Arrgh... salespeople

[oldmacman]

So I wanted to do some OCF work this weekend and I "forgot" my synch cables at work. I had been meaning to get a wireless trigger and thought this would be the perfect time to pick up Canon's ST-E2 wireless trigger. The sales guy says they don't have any in stock, would I like one ordered in. "Sure," I say, "how long will that take?" Sensing he might lose a sale, he says the Pocket Wizards are on sale and only $180 vs $320 for the Canon gear. "Will it do high synch with the 580ex II?" He checks for a long time on the Internet and finally says, "yeah, up to 1/500th."

Ok, so I give it a try. Open it up at home at there is only one transceiver in the box. Hmm, I guess it must fire the 580 when it's in slave mode. Nope. After further research, you need one on camera and one on the flash. Not a huge deal, but the store is 40 minutes from home. Wouldn't the salesguy know that I need two? Now the price is $360 to do the same job as the Canon gear and I don't get ttl metering to boot. It's Sunday and too late to return them, so now I have to try and run by some time this week when I'm not busy. Just frustrating and no shots for today.

 

[Buckster]

What camera body are you shooting with?

 

[oldmacman]

What camera body are you shooting with?

5D Mark II. Yeah, I know the 7D will act as a master.

 

[Overread]

You might want to check out the pocket wizards M2 as these (For canon - there are different versions) will give you wireless Ettl metering and flash control as well as being the standard for wireless flash control.

 

[oldmacman]

You might want to check out the pocket wizards M2 as these (For canon - there are different versions) will give you wireless Ettl metering and flash control as well as being the standard for wireless flash control.

You would use pocket wizards over the Canon ST-E2?

 

[Buckster]

What camera body are you shooting with?

5D Mark II. Yeah, I know the 7D will act as a master.

Yeah, that's why I was wondering. That's one of the things I truly love about the 7D. Oh well, it was just a thought.

I'm still thinking about getting a good set of triggers for my 40D backup and a future full frame, very possibly the 5DMKII (unless an updated replacement for it arrives before I buy). I really want something that will handle both my 580EXIIs with full ETTL for when I'm on the go, and my studio lights, and even a combination of the two when I want to just go nuts.

I'm not sure what totally fits the bill for me on that yet. I hear good things about the Radio Poppers on that front, but then I believe Pocket Wizard now has a set that will do it all too.

For now, I'm doing okay between the 7D's communication with the 580EXIIs and some cheap Chinese triggers working with the rest of my gear, but it's not really the all-in-one solution I'd like to have.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[oldmacman]

What camera body are you shooting with?

5D Mark II. Yeah, I know the 7D will act as a master.

Yeah, that's why I was wondering. That's one of the things I truly love about the 7D. Oh well, it was just a thought.

I'm still thinking about getting a good set of triggers for my 40D backup and a future full frame, very possibly the 5DMKII (unless an updated replacement for it arrives before I buy). I really want something that will handle both my 580EXIIs with full ETTL for when I'm on the go, and my studio lights, and even a combination of the two when I want to just go nuts.

I'm not sure what totally fits the bill for me on that yet. I hear good things about the Radio Poppers on that front, but then I believe Pocket Wizard now has a set that will do it all too.

For now, I'm doing okay between the 7D's communication with the 580EXIIs and some cheap Chinese triggers working with the rest of my gear, but it's not really the all-in-one solution I'd like to have.

Decisions, decisions...

Thanks for your point of view. It's good to know where other people are at with similar issues.

I have a dedicated trigger for strobes at work, but I can't be borrowing that unit all the time and it doesn't synch above 1/200th with my equipment. Well it does, just not the whole frame...

I think for the price and expandability, I'm leaning toward the canon unit unless someone has a better solution.

 

[Overread]

You might want to check out the pocket wizards M2 as these (For canon - there are different versions) will give you wireless Ettl metering and flash control as well as being the standard for wireless flash control.

You would use pocket wizards over the Canon ST-E2?

I believe that the STE2 is based on either infra red signals or flash light signals from the flashes to the unit rather than the pocket wizards which use radio signals.
From my own experiences the use of infra red and/or flash light signals can have limitations since you have to position your flashes and camera so that each unit will remain in contact and also have to deal (with flash signals) with problems in bright light which can render the flashes unable to read when one goes off.

For those reasons I would warm far more toward a radio setup that would offer far more versatility and reliability.

 

[oldmacman]

You might want to check out the pocket wizards M2 as these (For canon - there are different versions) will give you wireless Ettl metering and flash control as well as being the standard for wireless flash control.

You would use pocket wizards over the Canon ST-E2?

I believe that the STE2 is based on either infra red signals or flash light signals from the flashes to the unit rather than the pocket wizards which use radio signals.
From my own experiences the use of infra red and/or flash light signals can have limitations since you have to position your flashes and camera so that each unit will remain in contact and also have to deal (with flash signals) with problems in bright light which can render the flashes unable to read when one goes off.

For those reasons I would warm far more toward a radio setup that would offer far more versatility and reliability.

Thanks, I just checked the specs on Canon's site and you are right, it is infrared. Hmm, that does put a wrinkle in things. So maybe a second pocketwizard is in my future.

 

[cfusionpm]

Also, the STE2 uses a proprietary, non-rechargable battery that will need replacement at a fairly decent rate. I can't recall off the top of my head, but between that and the high up-front cost, I have no intention of ever using them. I personally use some cheap chinese off-brand triggers that I got off eBay for about 20$ that work great up to about 40 ft. They can trigger two different channels and my set came with the transmitter and three recievers.

As far as stepping it up above that, I have heard wonderful things about CyberSync and PocketWizards, but don't have any experience with either.

 

[oldmacman]

Also, the STE2 uses a proprietary, non-rechargable battery that will need replacement at a fairly decent rate. I can't recall off the top of my head, but between that and the high up-front cost, I have no intention of ever using them. I personally use some cheap chinese off-brand triggers that I got off eBay for about 20$ that work great up to about 40 ft. They can trigger two different channels and my set came with the transmitter and three recievers.

As far as stepping it up above that, I have heard wonderful things about CyberSync and PocketWizards, but don't have any experience with either.

Thanks, CfusionPM. Good heads up on the battery. It's looking more like a second pocketWizard.

 

[Overread]

Remember the original pocket wizards won't let you have auto flash, whilst the newer ones will let you use your auto flash shooting modes as well as having a faster sync speed (I think up to 1/500sec if possible with your camera body).