Is it this simple?

To begin using remote flash via Pocket Wizard I just buy two of these, one for the hot shoe in my 1D 3 and another for my 430 EX?

http://www.adorama.com​/PWMTT1CA.html

Or you could buy a set of these. they work great!

ThomasOwenM wrote in post #12350451
To begin using remote flash via Pocket Wizard I just buy two of these, one for the hot shoe in my 1D 3 and another for my 430 EX?

http://www.adorama.com​/PWMTT1CA.html

Almost..this is the transmitter. If you want to do TTL you will need the FlexTT5 on your flash as the receiver.

A TT1 and a TT5, that's all you need.

AntonLargiader wrote in post #12353003
A TT1 and a TT5, that's all you need.

Thanks. I found some combo sets that are slightly different. Am I better off with this:

http://www.buy.com …/loc/33409/2119​52140.html

Or this:
http://www.buy.com …/q/loc/111/2123​57352.html

And what about the AC3?:
http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1304626​956&sr=8-4

Necessary?

This is encouraging because these systems are actually less money than I was expecting. You can get them for the price of a decent (non super high-end) lens.

As far as I know, the second (with the Plus 2) will not do E-TTL. If that is truly a non-issue for you, maybe it's better. I get the feeling some people feel the older ones are more reliable as far as flashing every single time.

Personally, I'd never choose to exclude E-TTL.

The AC3 is for controlling multiple flashes. If you have that (with two or more receivers such as the TT5) you can adjust flash ratios from the camera. But I have no direct experience with that; just search a bit for that info.

AntonLargiader wrote in post #12354244
As far as I know, the second (with the Plus 2) will not do E-TTL. If that is truly a non-issue for you, maybe it's better. I get the feeling some people feel the older ones are more reliable as far as flashing every single time.

Personally, I'd never choose to exclude E-TTL.

The AC3 is for controlling multiple flashes. If you have that (with two or more receivers such as the TT5) you can adjust flash ratios from the camera. But I have no direct experience with that; just search a bit for that info.

Thanks. E-TTL is definitely important to me. In fact, it's the original reason I chose ST-E2 over Pocket Wizard because at the time PW would not do E-TTL. And in time I am intending to use more than one flash, so I think I want that A3.

I'm wondering if the next flash I add should be the 580 EX.

I'm excited about this because I just did a shoot where the lighting was so bad that even ISO 6400 on my 1D 3 wasn't all that effective.

Read up on the Pocket Wizard Site.
If you want to incorporate TTL then the ControlTL stuff is what you want.
The AC3 permits controlling power at the camera with remote flashes. It also extends the ControlTL capabilities to Alien Bee, Einstein and certain Elinchrom monolights.

If you want to add speedlites, 430EXIIs are least noisy Canon options. The 580EXII is problematic. The Nissin Di866 is a good alternative that Pocket Wizard supports.

There are pages on Rob Galbraith's site that do a good job explaining things.

Have fun.

Thanks, I'm going to check all that stuff out. Yes, I want to be able to control flash exposure compensation at the camera. The loudness of a flash is completely irrelevant since I'm photographing rock bands and you won't hear the flashes no matter how loud they are.

By noise he's talking about RF noise that can interfere with the radio communication. It's one of the 580EX2's weaknesses.

I would start out with a purchase of a 580ex II as the master vs. getting a radio trigger. The 580ex II will allow you to trigger your slave flashes in E-TTL and in Manual mode. The remote flash can also be adjusted from the master flash. There is no need to walk over to the slave to adjust.

If I were you, I would learn to shoot with a key (main) light and a fill light before going on to an RF tigger.

Do you really need RF at this point in time? The range of the 580ex II, working as the master, is quite good. I have four 580ex II and not a single radio trigger. I may pick up a radio trigger in the future but I feel that I don't need on right now.

I bought a tt1 and a tt5 before and was having problems. So I returned them. I've heard some of the problems went away but I still heard the the RF noise that interferes with the 580ex II is still there. The PW seems to have this problem whilte the Radio Poppers do not.

Interesting thoughts. I think it depends on whether you want a flash on the hotshoe or not. As you already have the ST-E2, you can (I'm pretty sure) trigger more than one flash using that, although you may not be able to adjust the ratio.

If you are ultimately moving toward the PW setup, I wouldn't invest in the 580EX2. I'd probably look for another 430EX2 or a 550EX. Are you still using the ST-E2?

AntonLargiader wrote in post #12355430
Interesting thoughts. I think it depends on whether you want a flash on the hotshoe or not. As you already have the ST-E2, you can (I'm pretty sure) trigger more than one flash using that, although you may not be able to adjust the ratio.

If you are ultimately moving toward the PW setup, I wouldn't invest in the 580EX2. I'd probably look for another 430EX2 or a 550EX. Are you still using the ST-E2?

I used the ST-E2 for an outdoor band promo shoot and have used it rarely since then. It has not worked well in the low-light pub situations where I shoot bands. That's why I'm wanting to more on to something radio based.