PC Cords

[JohnnyL]

Hello everyone , I'm new to photography and I'm confused with somethings.

May I know , what are PC cords for? My understanding is that for people to trigger their lights , they connect a PC cord from their camera onto the flash / slave transmitter on their hot shoe. If this is correct then why do they have to connect the cord? Won't the light trigger even without a cord as long as it is in the hot shoe?

Thanks , hope you can help me.

 

[Garbz]

I'm not sure if I understand this right. The purpose of PC sync cords is to trigger specifically the lights which are NOT in the hotshoe, like studio flashes, and recently thanks to the strobists, small flash units.

 

[Tiberius47]

That's right. PC cords are used for off camera flash, or for flashes that are mounted on a flash bracket.

 

[JohnnyL]

I've got a slave transmitter , receive and a flash. Would I need a PC Sync cord to trigger the slave flash? Perhaps a cord from the camera to the slave transmitter on the hot shoe?

Thanks for all your comments!