Paul C Buff Gear

[j-digg]

I never have much luck with optical slave. Sometimes I am too far or too hard to trigger it when I bounce the main light. Maybe the Alien Bees are better. I really want to know how good it is if you do an outdoor shoot in the open. Will one AB really trigger the other AB? Especially if the AB connected to the radio trigger isnt really pointed toward the other AB?

I think I have experience with the situation you are inquiring about. Except I used my 580 EXII triggered wirelessly with Cowboystudios instead of an AB fired wirelessly... The flash seen in the background of this photo is the speedlight and the main light was an AB800.:



This was my first time out with the strobe and at first the AB wasn't firing off the speedlight ( pretty discouraging ), then I realized that it was just because the optical trigger is on the back of the unit and wasn't seeing the light from the 580ex. I thought it was a wasted attempt and was ready to go home since it was getting dark.. until I remembered I had my 22" reflector in the car. I had a random skater at the park hold it up behind the AB, bouncing the flash into the eye and much to my delight, it worked

So triggering them outdoors optically can be a pretty big PITA.

 

[curtyoungblood]

Anyway.. maybe canon speedlites prior to the 600RTs are POS or what. I never have much luck with optical slave. Sometimes I am too far or too hard to trigger it when I bounce the main light. Maybe the Alien Bees are better. I really want to know how good it is if you do an outdoor shoot in the open. Will one AB really trigger the other AB? Especially if the AB connected to the radio trigger isnt really pointed toward the other AB?

Canon's flashes don't use an optical trigger to set each other off. They use an infrared signal.

You have to have all TTL enabled strobes for the Canon ones to work, they don't have a manual optical slave like the older Nikon SBs. Plus, depending on where you're working LOS issues and possible issues of the ambient over powering the flash and "confusing" the eye will stop a light from triggering. That should mainly only be an issue where you're working in huge rooms with lights very far apart or outside in noon day sun.

I may be misreading what you're saying, but you don't have to use Canon's flashes in TTL to get them to set each other off. The infrared trigger works with them in manual. Also, its the infrared light, not the light of the flash, that you have to worry about being over-powered or not in the line of sight.

 

[Big Mike]

Canon's flashes don't use an optical trigger to set each other off. They use an infrared signal.

Actually, AFAIK, the flashes do use optical signals to communicate and trigger each other. The only one that actually uses IR, is the ST-E2 master unit, because it doesn't have a flash to use.

As for the OP's original question...I think it's been answered. All the PCB lights (like just about every other studio strobe) has a built-in optical sensor. So as long as the sensor gets enough light from the triggered strobe, it will fire. FYI, there is no switch (on the Bees at least). The on/off is determined by whether or not something is plugged into the sync socket.

In in most in-door situations, the other lights will trigger no problem. But outdoors, you may need a bounce surface or direct line of sight. But a simple solution is to use something like this...FlashZebra.com: Optical Slave - Miniphone Plug (3.5mm) - 18 inch cord - Canon EX Compatible - Sonia Brand (Item #0274)
It plugs into the sync socket and gives you a cord so that you can position the new optical sensor in a better spot to 'see' the flash from the master light.

 

[Village Idiot]

Anyway.. maybe canon speedlites prior to the 600RTs are POS or what. I never have much luck with optical slave. Sometimes I am too far or too hard to trigger it when I bounce the main light. Maybe the Alien Bees are better. I really want to know how good it is if you do an outdoor shoot in the open. Will one AB really trigger the other AB? Especially if the AB connected to the radio trigger isnt really pointed toward the other AB?

Canon's flashes don't use an optical trigger to set each other off. They use an infrared signal.

You have to have all TTL enabled strobes for the Canon ones to work, they don't have a manual optical slave like the older Nikon SBs. Plus, depending on where you're working LOS issues and possible issues of the ambient over powering the flash and "confusing" the eye will stop a light from triggering. That should mainly only be an issue where you're working in huge rooms with lights very far apart or outside in noon day sun.

I may be misreading what you're saying, but you don't have to use Canon's flashes in TTL to get them to set each other off. The infrared trigger works with them in manual. Also, its the infrared light, not the light of the flash, that you have to worry about being over-powered or not in the line of sight.

What I'm saying is that you can't use a cheap Vivitar 285HV to set off a 580EX II. I know Nikon flashes, at least some of the older ones, have an optical slave mode where any flash will set them off.