Profoto Air and PocketWizards... Together???

Kauz · May 29, 2011

Ive been just getting into using strobes and I have a lot of friends who use them, including a big name pro that uses PW. I started doing remote flash right away because I needed it for something I got hired out to shoot, and am now used to PW systems. I didnt use the ControlTL system but its intrigued me, but the main question was, what flashes to go with. I know that Ill be in situations where one or two main fronts plus kickers (Nikon speedlights) would be necessary. The Profoto lights sound fantastic, and the Air system sounds great too, but is it possible to just stack a MiniTT1 and an Air on top of it to trigger both Air Flashes and speedlights on FlexTT5 receivers? Hopefully you can guide me in my search, everyone.

Kauz · Jun 14, 2011

No one has any idea on this?

Village Idiot · Jun 14, 2011

As far as I know, neither the Mini or the Air have a shoe, so you couldn't stack one on the other. The PW flexes do, so you could probably stack the Air on that. And I'm assuming that the air is just a regular trigger, so a PW should fire it just fine. You'd have to test it out first.

I don't know why you'd want to mix TTL control with manual lights though. A different meter reading from a certain shade or color could mean that your speedlights are going to compensate enough to cause a noticable change in the exposure of a photo compared to your other lights.

Big Mike · Jun 14, 2011

I haven't been keeping up on what Pocket Wizard is doing...but I was under the impression that only the Canon compatible TL/Flex models had been released. They had such a problem with them that they still hadn't released the Nikon version yet.

I don't know anything about the Profoto Air system, but I would imagine that you should be able to fire them (manually) alongside TTL flashes. But you would need a receiver unit on each strobe, so that the TTL preflash doesn't trigger them prematurely.

Not really the same set up, but for wedding receptions, I do often mix TTL and manual. I put a studio strobe up in a fixed location and trigger it with a Cyber Sync. Then I have a TTL flash on the camera. I usually adjust the exposure so that the remote light is acting as the main light light or a back light, then on-camera flash is dialed down (FEC) to act as fill. Although, I can easily change the exposure to reverse those roles, which gives me a lot of creative control while shooting on the fly. I could use the on-camera flash in manual as well, but because the distance is constantly changing, it's just easier to use TTL.