Pocketwizard's latest announcement

Unexciting to say the least. I guess it's nice that there's a soft version of the AC7, but wrapping my flash in what amounts to a condom is unexhilarating at best and borderline offensive. Making us buy an add on for the failures of their primary product?

lame.

http://www.pocketwizar​d.com/news_events/news​/oct09update/

LOL wow...

I'm definitely going to make due with my poverty wizards until this crap gets worked out completely.

Todd Lambert wrote in post #8817763
LOL wow...

I'm definitely going to make due with my poverty wizards until this crap gets worked out completely.

Given the quote from that page . . .

"We’ve been seeing and hearing some interesting things from the marketplace. One rumor is that there are new frequency radios coming to the market. We believe that the frequencies we operate on (FCC 344MHz and CE 433MHz) are the best available and we will continue to improve the ControlTL system reliability and performance on these frequencies. With the latest firmware and upcoming RF shields, product performance should now meet or exceed almost everyone’s expectations."

what exactly do you expect to "get worked out" ?

Pocket Wizard will apparently *never* give up on backwards compatability. And, as a result, there will always be a need to block out the RF that's being broadcast from the 580EX, EXII and 430EX flashes . . .

Ugh, that's just not right. lol

Well, if Pocket Wizards don't want to work with 580s without ridiculous workarounds such as this, then I will wait until something better comes along - RadioPoppers are not quite where I want yet, but sooner or later they will get there - and that's what I'm waiting for.

PS - I realize that the 580 issues are because of Canon and their "noisyness" but until PW can come up with something better than this, I'll wait.

k_strecker wrote in post #8818105
Given the quote from that page . . .

"We’ve been seeing and hearing some interesting things from the marketplace. One rumor is that there are new frequency radios coming to the market. We believe that the frequencies we operate on (FCC 344MHz and CE 433MHz) are the best available and we will continue to improve the ControlTL system reliability and performance on these frequencies. With the latest firmware and upcoming RF shields, product performance should now meet or exceed almost everyone’s expectations."

what exactly do you expect to "get worked out" ?

Pocket Wizard will apparently *never* give up on backwards compatability. And, as a result, there will always be a need to block out the RF that's being broadcast from the 580EX, EXII and 430EX flashes . . .

Raincoat? Yes, I think it is. I wonder how bad that impedes the head from tilting. Looks like it totally kills the swivel feature.

Village_Idiot wrote in post #8820006
Raincoat? Yes, I think it is. I wonder how bad that impedes the head from tilting. Looks like it totally kills the swivel feature.

Think about it. You're not actively panning and tilting the flash, *while* it's set up remotely. And if, for SOME reason, you have to, it can be done by whatever it's mounted on . . .

You figure out how you want to mount it, you tilt/pan the flash accordingly, you install the devices. and you start shooting.

That wrap around cloth is just silly. I tried a set of PocketWizards and returned them. They didn't work consistently even within 5ft. I just got a set of RadioPoppers. The build quality is really flimsy but at least they work as advertised. PW are built a lot sturdier but unfortunately they don't work well.

yogibear wrote in post #8820211
That wrap around cloth is just silly. I tried a set of PocketWizards and returned them. They didn't work consistently even within 5ft. I just got a set of RadioPoppers. The build quality is really flimsy but at least they work as advertised. PW are built a lot sturdier but unfortunately they don't work well.

They did...up until the new ones...

k_strecker wrote in post #8820157
Think about it. You're not actively panning and tilting the flash, *while* it's set up remotely. And if, for SOME reason, you have to, it can be done by whatever it's mounted on . . .

You figure out how you want to mount it, you tilt/pan the flash accordingly, you install the devices. and you start shooting.

When you'r hanging lights via clamps, then there is a lot of movements of the heads involved.

Village_Idiot wrote in post #8820325
They did...up until the new ones...



When you'r hanging lights via clamps, then there is a lot of movements of the heads involved.

well yeah, that's how I use 'em.

but that's not being done mid-shoot.

It's being done on setup. And even with the cloth installed, it shouldn't be any challenge for those possessing the slightest amount of manual dexterity.

k_strecker wrote in post #8820375
well yeah, that's how I use 'em.

but that's not being done mid-shoot.

It's being done on setup. And even with the cloth installed, it shouldn't be any challenge for those possessing the slightest amount of manual dexterity.

I only have two fingers. Paper shredder at work got me...

Unfortunately, I missed my return deadline (because I didn't get a chance to full test the capabilites of the units in a real environment in time) so I'm stuck with a Mini and 3 Flex. At least the 430II works relatively well in terms of reliability. I still think getting a OC-E3 camera cord is the best solution so far when working the flash on a stand. I do like the size and function of the Mini though, no complaints there.

well i just got 430ex2 instead. and im liking what im getting. with the tt5 and tt1. im more interested in demoing this zone controller. and i think pw should considering upgrading the current models. like the feet and going w/a lock system like the 430ex2. and i would really like to know more about these mystery products.

1danny wrote in post #8821754
and i would really like to know more about these mystery products.

I have a sneaky suspiscion it will be something to allow remote power control of some brands of studio strobes. . .

If they've gone to such great lengths to reverse engineer ETTL, then reverse engineering Profoto Air or Elinchrom Skyport or Alien Bees . . . should be a cakewalk. Depending on what sort of inputs each brand requires for remote operation it could be as simple as a cable and a firmware update, or a small converter box . . .

there's nothing to say it would be impossible. And it'd be *very* cool

Furthermore . . .why couldn't you cheat those studio strobes and blend them with in-camera ETTL? It'd be MUCH more complicated, but again, not impossible. Use FEL to fire the remotely-controlled-studio-strobes at some known power-level, and listen to what the camera says it should be adjusted by to to achieve proper exposure+FEC . . . The studio strobes could be automatically dialed into that level. Ratios with the Zone Controller would be taken into account as well (of course)



why not?

i just use a couple of 430 exii flashes...works beautifully