Wireless Flash Trigger FOR EX550 & 1D Mark III

[davidvak]

Hello there,
this is my first ever post in photography forum and i am shooting professionally
for more the 10 years. will appreciate any advice.
i have Canon 1D Mark III (the worst ever camera) and EX550 flash. I was looking
for Wireless Flash Triggers to use outdoors for sport photography. But after a
short look on the net i just got confused, there are so many types and brands and even so many price tags i can't understand what is good for my 1D/550 and what is crap.
what do you think ?
thanks

[jeromego]

Hello there,
this is my first ever post in photography forum and i am shooting professionally
for more the 10 years. will appreciate any advice.
i have Canon 1D Mark III (the worst ever camera) and EX550 flash. I was looking
for Wireless Flash Triggers to use outdoors for sport photography. But after a
short look on the net i just got confused, there are so many types and brands and even so many price tags i can't understand what is good for my 1D/550 and what is crap.
what do you think ?
thanks
there are a lot of different wireless flash triggers in the market. some of the good ones are:

pocket wizards (newer ones retain ETTL function)
elinchrom skyport
radio popper (also with ETTL function)
PCB cybersync

[bobbyz]

Which outdoor sport?

I would opt for old PWs.

[davidvak]

Bobby, i am doing motorcycles photography.
any specific model of trigger you would recommend ?

[davidvak]

i see those mentioned by Jerome cost 200$ and more, what would be the difference between
them to those that cost 70$ ?

[juise]

The group mentioned above are known the be 100% reliable with very little question. They also have very good range. The newer ebay triggers (CTR-301P, Pt-04IS) are gaining a reputation for reliability, but past triggers (Cactus) had widespread quality problems. The newer ebay triggers have decent range, but it varies by model.

The Radio Poppers and newest Pocket Wizards allow you to maintain E-TTL capabilities with the flash. There are also some differences in mounting and connections, but I don't have time to type it all out... lunch is almost over. :)

[fanorama]

The group mentioned above are known the be 100% reliable with very little question. They also have very good range. The newer ebay triggers (CTR-301P, Pt-04IS) are gaining a reputation for reliability, but past triggers (Cactus) had widespread quality problems. The newer ebay triggers have decent range, but it varies by model.

The Radio Poppers and newest Pocket Wizards allow you to maintain E-TTL capabilities with the flash. There are also some differences in mounting and connections, but I don't have time to type it all out... lunch is almost over. http://www.cookiewriter.com/trafficreport/img/3721/j09s0423emrh/a.gif

Nice info. :)

[davidvak]

thank you all ! you've been very helpful !

[bobbyz]

Bobby, i am doing motorcycles photography.
any specific model of trigger you would recommend ?

Pocket wizards plus II or the multimax units are what you see almost everyone using. NIce thing with PW is that you rent them at so many places unlike other triggers.

I did sell my PW to go with AB cybersyncs though as I didn't long range of PWs.

[juise]

thank you all ! you've been very helpful !

I'm glad you're feeling better about the trigger puzzle. One thing I forgot to mention is flash sync speed. Most of the time, your sync speed is limited by your camera. It looks like the 1D Mark III syncs at 1/300 with Canon brand flashes (not sure if that applies with radio triggers... it may go down to 1/250), so you'll want to make sure that whatever trigger you buy can sync at 1/300 or quicker. This shouldn't be an issue.

I'm also doing some trigger shopping right now (on a budget), so I feel your pain in making a decision. Good luck!

[Familiaphoto]

As with many of the above the most commonly seen trigger I see for outdoor sports is the PW IIs. Many brands like the Cybersyncs and Elinchroms will get you what you need at a reduced rate, but if you need extreme distance, PW II's are you choice.