SO frustrated with my PW mini+flex(s) !@#$

I convinced the wife to stand in front of the camera with my 1 year old son and I the other night for some self portraits in the studio. She's like a celebrity in the sense that she wants everything to be ready when she shows up for the photo/s and only has patience for a couple fake smile shots and then that's it. I promised her I'd rush to set it all up and keep things simple. Of course, they weren't. That aside, my mini seems to die every friggen time I use it. And yes, I turn it off at the end of each shoot. Problem easily resolved though as I was only using one light but I own 3 flexes. I quickly swapped out the mini for a flex. Problem #2: Turns out my PW's won't work with the 7D II. Firmware update? GRRRR.. by now, she's ready to walk out and is NOT impressed. put the flex on my 7D classic and another problem - now they wouldn't trigger because I have to shut everything down and power back up in the correct order.

I bought the PW's because I want/need Hypersync for other types of shooting and always heard about PW's reputation and how they are the industry standard, blah blah.... Turns out they also won't work with my (2) YN-568's. Sigh....

Honestly, after only using them about a half dozen times, I literally want to throw them out the window. Call it what you want to call it. User error or whatever. They're finicky as hell and I am really beginning to regret selling my (4) YN-622's Is there any reason I SHOULDN'T sell them and go back to the YN-622's and pick up a TX?

Did you ever have issues with your yn622c's? PW's are still on the 433hz band also... I think they have been left in the dust by third party equipment... It hit that tipping point about a year or two ago..

No. I was quite honestly just thought PW's would be better in every way imaginable and I couldn't have been more wrong . I really wish I had known more about the issues with the PW's prior to selling off my YN-622's and making the switch. The only thing that is gonna suck about going back, is that when they PW's -DO- actually work, being able to change the power of my studio strobes without walking over to each light is priceless - I will definitely miss that :/

You didn't test your new equipment before shooting an important client?

That is not nice to have your wife convinced and then the equipment doesn't work you thought it would be working.

Next time think things through and test it before you start a series. Yes it will take at least till next before a updated firmware will be available for the PW and the 7D MKII.

I found the Mini TT1 eats batteries like crazy. I had been using cheap button batteries from eBay and they died quickly. The green light could be on, but there would be misfires. I even bought a new TT1 and same thing occurred with the original battery. I finally switched to Energizers and they work fine. I bring 2 spare Energizers on every shoot now. Don't trust the green light alone to indicate battery level.

You should also re-sync your mini and flexes to be sure they are talking well to each other. Good luck.

CAPhotog wrote in post #17344340
I found the Mini TT1 eats batteries like crazy. I had been using cheap button batteries from eBay and they died quickly. I even bought a new TT1 and same thing occurred with the original battery. I finally switched to Energizers and they work fine. I bring 2 spare Energizers on every shoot now. Don't trust the green light alone to indicate battery level.

You should also re-sync your mini and flexes to be sure they are talking well to each other. Good luck.

How do I re-sync them?

http://wiki.pocketwiza​rd.com/index.php?title​=Learn_Mode

See PW quick guide which calls it learn mode. Easy to do in the field.

http://www.pocketwizar​d.com …QG_LPF380v2.2_E​nglish.pdf

mmmfotagrafie's link has the same info with explanation. Also note the software utility gives you access to custom features and settings by plugging the PW into your computer via the USB cable. Other people here can answer questions about when to do that better than I.

I'd say just switch back to the 622 system but I beleive they are having issues with the 7D2 as well (not sure if that's been fix by firmware update yet)

Pocket wizards were the only decent ettl trigger option for a while. But now a days there are a lot more, better, and cheaper options. They need to up their game or they will be no more in a few years.

gremlin75 wrote in post #17344611
Pocket wizards were the only decent ettl trigger option for a while. But now a days there are a lot more, better, and cheaper options. They need to up their game or they will be no more in a few years.

About 90% of my problems with the PW system disappeared when I stopped using the Mini on-camera and started using the TT5 instead. The TT5 battery life is much better and as long as the antenna is up I no longer have any misfires.

I can commiserate with Aressem. I have 3 PW Flex & 3 Minis. The whole system on a Canon with 580 EXIIs is a Rube Goldberg IMHO. Way too finicky with extremely limited range - even with the electromagnetic shields in place.

Now I have to admit that I never used them for a paid shoot; I never got that far after having tested them extensively beforehand. That's when I found out about the reliability & range issues.

Is it possible that I didn't use them correctly? Perhaps. But I consider myself technically savvy & spent many, many countless, frustrating hours on the PW website doing many updates & learning how to use the system. Result?

I have spent a lot of dough on the PW system & could NOT now sell them to someone else in good conscience. I've chalked it up to paying a very hefty newbtax...

On a MUCH brighter note, I recently bought into the Canon 600 EX-RT system. The difference is like night & day!! So far after a couple of weddings & headshot sessions, total reliability, not finicky (once you learn how to use them), fantastic user interface, & great range.

Do I miss Hypersync? Not really. I now have seven 600 EX-Rt flashes & can gang them up & easily switch all of them to HSS if I need to use them in bright sunlight for either fill or to fight the sun.

- Mike

"I now have seven 600 EX-Rt flashes & can gang them up & easily switch all of them to HSS"

Oh my, I wouldn't want to see that light stand fall over, $3500 US$ going bouncy bouncy.
I'm thinkin' the Profoto B1 500 Air starts to look nice.

windpig wrote in post #17347269
"I now have seven 600 EX-Rt flashes & can gang them up & easily switch all of them to HSS"

Oh my, I wouldn't want to see that light stand fall over, $3500 US$ going bouncy bouncy.
I'm thinkin' the Profoto B1 500 Air starts to look nice.

Ya - exactly what I was thinking, heh! At that point, it's no longer portable, quick and easy.

That aside, with so many new 3rd party companies making transceivers for next-to-nothing, are there any out there that are capable of remotely adjusting the power of my AB strobes while also packing Hypersync features? I don't care what it costs; I just want to know whether or not any other solution exists.

Why don't you talk to Jason at Beau and rent a profoto ETTL monster

Ya PW flex but complete utter garbage. I own 4 of the Flex TT5's and AC3. They work well with my einsteins with my power MC2 but otherwise for Canon speedlite use hahahaha trash!!!

I think the PW flex units are the most expensive, fragile dummy triggers on the market. I've tried using regular AA batteries to rechargeables and they all misfire regardles. Not fond of using a silly "sock" to improve reliablility.... the fact PW admitted they have issues and provide "shields" in a sock form is a joke aswell. Not to mention the extremely fragile hotshoe foot that breaks as easily as peanut brittle candy !!

For the sake of indoor manual flash with physical manual knobs for control I really love the Cactus V6. You can put a flash on top of the transmitter (on camera) to have fill flash while controlling remote flashes group 1,2,3. This is where the yongnuo's would be a pain in my rear with the interface it has.


After spending all that money on PW units i dont care anymore. I feel bad to sell them to anyone and I simply lend them out to my friends as dummy triggers.

Ryan your better off buying a bunch of 600 ex-rt and drop 500 bucks a flash and get your ETTL shots wideopen outdoors. You may just find your style may change on you too and create different images without that flash look. In the meantime you will need to seriously consider other options but no matter what you do with the Flex units....they are truly expensive pieces of junk.