Using 7D wireless master + skyport at the same time

[vaizki]

Ok so I've had a Metz AF-1 58 for a couple of years and mainly just used it on-camera with a diffuser or ceiling bounce to do indoor party photos. Now I'm getting a bit more serious about flash and almost accidentally bought a 2 xD-Light 2 IT set with softboxes.

It's a whole different world that's for sure. And the Skyport ECO that came with the D-Lites (these new ones have a receiver built in - me like) is a joy to use, and a tiny little thing compared to my cheap chinese triggers.

So now I've got 2 great soft lights, but I want to throw the Metz into the mix. Shooting with a Canon 7D, I'd like to have the Metz behind the subject and giving some bright light to try out some effects. It should fire with the D-lites of course and this is where I need help.

If I want to use the wireless flash master built in to the 7D, the flash has to be raised and the hotshoe is covered (not even an off-camera cord will fit) so I can't get the Skyport transmitter on. The Metz has E-TTL slave capability so this would have been a good idea but I guess no dice. Then again I'm not sure how to use the Metz as a MANUAL slave without E-TTL so this might not have worked at all.

So what do I do?
- buy a skyport receiver for the Metz (easy and expensive)

- get a sync-cord-to-hotshoe adapter and hang the Skyport transmitter off the 7D sync jack on the side, then use Metz as E-TTL slave (what happens with 2 x manual flashes + E-TTL slave firing away?)

- Just slave the Metz and put D-Lites on optical slave, then spend time setting up pre-flash ignore func on D-lites (the 7D flash DOES flash when wireless mastering even if internal flash is turned off)

- Get an optical slave thingy for the Metz and hope it works

- Just run some sync cable and get a lot of adapters and splitters

I know the first and last options will work, but is there a cheaper option in the middle that does it?

First Q, be gentle

 

[itsdavedotnet]

the long term, eventual best option is another skyport for the metz. It's probably what you'll end up doing eventually tbh.

a good short term solution would be a cheap optical slave, or get the preflash ignore system working. optical slaves are about $6 from dealextreme, worth having tbh. backup system maybe of a long pc cord or something, they're cheap from 7dayshop.

 

[vaizki]

Having slept on it I think you're right, too much hassle in every direction.. I need another Skyport receiver. They seem to be a bit of a rip-off here in Finland (50% more expensive than UK) so I'll try to find a UK supplier that ships it.

I'm a bit confused about the options, the ECO transmitter and D-Lite 2 ITs support Skyport 'speed mode' for faster sync times (and it does give me perfect results at 1/250).. but the normal Universal Receiver doesn't say anything about it in the product descriptions or the user manual.

The ECO transmitter manual says:

The SPEED function is available for Ranger Quadra AS, BXRi 250 / 500 und D-Lite it and all other units, when used with the EL-Skyport Universal Speed.

.. but there doesn't seem to be such a receiver product as Universal Speed.

At the same time, the Universal receiver states max sync speed is 1/1000 .. what gives? Is the Eco/Speed system I have somehow crippled? I'm now terminally confused!


Edit: I know my 7D can't sync faster than 1/250 without HSS so 1/1000 is not a real-world use case for me.. just confused about the spec mismatches.

 

[Peter_Hartland]

Speak to the The Flash Centre (email them) they would help you or where you bought the D_Lights from

 

[HoppyUK]

Ok so I've had a Metz AF-1 58 for a couple of years and mainly just used it on-camera with a diffuser or ceiling bounce to do indoor party photos. Now I'm getting a bit more serious about flash and almost accidentally bought a 2 xD-Light 2 IT set with softboxes.

It's a whole different world that's for sure. And the Skyport ECO that came with the D-Lites (these new ones have a receiver built in - me like) is a joy to use, and a tiny little thing compared to my cheap chinese triggers.

So now I've got 2 great soft lights, but I want to throw the Metz into the mix. Shooting with a Canon 7D, I'd like to have the Metz behind the subject and giving some bright light to try out some effects. It should fire with the D-lites of course and this is where I need help.

If I want to use the wireless flash master built in to the 7D, the flash has to be raised and the hotshoe is covered (not even an off-camera cord will fit) so I can't get the Skyport transmitter on. The Metz has E-TTL slave capability so this would have been a good idea but I guess no dice. Then again I'm not sure how to use the Metz as a MANUAL slave without E-TTL so this might not have worked at all.

So what do I do?
- buy a skyport receiver for the Metz (easy and expensive)

Yes.

- get a sync-cord-to-hotshoe adapter and hang the Skyport transmitter off the 7D sync jack on the side, then use Metz as E-TTL slave (what happens with 2 x manual flashes + E-TTL slave firing away?)

No.

- Just slave the Metz and put D-Lites on optical slave, then spend time setting up pre-flash ignore func on D-lites (the 7D flash DOES flash when wireless mastering even if internal flash is turned off)

That's how the new IT D-Lites are supposed to work, just a bit more fiddling.

- Get an optical slave thingy for the Metz and hope it works

That should work.

- Just run some sync cable and get a lot of adapters and splitters

Nah.

I know the first and last options will work, but is there a cheaper option in the middle that does it?

First Q, be gentle

 

[vaizki]

Thanks for the comments everyone. I've sent a Q to TFC about the skyport sync speed capabilities. Will quote you the results (I hate hitting questions with no answers on google myself).