Power on order...

Surprised that Google could not find me any interesting links on this, but wondering if it makes any difference what order you power on the camera, transmitter and receivers (or built-in receivers in flashes)?

My sense of logic is camera, transmitter, flashes but thought I would ask the question.

Thanks.

~Bob

I don't think it matters. Just mount flash/receiver before turning on either, or the camera.

Often it seems not to matter . . . but I 'power on' in order distal to proximal ie. remote before central - lights first, receiver, transmitter then camera body.

FWIW, that was also what PW advised for their TTL Mini & Flex setups.

Interesting. Just the opposite of what I thought. Thanks.

There is no specific sequence required for ANY transmitter vs. receiver...after all, when nothing is currently being transmitted, nothing is aware of anything else! That is why I fail to understand the PW sequence recommended (distal to proximal), it simply should not matter! The PW transmitter transmits NOTHING until a shot is taken, so the PW receiver has no idea the transmitter even exists until it receives the radio command!

When an ettl flash is mounted on the camera hotshoe, nothing matters for sequence. But for turning on the flash, it is better to

1. have a camera powered on and AWAKE, before an eTTL flash unit is also wakened,
   
2. so the flash senses the eTTL camera and knows to go into eTTL mode (rather than film TTL mode).
   

I power on in the order of whichever I can remember -- usually whichever I'm closest to at the time.

Yes, but....

They link before a shot is ever taken so perhaps the order affects the linking of devices? And the transmitter can accept settings from the camera so perhaps the order of powering those two might affect whether the settings match the camera or what was last in the transmitter?

And I also assume always best for camera and transmitter to be off before putting in the hot shoe just in case make / break connections might damage one or the other.

I will have to test linking to see what makes a difference.

~Bob

rebop wrote in post #18230983
Yes, but....

They link before a shot is ever taken so perhaps the order affects the linking of devices? And the transmitter can accept settings from the camera so perhaps the order of powering those two might affect whether the settings match the camera or what was last in the transmitter?

And I also assume always best for camera and transmitter to be off before putting in the hot shoe just in case make / break connections might damage one or the other.

I will have to test linking to see what makes a difference.

~Bob

They do not 'link'! The eTTL transmitter sends "Send preflash..flash half power", the eTTL receiver gets that message and the flash obeys!
No different that you sitting on a CB with your tuner set to CB channel 7, and you near a trucker comment about the cop 'Slow down, smokey at highway exit 17!' and you slow down from 90mph.

There are two basic types of radio trigger. Those that handshake/link, and those that don't.

The second type, those that are the most basic, are simply a transmitter that sends a signal, and a receiver that is looking for a signal. These basic models from Phottix, Yongnuo, Pocket Wizard etc, will work regardless of the order things are turned on. They can even be triggered by transmitters from different brands, as long as the signal is the right frequency.

The first type, which is becoming more common, i.e. the Phottix Odin, Pocket Wizard Flex, Broncolor RF etc, work using custom communication protocols that allows the transmitter to control functions on the receiver, adjusting power, working in E-TTL etc.
Some of these systems, those that are really well engineered, work regardless of the order things are turned on. e.g. the Phottix Odin.
Some of them do care, some more than others. The Pocket Wizard Flex can be very fussy unless things are turned on in the right order. The Broncolor RF sometimes requires the lights to be turned on before the trigger is woken from sleep mode, or it sometimes doesn't see all the lights.

Thanks Moppie. This makes the most sense as I have "link" lights on my transmitter and flashes. Which occurs before a shot is ever taken. And does indeed control power and mode, etc. Another reason that I thought you must turn on transmitter before flash to properly link. Manufacturer says nothing about order in either manual. So maybe it does not matter for these.

I have a rare paid shoot this weekend and have not used these on location before. Just trying to avoid having egg on my face

I never cared but the TTl/HSS Studio Strobes that I got about a month back say, first power on the the Tx in the hot shoe, then the camera. I have swapped tx with camera and tx still on, and haven't run into any issues. With old pocket wizards it was same, no order though Mini/Flex had an order they recommended.

The way PocketWizard recommends is flash --> transceiver --> camera. Their wikia does mention that problems might occur if the order is not followed. Personally, I have normally found no issues at all by altering the order, but some times I have indeed run into problems, especially when using more advanced features, such as remote triggering of the camera.

I think I recall reading somewhere in the Canon EX430-II's manual that the strobe should be turned on first, when mounted on the camera's hotshoe, but don't quote me religiously on this.

Canon 430EXII user manual on p.17 says "Be sure to turn OFF the Speedlight before attaching it or detaching it.

One reason that sequence order of On can matter is if auto Channel select is used the transmitter and receiver both have to have discovered each other...otherwise one might transmet Ch.2 and the other is listening to Ch.4, for example. If both are manually set to Ch.2, it will not matter which powers up first. The 'link' light simply is an indicator that they have 'found' each other on a common channel, but not that a signal is continuously sending data back and forth...intermittent send/acknowledge signals verify and keep the link light green.

Furthermore, the Master needs to communicate only up to unit IDs 0-9, without duplications, as it needs to alter eTTL commands to maintain proper exposure based on the number of units it is controlling at once. So the Master pinging the Remotes as they are switched on may have some effect on handshaking multiple units; if it is turned on after all the Remotes are already on can have issues of more than on Remote has the same ID.

Always top to bottom, receiver ends first.

It doesn't always matter, though I have seen quite a number of instances where bugs are only there if you power on in the wrong order.

There is absolutely linking going on as well. There are a number of cases where you can use a certain transmitter to kick-start others which won't function otherwise (ie RT gear from different companies etc).


Always use alkaline batteries as well (due to their higher voltage). Again it doesn't always matter, though in both cases its better to save yourself the possibility of any hassles.

With Elinchrom any order works. Strobes can be turned On/off Even during a session. I simply re-scan using the Skyport HS Pro trigger to see and control available lights.