Sick of Cactus - Thinking of Skyports!

Well as the title suggests, totally sick and tired of the cactus with misfires and now a dodgy transmitter - I'm having to open the lid and keep pressing the test button to eventually get it to work!

So I'm looking for something more professional, reliable but not as expensive as PW'S - skyports seem to fit the bill. But just wanted to get feedback on real life reliability - are they as good as pw's?

Also can I utilise my old male to male pc cable to connect the flashes (580, sb25 & sb28) to the receivers? or do I need other cables?

PWs are the way to go for total trouble free. You would also probably need these if you do not have them already.

http://www.flashzebra.​com/wizardcables/screw​lock.shtml

Cybersyncs
http://www.alienbees.c​om/remotes.html

I love my skyports. Utterly reliable. I've added a friends 3rd to my mix and they worked great.

Thaks for the responses so far!

However, although PW's seem to be the "gold standard", they are out of my price range so I'm not even considering them. But I would like to get more opinions on the skyports.

Also, is there a pc socket on the skyports that my male-male cable will fit? It doesn't seem to be clear on the website. If another cable is required, which one would I need?

Although Flashzebra has been cited and has excellent service (I've brought from him before) I'd rather source cables from either here in the UK or Hong Kong as the US postal system makes deliveries to the UK way too long. HK ships to UK within 5 working days on average, whereas from the US it can take over 2 weeks.

If you are going the skyports route then check this review out

http://blewbmx.com …ort-radio-trigger-review/

pridash wrote in post #8244589
Thaks for the responses so far!

However, although PW's seem to be the "gold standard", they are out of my price range so I'm not even considering them. But I would like to get more opinions on the skyports.

Also, is there a pc socket on the skyports that my male-male cable will fit? It doesn't seem to be clear on the website. If another cable is required, which one would I need?

Although Flashzebra has been cited and has excellent service (I've brought from him before) I'd rather source cables from either here in the UK or Hong Kong as the US postal system makes deliveries to the UK way too long. HK ships to UK within 5 working days on average, whereas from the US it can take over 2 weeks.

No...

Just save for pocketwizards and save the trouble, really. They will just work, and used ones can be had for as little as $230 a set, which is like half of what they were a year ago.

I'm sure the pocket wizards are great. I just keep wondering if there is a reason to need them? I've had the cybersyncs which worked flawlessly, and now the skyports on RX monos. No battery on receivers and ability to adjust lighting levels from camera, what could pocket wizards possibly offer in my case?

Longer range, not as sensetive regarding interference, buildt to last, and compatible with Sekonic meters. If that features that appeal to you i dont know.

Kindest

I use both and pw is better as far as range, durability, and wireless metering goes. Skyports BIG feature is its remote power control with RX/BXri/Quadra units, and is also the only reason why i use them.

For use at shorter "normal" distances and with some "care" the units will work great. Longer distances and in enviroments with lots of interference and "heavy" use they wont fare to well.

Why are used Pocket Wizards off the table? I bought a pair of *decade* old pocket wizards while I was in school. They worked great for the past couple of years and just yesterday I traded them towards some more lighting. They're all over ebay, and usually craigslist as well. You can have your cake and eat it too! The old ones are just as powerful, reliable, and range-worthy as the new stuff. Plus, being completely backwards compatible you can always upgrade and keep your stuff working across the board.

Oh, wait . . .is there craigslist in the UK? . . . anyways, there are used ones worldwide

I've been considering the sekonic reason. We have the 758dr. But then i'm thinking to myself, why can't i just walk to my model and have the skyport transmitter in my hand and fire it that way? Takes 1 second to take it off/on camera.

mumbles wrote in post #8245344
I've been considering the sekonic reason. We have the 758dr. But then i'm thinking to myself, why can't i just walk to my model and have the skyport transmitter in my hand and fire it that way? Takes 1 second to take it off/on camera.

I've never understood the love affair with in-meter triggering myself. If you're setting up ratios you're only going to be triggering one strobe at a time, which means you're still walking between strobes to turn them on off. and like you said, having a pocket wizard or skyport in your hand while you're metering is just about as convenient.

In my 2.5 years of freelance assisting commercial shooters, several dozen different photogs covering the whole range of budgets and clients . . . no one's bothered with the wireless meter triggering . . . but then again, they're hiring assistants to do the metering and light adjustments so why would they need fancy hardware to make the job easier

k_strecker wrote in post #8245492
I've never understood the love affair with in-meter triggering myself. If you're setting up ratios you're only going to be triggering one strobe at a time, which means you're still walking between strobes to turn them on off. and like you said, having a pocket wizard or skyport in your hand while you're metering is just about as convenient.

In my 2.5 years of freelance assisting commercial shooters, several dozen different photogs covering the whole range of budgets and clients . . . no one's bothered with the wireless meter triggering . . . but then again, they're hiring assistants to do the metering and light adjustments so why would they need fancy hardware to make the job easier

Agreed. Partially. If you set 3-4 lights into different groups, you dont' even need to walk over to your strobes. You can control everything from the transmitter. All the while have the model hold the light meter.

I bought into elinchrom for the quality and higher w-s. Imagine my surprise when i found out you can control each light individually. And i was fretting about not being able to use the JrX's