pocket wizard alternatives?

[Village Idiot]

Wow, the more I read the more I realize how much of a gap there is in the market for remote triggers.

There's a bucket of $ waiting to be made if someone wanted to buy a bunch of Cactus trigger sets and mod them for resale.

I'm waiting for mine in the mail right now and will swap batteries and mod before they even touch the hotshoe.

Not really. They'd still be Cactus triggers.

 

[JerryPH]

1. no

Well right there is the issue. If done wrong, of course they will work worse than even out of the box. That is not realistic to want better performance, but not use the right parts or do it correctly.

regardless of being capable to doing the mods, i want to buy new ones. i'd rather pay around 180 dollars (which isn't too bad imo) for 2 receivers and a transmitter that i know will work reliably from the box.

In your case, this may well be the best answer.

oh and also, on my cactus receivers the wire that runs from the pc port to the circuit board in the actual receiver itself keeps snapping and i have to re solder it very frequently which is getting quite annoying.

Wow, ok, now... this is a part that doesn't move, doesn't flex. What is happening to make the connection break EVER, much less more than once? Likely the same reason #1... your soldering skills are likely not adequate or you are using something that is not letting the solder do it's job right (bad solder, bad gun, bad technique... only possibilities).

Which means they also will do better in situations with more interference or obstacles in the way.

I can trigger my GIs from inside a van, 4 houses down with the receivers in my basement (no windows in the basement either), how is that for obstacles?

Again, it is way further than what I would say 99% of the people here would never need. PWs are nice, but WAY overpriced for what they do. If they maybe did wireless TTL, at least they could be justified for even people like me, but since they don't and no one is paying me for my pics, it would be the same as me tossing money out the window. I would rather invest that money saved for my lext lens purchase.

Oh, did you guys hear about the beta tests for the Cactus V4s units? They look nicer, smaller and perform better... something like the modded V2s units, but out of the box. They are not up for sale yet, but expect something out soon.

 

[Ejazzle]

Jerry, Which step by step instructions did you follow to do the MOD? I am thinkin about buying the cactus triggers. But i want to make sure i do the MOD correctly. Yours sounds pretty successful.

Do you have any idea when the V4s are gonna drop?

 

[JerryPH]

The Jerry Blog!: Cactus V2s Modifications

It is TOTALLY easy to do. Just make sure you use the right kind and length of wire and that the soldering is done properly (ie Tin the ends of all your wires (put a touch of solder on them) before you solder the wires to the contact areas and that you are using a 12.39" length of cat5 single strand copper wire and a hot iron that doesn't touch the PC board of the transmitter for more than 2 seconds, and this is important so that you don't kill the transmitter. This is like basic soldering 101 technique under all circumstances, but sometimes needs to be said.

For the receivers, place a small piece of paper on the PCB board to protect it from any flux or solder falling on it.

 

[Alleh Lindquist]

I didn't read the responses but the alien bee cyber syncs are a great wireless trigger for the value. If you want pro equipment get pocket wizards. I never used the cyber syncs as I had pocket wizards before they released them but I know lots of people that have bought them and they love them. The other alien bee triggers are the same as the cactus ones just more expensive with a different name.

 

[Ejazzle]

thanks jerry! now i just gotta learn how to solder. lol this should be interesting

 

[goodoneian]

Wow, ok, now... this is a part that doesn't move, doesn't flex. What is happening to make the connection break EVER, much less more than once? Likely the same reason #1... your soldering skills are likely not adequate or you are using something that is not letting the solder do it's job right (bad solder, bad gun, bad technique... only possibilities).

i never even attempted the mods, so there's no way i could have messed anything up...

i'm talking about the wire that runs from the pc port to the circuit board or whatever it's called. that is a very small flexible piece of wire if you'd ask me and has snapped more than one time because the bolt/ washer that holds the pc port in place will not stay right, so it rotates freely causing the wire to snap.