Radio trigger

[Brandman]

If I wanted to radio trigger my 430ex II what would be the best radio trigger. Don't know exactly the name of the product but I want it to specifically work with a speed light

 

[Buckster]

"Best" is going to be Pocket Wizard, followed probably by Radio Popper, followed by everything else. Those top brands will cost you hundred$, but they're the "best".

Or

You can get a $30 set of Yongnuos and trigger your lights.

By the way, you didn't say - Do you need/want ETTL capability with that radio trigger? If so, you'll pay more.

 

[Brandman]

Yes I would like ettl capability what brands are the best for this

 

[Buckster]

Yes I would like ettl capability what brands are the best for this

Pocket Wizard, Radio Popper, or your 7D camera to control your off-camera 430EX via line of sight (I think that'll work with the 430EX - works between my 7D and 580EXII).

 

[Village Idiot]

IIRC, there's a chinese brand that does TTL now.

 

[KmH]

Many think using eTTL is easier than using manual control.

It's not.

eTTL is pretty complicated and has many permutations. The learning curve is quite a bit steeper than the learning curve for manual control.

Since the camera and speedlight are just machines running a software program, they often produce results in eTTL mode that don't come close to what the photographer wanted. It's amazing but it seems eTTL alwasy fails to be consistant at the worst possible time.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

"Best" is going to be Pocket Wizard, followed probably by Radio Popper, followed by everything else. Those top brands will cost you hundred$, but they're the "best".

Or

You can get a $30 set of Yongnuos and trigger your lights.

By the way, you didn't say - Do you need/want ETTL capability with that radio trigger? If so, you'll pay more.

Second to none

 

[Buckster]

Many think using eTTL is easier than using manual control.

It's not.

eTTL is pretty complicated and has many permutations. The learning curve is quite a bit steeper than the learning curve for manual control.

Since the camera and speedlight are just machines running a software program, they often produce results in eTTL mode that don't come close to what the photographer wanted. It's amazing but it seems eTTL alwasy fails to be consistant at the worst possible time.

Prove it.

I have both Radio Poppers with TTL capability plus a few just for my studio strobes without, and half a dozen cheap ($30 per pair) Yongnuos without any TTL capability at all.

These days, I do almost all my shooting with just my speedlites (up to 4 of them), and I usually just use the Yongnuo triggers with them. I use them because they're easy to set up (just connect them and turn them on) and they get the job done in manual just fine. I'm comfortable with taking the time and making the effort to manually dial my lights to where I need them in most situations I shoot, which is more of a static setup studio environment, so I already have a good idea where to start, having set them up so often. So, I'm kind of with you on the whole TTL being unnecessary, for the most part. I rarely, if ever, have any real desire to shoot in TTL.

However, there are situations where I really do like to have my TTL, and it usually comes down to getting out of my studio comfort zone. When I'm out in the field bug-hunting with my macro gear, for instance, I use TTL: Buck's Field Macro Setup With Example. When I'm running around a kid's birthday party doing snapshots I still get the flash off camera with a stroboframe or stretched out to arms' length with my left hand or whatever else I come up with, but also still use TTL. In fact, pretty much anytime I get off my tripod and get my flash(es) off their normal stands, I go into TTL because it takes a LOT of my guesswork out of the equation when my distance to subject is constantly changing and my light is changing, and all the rest of it. When the situation is very fluid and dynamic like that, TTL gives me one less thing to deal with so I can concentrate on compositions and trying to capture the moments in a run and gun.

I'm also a big fan of Joe McNally. I've read all his books, have several of his DVDs, subscribe to his blog, and just love the examples and setups he uses. I went to the FlashBus roadshow tour (caught it in Atlanta), and loved every minute of it. He shoots a LOT of TTL in a LOT of interesting situations.

In all of my TTL shooting, and the TTL shooting I've seen from McNally's examples, including the stuff that went on during the FlashBus tour, I've never had or seen the kind of trouble and problems you keep referring to when you talk about TTL in these threads, working to dissuade people from getting and using that feature. Never. Ever.

It's true that there are times when I've decided to dial it up or down a notch and reshoot, but that's the case with manual a LOT more than it's been with TTL, in my experience. And even then, it's usually close enough that the first shot can be used, since I shoot in RAW and have the latitude to deal with it, and it's not that far off. It's just a perception issue when I chimp the shot on the back of the camera that causes me to rethink it.

So, I'm speaking from experience and from seeing the results of some pretty successful TTL shooters like McNally who use TTL extensively: It's not the bad or difficult or hard to control thing you tend to make it out to be. It's not the wild, wild West of flash, just doing whatever it wants, lighting wildly off, either too much or too little, like it's completely stupid, the way you portray it to be. It just isn't like that at all. In fact, it's just the opposite. It mostly just plain works and does a really nice job with little intervention at all.

What experience are you speaking from? Have you used Radio Poppers or Pocket Wizards with TTL and ratios? Have you used a commander with ratios when controlling multiple TTL flashes or groups of flashes? When's the last time you used TTL with one or more speedlights and really had a problem with it, such as those you describe to others? Or are you speaking from a theoretical perspective, based on what you think it's like?

Bottom line: Based on my own experience with TTL and what I've seen from others who use TTL, your testimony about TTL being unreliable, inconsistent, difficult to work with, difficult to control, etc., etc., etc., doesn't ring true to me.