lit until the receiver is full charged and the LED goes off.
Range
Nikon D70s 50mm f/1.8D w/Nikon SB-26
The Skyports range is very impressive as the photo shows above. The flash is over 600ft away from the camera. It could of gone more but that was the end of the park!! Therefore they are very useful for skateboarding if your doing as this is more than enough range.
Group Mode
Above shows the use of the GROUP mode that the Skyports have to offer. The flash on the left is set to Group 4 and the flash on the right is set to Group 1. The transmitter is then set to the corresponding Group to trigger the flash, and then in the final picture the transmitter is set to ALL mode. You must make sure that if you on plan on using GROUP mode you set the group on the transmitter to the same group number on the receiver, if not the flash you thought would fire will not!
Case
With the Universal Set which I first got in July it did not included a case in the box however I think they now come as standard. The most recent cases with the Skyports are by far the best. They updated the design from the one that I got in October. The case is now much harder so those worries of turning the receivers on in your bag are gone. The case can only fit (by using the straps) two transmitters and two receivers but if you can fit more in by not using the straps. The straps in the case are quite tight to be fair but you know they are safe in there. As I own three receivers I have two receivers in the straps, the other receiver is looped on a strap by the wrist strap and the transmitter is just loose.
Conclusion
I am very happy with my Skyports and I have not had any real big problems such as miss-fires which seem to happen a lot with the eBay slaves. They offer quite a lot of features for the price as well such as the Group mode which I find useful sometimes. Therefore if PWs are too much then Skyports are the next best thing as I would highly recommend the Skyports to anyone who is thinking about radio slaves for off camera flash work.
If any one has some questions just PM me and I'll try and help you out.
- Cherryrig
Here is my Skyport Radio Slave Trigger Review....
Elinchrom Skyport
First Thoughts
Ive been using the Skyport radio trigger slaves since July 2007 and I must say these things are so good. If eBay slaves keep letting you done and PWs are just too expensive then these little beauties are the middle men.
The Skyport Universal Set comes in a box which contains two different manuals, one about the transmitter and one about the receiver. The Universal Set only contains one transmitter and one receiver but extra receivers are becoming more widely available. The receiver has an internal battery which needs to be charged via charger which is included in the box. The charger covers all UK/USA/Euro plugs. The transmitter is powered via a round flat battery, like the ones you get in watches. Also the box comes with many different adapter cables such as 3.5mm to 3.5mm miniphone, 3.5mm to EL socket and 2.5mm miniphone to PC sync. The only cable it doesnt include is a 3.5mm miniphone to PC sync, which is needed to connect the Skyport to flash guns which have a PC sync socket - SB-24, 25, 26..... For this you need to buy a normal PW cable which comes with the PWs.
Transmitter
The transmitter is connected to the camera just by sliding it into the cameras hot shoe, however there is no way to lock it into the hot shoe which is a slight con as you might knock it off the hot shoe. This has never happened to me though. A long the side of the transmitter is where you can change which flashes you fire. OFF - GROUP - ALL. When selected in GROUP mode the flashes which are in a group on the receiver only fire and the other flashes dont. When selected in ALL mode all the flashes fire no matter what groups on the receiver the receivers are. All on the transmitter is a test button to trigger the receivers.
Receiver
The receiver just like the transmitter is small in size. Quite a good thing really as it means you can fit it almost any where in your camera bag unlike the PWs. Unlike the transmitter the receiver doesnt have a switch to turn it on and off but has a button which needs to be pressed. Early models of the receiver did have a switch but this has been replaced to the button. The major downside is that you could accidentally turn them on in your bag however when I bought my extra receiver January it included a hard case to put the Skyports in. The receivers have a wrist strap on them as well as which is useful in securing the receivers to the flash. When the receiver is turned the green LED flashes to say that it is on. Along the side of the receiver is where you can choose which group you want the receiver to be. The receiver as well as the transmitter has a tiny aerial which is seems quite fragile so just be careful with these! When you plug in the charger into the receiver the green LED is lit until the receiver is full charged and the LED goes off.
Range
Nikon D70s 50mm f/1.8D w/Nikon SB-26
The Skyports range is very impressive as the photo shows above. The flash is over 600ft away from the camera. It could of gone more but that was the end of the park!! Therefore they are very useful for skateboarding if your doing as this is more than enough range.
Group Mode
Above shows the use of the GROUP mode that the Skyports have to offer. The flash on the left is set to Group 4 and the flash on the right is set to Group 1. The transmitter is then set to the corresponding Group to trigger the flash, and then in the final picture the transmitter is set to ALL mode. You must make sure that if you on plan on using GROUP mode you set the group on the transmitter to the same group number on the receiver, if not the flash you thought would fire will not!
Case
With the Universal Set which I first got in July it did not included a case in the box however I think they now come as standard. The most recent cases with the Skyports are by far the best. They updated the design from the one that I got in October. The case is now much harder so those worries of turning the receivers on in your bag are gone. The case can only fit (by using the straps) two transmitters and two receivers but if you can fit more in by not using the straps. The straps in the case are quite tight to be fair but you know they are safe in there. As I own three receivers I have two receivers in the straps, the other receiver is looped on a strap by the wrist strap and the transmitter is just loose.
Conclusion
I am very happy with my Skyports and I have not had any real big problems such as miss-fires which seem to happen a lot with the eBay slaves. They offer quite a lot of features for the price as well such as the Group mode which I find useful sometimes. Therefore if PWs are too much then Skyports are the next best thing as I would highly recommend the Skyports to anyone who is thinking about radio slaves for off camera flash work.
If any one has some questions just PM me and I'll try and help you out.
- Cherryrig
