Optical Slave vs. Radio Trigger

[JhnRX7]

I recently purchased a set of Cactus V2s wireless triggers and a Nikon SB-26 to compliment my 430EX II and get into some off camera lighting. I am using the Cactus receiver to trigger the 430EX II and the SB-26 is set to optical slave. I mainly focus on automotive photography so most of its use is outdoors. In the sunlight the SB-26 fires perfectly fine ONLY if the front of the unit is facing in the direction of the other flash. This is not a big problem since it has a swivel head.

I have decided that I want to add another flash to my collection and am thinking about another SB-26. However I am curious to know if there is a draw back to using all optical slaves vs. radio triggers. Any difference in performance?

[Peacefield]

Opticals are nice and cheap and pretty reliable. I only went to triggers because I shoot weddings and I obviously can't have others firing off my strobes. If it wasn't for that, I'd have probably stayed optical. That said, I don't know how reliably optical will perform when out in bright sun.

[form]

Optical slaves are no fun outdoors and are not as reliable as (good) radio triggers. Line of sight is also not necessary with radio. And as previously stated, optical slaves get activated by others too, not just yourself.

[breadandbutter]

Although you may see a few photographer enthusiasts triggering your strobes and looking at the image taken trying to figure out why their images are completely washed out.

[JhnRX7]

Other photographers flash is definitely an issue.

What if you were trying to trigger 10 optical slaves (for argument sake) at once. Would the slaves farthest away from the main flash be delayed any seeing as they would be triggered by the flash of another optical unit between itself and the main flash? (I have no idea what one would be trying to light with so many flashes at such a large distance lol, just for argument sake)

[WillMass]

Originally Posted by JhnRX7

Other photographers flash is definitely an issue.

What if you were trying to trigger 10 optical slaves (for argument sake) at once. Would the slaves farthest away from the main flash be delayed any seeing as they would be triggered by the flash of another optical unit between itself and the main flash? (I have no idea what one would be trying to light with so many flashes at such a large distance lol, just for argument sake)

Considering that light travels at 186,000 miles per second, I doubt you'd notice the delay.

[snakekid]

Originally Posted by WillMass

Considering that light travels at 186,000 miles per second, I doubt you'd notice the delay.

Well light does travel at 3 x 10^8 m/s but it also takes time for the optical slave receiver to "react" but it should still be way faster than the shutter speed.

[HappyCamp]

Originally Posted by snakekid

Well light does travel at 3 x 10^8 m/s but it also takes time for the optical slave receiver to "react" but it should still be way faster than the shutter speed.

The question was would the optical slaves farther away trigger slower than the optical slaves closer in. So the only difference in the question is the distance and since light travels so fast in 1/50,000 second it would travel approximately 3.7 miles

So I am pretty sure that the distance the optical slaves are away will have no noticeable impact on the speed of the strobe firing.

[RDKirk]

Line of sight issues and bright sunlight issues are significant with optical slaves, and there are some decent radio triggers at moderate prices. It's a question of penny-wise, pound-foolish.

[Athiril]

Originally Posted by WillMass

Considering that light travels at 186,000 miles per second, I doubt you'd notice the delay.

Sorry for bumping but I would like to point out that radio triggers should have an indentical (lack of) delay.

Given that all of the EM spectrum (including light and radio waves, microwaves, infrared etc) propagate or more or less the same velocity through the same medium

[GenuineRolla]

Just get some cybersyncs and you won't have to worry about any of them firing when you don't want them to.

[AutoXer]

Actually the problem with others triggering your flashes is that when you go to shoot, your flashes are busy recycling so you either don't get the shot or don't get the lighting you were expecting. For ANYPLACE where others would be shooting their cameras I'd use wireless. Otherwise, in a studio setting I go optical and it works superbly with a very inexpensive setup.

Use the right tool for the job.

[RDKirk]

Originally Posted by AutoXer

Actually the problem with others triggering your flashes is that when you go to shoot, your flashes are busy recycling so you either don't get the shot or don't get the lighting you were expecting. For ANYPLACE where others would be shooting their cameras I'd use wireless. Otherwise, in a studio setting I go optical and it works superbly with a very inexpensive setup.

Use the right tool for the job.

Except that you have bought two systems when the radio system would do both jobs...better, because even in the studio setting the optical slave can give you line-of-sight problems.

[Titus213]

The issue with optical slaves are many - in a paid shoot. You not only have the issue of other flash units tripping yours but also the recycle delay - will they all be ready when you are?