Thinking of getting a higher end radio trigger

Kbarredo · Jul 21, 2011

My cheapo ebay trigger crapped out on me. I just need one trigger and one receiver. I was wondering if I buy a single receiver set for now can I just buy only the receiver later on. Im thinking of getting a pocket wizard.Or do I have to buy the full kit. All I've been using is one receiver transmitter set on my sb600 and my monolights set on optical slave mode. I want something more reliable than optical triggers.

Big Mike · Jul 21, 2011

The 'standard' Pocket Wizard is the Plus II model. It's a transceiver, meaning that the unit can act as a transmitter or a receiver. You could buy two units (one for the camera, one for the light) and then add more units later...no problem.

The problem is that each unit cost $169.

If that is too much, I'd suggest looking at the Cyber Sync system from Alien Bee (Paul C Buff). The transmitter is $60 and a receiver is $70.

The PW has an outstanding range of up to 1600 feet and it runs on AA batteries.

The Cyber Sync isn't rated for that distance but has always worked well for me. The receiver (CSRB) does use AA but the transmitter is a flat 'watch' style battery. Not hard to find, but not as convenient as AA.

And yes, with the Cyber Sync system, you could add more receivers later.