klepto

I almost bought skyports. It came down to that and cybersyncs but I ended up getting the cybersyncs.

PimpCL23

im gonna have to borrow ur gf .... k thanx bye

Mizouse

i was talking about since you are running off batteries that they will eventually lose power and start having longer and longer recycle times whether it be on the hot shoe or off.

whereas with a traditional flash setup, they are plugged in and have consistent recycle times.

stogie1020

See youtube video above (with minor adaption). You know you want to try it...

Dan Martin

Yes, reflectors are a bitch to manage if you're by yourself. They all like to fold up like potato chips if you don't hold them flat, and it's critical to keep them flat because they rapidly lose their efficiency when they're bent.

The skyports have worked great since I bought them. I've never had range issues and the receivers seem to last a long time between recharges. I can't say I've ever had one die on me, I just plug them in every now and then when I feel like it's been a long time, so I have no idea how long they really last. I really like the lightweight and compact design of these units because I take them everywhere with me.

My only complaints about the system are related to the design of the receivers. They have a very tiny pushbutton on top to turn them on or off. It's very easy to turn them on accidentally if they bump into something while you're carrying them in your bag. Likewise, it's easy to turn them off if you're moving light stands around.

Although the lithium batteries in the receivers last a long long time, they're not replaceable. That's a big oversight should you forget to charge them before a big shoot and find out they're dead. That's never happened to me, but it's always something I'm cautious of, especially with that small pushbutton for power. The weird thing is the transmitter takes a standard CR-2032 lithium coin cell and it has a lever switch that is much less likely to be turned on accidentally. It's like they thought it could be a problem for the transmitter but for some reason decided to go a different route with the receivers. I now keep the receivers in the nice hard case provided by Elinchrom and haven't had one turn on accidentally since.

deltaboxxx

iTrader: (1)

what about the fact that they only trigger 1 light? (at least thats what i got from reading)

arent the pocket wizards kind of a better buy in this case?

Dan Martin

You need one skyport receiver per strobe, just like pocket wizards. You can trigger as many lights as you wish in up to 4 groups. You can decide which of the four groups fires from the transmitter or you can fire all four groups together. You can even put a camera in a group if you want to trigger it from a remote location, although you'll need a special cable to trigger a camera.

Edit: high-end studio strobes are fired from a centralized power source which may have two or more strobe heads plugged into it. You could use one skyport to trigger all the strobes connected to that power pack.

Billiam

OK, I've had a handle on the equipment involved with off camera flash for a while now. What I haven't had my head around is exposure metering. If you're using one or two speedlights off camera with umbrellas or soft boxes, then you're presumably not going to have ETTL functionality. Or so it seems. So that leaves you with using the flash in manual mode. OK fine. So you have to manually set the flash power and zoom setting. But still, how do you know what to set them at if you don't have a dedicated flash meter? After a bit of searching, I found this post over at Strobist which finally made the application of guide number make some sense. I don't know why he doesn't include this in his Lighting 101 articles.

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/12...ash-meter.html

OK, so I pull out my 580EX (non-II) and start fiddling with it to find the guide number calculator like the one shown on the SB800 at Strobist. Nothing. With the flash in manual mode, all that's in the display are the power and zoom settings. No ISO or f-stop setting and the distance scale always remains blank. I then did some searching and found this article over at the Canon DLC.

http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/control...&articleID=946

Apparently, one of the improvements made with the 580EX II is the addition of its own self-contained exposure sensor. With this new feature, you can set the II series flash to "external metering mode" which then apparently gives you a functional GN calculator. In the mean time, it appears that my > $300 580X flash doesn't offer the same convenience of a GN calculator which you can get on sub-$90 Vivitar flash designed in the 70's. It looks like I'd need to keep a copy of the table from the flash's manual in my bag.

stogie1020

Damn, some really good info in this thread...

Billiam

Very likely something worth considering should it make a stop at a city near you. I know I'll be there if it comes to Chicago.

http://www.kelbytraininglive.com/fla...aphy-tour.html

stogie1020

^I can't wait until they post dates for this one!

Come on Phoenix!! Big money big money no whammie....

Billiam

In case anyone hasn't caught wind of the "teaser" release, PocketWizard is supposed to announce something new next Monday (2/16) on the opening day of the WPPI show. It's being mentioned in conjunction with Profoto (a studio strobe company) so the new PW goodies may only have to do with control of Profoto's products.

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/con...id=7-9884-9899

EuRTSX

Stogz did those triggers work for you?

stogie1020

Just a quick question for those of you who have used the off camera CORD with an external flash:

If you handhold the flash (no bracket), does the light source pretty much always end up "camera left" or "above the camera" since you are holding the camera in your right hand?

moeronn

Technically, yes. But unless you have really long arms, or your subject is really close I'm not sure how difference that makes.

srika

good bump, I have had a question on my mind regarding handheld off-camera for a while. I see photogs in the club frequently holding the camera in one hand and flash in the other, and not always looking into the viewfinder, even for regular group shots. What about composition? What if you have to re-adjust and zoom? What if you have to double-check the focus? What about holding it steady so that things appear clear? It seems to me that all of these VITAL aspects of the shot are thrown out of the window with handheld off-camera shots. What has been your experience, or what you have seen, in regard to these things?

moeronn

I can't say I have much experience but here are my guesses...

If they don't have Live View, then they are probably zoomed out enough to cover the group and may crop later if the composition is off.

AF should get close enough even without looking (as long as the right AF points get used).

Camera shake isn't a big concern with flash photography as long as you are using reasonable exposures (~ 1/4 sec may even be okay) since the flash will "freeze" the subject even if using some ambient light. Things further in the background may not be clear, but that's not really a bid deal.

srika

All true. Regarding background objects not being clear, this is subjective but to me a shot like that is "messy". There is a way to do it artistically and that is fine and leads to dramatic results, but if you have background shake due to not holding the camera steady, I think its a messy pic. Having to compose after the fact is added work. My 2 cents.

moeronn

^ Your points are valid. I was just trying to reply to your questions.

Mizouse

Waiting for dans response

srika

moeronn

Glad I could help.

Mizouse

saw him in here and thought he was going to post something ... Didn't mean to attack you or anything

srika

yea I wanna see a REAL response! haha

Zouse always instigating.

moeronn

I was kidding. Like I said, I had no real experience with this, so I was just taking a guess.

Now if you ever question me about something I think I know about, then

srika

Zouse you are an attacker

Dan Martin

I've used the flash at arms length a few times and it's pretty awkward, but the results can be good. I still prefer to look through the viewfinder, but if it's just casual snaps, you can go wide angle and crop heavily if your composition is off. Live view might help in some cases, but there are a few consequences when using a flash with live view.

srika

A-ha!!

moeronn

What types of consequences to using a flash with live view are you referring to?

Dan Martin

Slow autofocus focus is one consequence.

Also, if you happen to use one of the silent shooting modes in live view, the flash won't fire. More specifically, it won't fire if it's in the hotshoe or if it's being triggered by anything in the hotshoe (off-camera cord, pocket wizard, etc.). However, it will fire if you're using a sync cord or a pocket wizard that's connected via the sync port. If you use the disable the silent shooting modes and use the default live view mode, it seems to work well.

ludachrisvt

iTrader: (2)

www.strobist.com

moeronn

BTW, my stands and umbrellas just came from B&H yesterday. I don't know if I'll really be using them much until next month, but will be playing around with them a little.

Mizouse

i did not know that the Nikon SC 29 - Flash synchro cable has an AF assist beam on the part that attaches to your hot shoe on the camera!

jupitersolo

Yes, that's why the damn thing cost $80 or more.

Mizouse

question, say im using my 430ex off camera attached to a light stand with a translucent shoot thru umbrella.

what setting should i set the zoom head to? 24mm? 35mm? 105mm? leave it on automatic?

lcrazyaznl

iTrader: (1)

I usually leave it 24 for wide but you could change it depending if you want it to spread less.