slave lagging with pocketwizard on master?

[kaitanium]

im sure theres a "duh" answer to this but im a flash noob so who knows

got a 580ex II hooked up to a PW via pc port as a master controlling a 420ex as a slave on its own. with this setup theres a noticeable 1 second lag between the 580ex going off and the 420ex going off

any way around this? when the 580ex is on my camera controlling the 420, theres no lag

[Lotto]

Sorry, the 420 can not be used as manual slave, no way around that.

[kaitanium]

i know that. i wasnt saying anything about a manual slave was i? sorry if i was unclear. 420 is setup as a regular automatic slave

[PacAce]

i know that. i wasnt saying anything about a manual slave was i? sorry if i was unclear. 420 is setup as a regular automatic slave

If you are going to fire the master via a PW unit, you'll have no choice but to fire both the master and the slaves in manual mode. And, as Lotto already said, the 420EX does not have manual capability and hence cannot be used as a slave in this kind of set up.

If you do manage to get a slave that can be used in manual mode, like the 430EX, 550EX or 580EX, you'll encounter another problem with your 580EX II connected to the PW via the PC sync port. You'll find that the 580EX II can't be triggered by the PW unit. In order to get around this problem, you'll need to connect the 580EX II to the PW unit via a hotshoe adapter.

[jmb4370]

Indeed, the 580 EX II can NOT be triggered by the PW receiver since the PC jack is not active in the Manual-Master mode as it comes from the factory, UNLESS a re-wire mod is done to make this PC jack active both as a input and output port...

As an output port, the PC jack can trigger the PW transmitter when the 580 EX II is in the camera hot shoe (on all models but the Mark III)

[kaitanium]

ok let me take this one step at a time here....

my flashes are off camera, standing on the ground, on their own stands.

580ex hooked up to a PW via PC, set to master

420ex standing on its own too, no PW hooked to it, in line of site of 580ex's infaraed

420ex triggers but delays 1sec before doing so.


i suppose what is confusing here is when you guys say the 420ex cannot "be used as a slave in this setup" since it does fire, just delays, hence it is working as a slave.

if the 580 is on my camera, no PWs involved, 420 fires as a slave in sync with 580 no problem.


....just making sure im on the same page as you guys here before i continue.

[Lotto]

OK, without having a 420 in my hand, it's kind of hard to explaim, but I will try...

First, lets do a quick test #1: master 580 in ETTL mode, 420 in slave mode, Ratio Off. Press the Pilot button on the 580, we will see the 580 fires weakly, 420 does too in about 1 sec delay. So why there is this delay? Because by pressing the Pilot button, the master 580 sends out a "test" signals for the slave groups to do test fires--let the photog know the slave units are positioned right and can receive signals from the master unit. If the Ratio is turn off on the master unit, slaves in different group will do the test fires in A--B--C sequence.

Test #2: Set the master 580 to manual mode by pressing the Mode button, push the Pilot button again, the 580 will fire at the strength of whatever is set on it, the 420 will also fire at full blast without delay ( I assume power level part since I don't have the 420)

What these two tests will show:

1) The OP has the master 580 in ETTL mode when hook up with the PW. All the PW does to the 580 is like pressing the Pilot botton.

2) The master 580 has to be in manual mode when the PW is added to this combo, and since the 420 has no manual adjustments, that's why we say it's fine for a ETTL slave flash, but not for the manual off camera one.

[PacAce]

ok let me take this one step at a time here....

my flashes are off camera, standing on the ground, on their own stands.

580ex hooked up to a PW via PC, set to master

420ex standing on its own too, no PW hooked to it, in line of site of 580ex's infaraed

420ex triggers but delays 1sec before doing so.


i suppose what is confusing here is when you guys say the 420ex cannot "be used as a slave in this setup" since it does fire, just delays, hence it is working as a slave.

if the 580 is on my camera, no PWs involved, 420 fires as a slave in sync with 580 no problem.


....just making sure im on the same page as you guys here before i continue.
As was said before, you CAN NOT USE THE 420EX AS A SLAVE in the setup you have. The 420EX can only work if the master is mounted on the camera or connected via an off-shoe cord but not if it's hooked up via a PW or a PC cord.

[kaitanium]

mmm all cleared up. thanks guys, you are flash masters. hopefully ill be up there one of these days, now i must go play with them and see for myself since thats where the learning comes in!!