Confused about wireless Flash :(

[briancmo]

I recently had an article on me in a Canadian magazine and the photographer who shot the profile pic ended up offering me to tag along on some shoots with him. (insert Brian drooling over his Hasselblad setup). Anyways he begged me to start by getting my flash off camera - so here I am.

I have a 430ex and my 5D and I'm confused about what to buy to make the flash wireless. Do I need 2 pocket wizards / cybersyncs / st-e2? Or can I buy the st-e2 and set my 430ex to slave and they will talk to each other? Money isn't a HUGE deal but I'd like to spend less if possible.

He's offering to take me out with my setup that I'll be traveling with in December and see what we can learn together (rather then me seeing him shoot on a hasselblad with 5 studio lights)...DAMN PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE SO NICE TO NEWBIES!

[Ghostfly]

This is just personal opinion Brian - others will differ. I really like pocket wizards, but with the 430 ex you'll need to get a hot shoe to pocket wizard adapter. Check out flashzebra.com or pm me.

You can get some cheap nikon flashes (SB25's - I have 3) - use them all on manual mode. you won't need the adapter. with the 430ex, you can use ETTL if you use a ETTL cord, but other than that with triggers your all manual (think of it as all creative!)

Also, if you haven't already - check out www.strobist.com (http://www.strobist.com)

[briancmo]

I guess I'll have to get pocket wizards. I checked out their website and by looking at the pic they look like they have a hotshoe, but how would they connect to the flash?

[bsaber]

Cybersyncs will let you fire off the 430ex for a cheaper price than Pocket Wizards but both will have to be operated on manual. For the PWs (not sure about Cybersyncs) you'll need a hot shoe adapter as Ghostfly mentioned. The ST-E2 or whatever will allow you to use ETTL but for that kind of price you're better off getting a 580ex to use as master.

EDIT: You can also look into Radio Poppers which will allow you to use RF instead of IR to control the flash in ETTL which will give you much greater operating distance and reliability outdoors. But you'll need to have the ST-E2 or a 580ex on-camera for it to work.

[canonnoob]

PWs are expensive like no other.. go with the cybersyncs... again with what^^ said above.. its a personal preference... its up to you but I have cybersyncs and love them... with either you will need a Hot shoe adapter...

[DSMITH131]

Here are some links that can help. Don't take this wrong but if you do a search of the threads you can find more threads on topics rather than having a lot of threads on the same topic. if you find a thread on something and it dont answer a question you may have you can post in that thread and it will bump it to the top and some one will see it and give you a answer or guild you in the right direction
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=308108
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html

[Ghostfly]

They plug into the the flash (pc) - but your 430ex doesn't have the female receiver.

i was trying to sell the adapter with my flash, but the seller only took the flash. If you go with pocket wizards and want the adapter pm me or contact flash zebra.

This is the one I have - http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=555958

I guess I'll have to get pocket wizards. I checked out their website and by looking at the pic they look like they have a hotshoe, but how would they connect to the flash?

[bobbyz]

You will need 2 pocket wizards, 1 will be Tx and 1 will be rx or you can 2 transceiversw which can act as Tx or Rx.

If it were me, iw ould get AB cybersyncs, they don't have transceiver model so you will need to get 1 Tx and 1 Rx. Put tx on your 5d and rx on your flash. Get flash shore mount adapter thing from flashzebra.

With both PW and CyberSync you will not have eTTL control. Flash will be in manual.

[zerovision]

There is no doubt that the pocket wizards does what it is made for, but you might consider this. You will need to get 2 pocket wizards to control one off camera flash. For a little more money you can buy two Canon flashes (Recommend 580EX II and the 430EX II), put the 580EX II on the camera and control the other two off camera flashes with ETTL, and, the best part, you can control the off camera flashes with the flash mounted on the camera without having to walk over to each flash to make adjustments each time you want to change them.

Each flash can be set as A,B and C. As long as each of the slaves are in direct line of site, they will fire when you on camera strobe fires.

The pocket wizards are great to have and you will probably want to add then later for situations where one or more strobes are hidden, but you need to take the ETTL option into consideration before making your final decision.

[Wilt]

I have a 430ex and my 5D and I'm confused about what to buy to make the flash wireless. Do I need 2 pocket wizards / cybersyncs / st-e2? Or can I buy the st-e2 and set my 430ex to slave and they will talk to each other? Money isn't a HUGE deal but I'd like to spend less if possible.

If you want ETTL and you do not shoot in bright sunlight, you buy an ETTL flash with Master capability (580EX) or you buy the ST-E2.

If you don't care about ETTL automation or you shoot in bright sunlight, you use any flashes with an Auto mode photosensor built in, and you use any radio slave to permit triggering from prolonged distances and in bright sunlight.

[elwood58]

For those that are using Pocket Wizards, and want to control more than one flash, I have had great luck controlling two flashes. The flashes need to be the same make, but you can use a mini audio mono splitter to drive a sync cable to each of two flashes. You wind up withone long cable to trip over, but at least the camera is untethered, and it works a lot better than optical triggering. I assume the same could be said for all of the other brands, I have just not tested it.

[BIGTUFFGUY]

^ why don't you just get another PW for any additional flash?

[bsaber]

Because a PW costs ~$200 vs ~$20 for a cable...

[Titus213]

If you don't mind cables why not just use them all around and save the rest of the PW money?

[bsaber]

True... but if you already have PWs why not use them?

[Titus213]

If you've got'em, use'em.

[René Damkot]

If you don't mind cables why not just use them all around and save the rest of the PW money?

Because camera to subject distance is about ten meters, and strobe to strobe to subject is about 2?