Whats the difference/which is better

[Matt L]

Between using some pt04 triggers and recievers or using the onboard flash to trigger other flash guns.

Got one of fitp's flash guns and just bin having a play with it and realised it can be set off from the onboard flash which my old ones couldnt so was just wandering what the difference was and which is better.

sorry if its a stupid question
Matt

 

[david1701]

radio wins as the on board flash will contribute to the exposure, so with radio you have more control (which is the whole point)

 

[HoppyUK]

Apart from what David said above, without the radio triggers you are using optical slave triggering. When it works, there is no differerence - in fact might be theoretically better as there will be virtually no delay between the main flash firing and the remote units tiggering. You can run right up to the max x-sync speed of the camera (1/200sec I think on your 1000D).

But you need direct line of sight for optical triggers to work, and they soon run out of range if they can't see the main flash directly or in bright sun outdoors.

Radio triggers have long range, and can even see around corners. The cheaper triggers do introduce a slight delay in triggering so you need to set a shutter speed of 1/125sec (or longer is fine). If you don't there's a chance that the bottom of the picture will be shaded by the shutter blind and you'll get a dark line.