Pocket Wizard > 580EX II > More 580's?

Just curious as I'm about to order a few pocket wizards... Can the main unit (on-cam) trigger an additional unit on a stand mounted 580, resulting in the 580 triggering other close proximity 580's? (2-3 more w/o drag)

If all of your flashes have a PW, then they will all get the signal at the same time and they don't have to be in close proximity.

Jeff

Not what I'm asking... If I trigger one 580 w/ a PW, can the 580relay that trigger via it's system and still be in sync?

I think this will force all the flash heads into manual. As long as you are okay with that, it should work.

Good point Ken... and thanks!

If you have multiple 580's now, you can try this test without the PW's.

Set up the 580's without the camera even being turned on. Trigger one 580 by shorting the large center pin on its hotshoe foot to the contact on the side of the hotshoe foot. If you can get that to trigger the other 580 (or multiple 580's), then you could do it with a PW triggering the first one (instead of you doing it manually).

I don't have any Speedlites that can be a "master" or an ST-E2 to test this concept, but somehow I doubt that without using ETTL that it would be possible.

Thanks Skip. I haven't decided/ordered my final new portable setup so I don't have these yet.

If you don't already have the 580's but you want to use PW's to trigger some sort of battery-powered flash units, forget the 580's. They are much too expensive, in my opinion, for this sort of use. Get something (and I don't know what to suggest because I have not researched the market) that is NOT designed for TTL or ETTL exposure control, but only manual output control. These will be far easier to trigger with a PW anyhow and will be far less expensive.

Personally, I would recommend a set of "real" lights such as AlienBees, but you would need portable power packs if you intend to use them away from commercial power. They would be FAR better lights for most situations than hotshoe-type lights.

Skip, you're touching exactly what I need input on...

I'm looking for a powerful, yet very portable rig that can cover location portraiture up to wedding groups. (pref 2 units on stands w/ brollies, diff panel and/or SB's) I'm swimming through all the choices from Sunpak to Lumedyne and anything else you can imagine.

I've seen some great results from the 580's on the net, but am not 100% sure they can cut it. I'd much rather have a PW controlled barebulb/reflector type of setup like the Lumedyne's, etc... but just don't know what's appropriate power-wise since all the companies use different w/s tests. Will 200w/s cut it? I say the smaller units only because of portability in wedding work.

Got any suggestions? I'm looking for a 2-3 light do-it-all system, prefereably not full size units like AB. I'd also like to keep this in a $2k-2500 budget.

I do not have any suggestions on alternate flash units as i am searching for this also, But i can confirm that the 580's and/or 430's of the canon line are NOT the way to go. I am having issues using these flash units. I am in the same boat as you right now and will be checking back to see what others have to offer.

I'm also interested in the Quantum QFlashes for those reading along.

Any opinions on the Quantum Flash Kit (w/ stand, etc) at B&H?

To answer the original question: yes, you can hook up 1 PW to the master 580 on manual mode, the master will fire the other slave 580s.

I also agree that if you not going to use ETTL, don't waste money on the 580s. I have no experience with the Lumedyne, but let say if one Sunpak is not enough, you can always put 2 flashes on a bracket and fire them together into a umbrella With iso 400, there shouldn't a problem to reach f8 from 10-12'.

Lumedyne is nice.
I have the older series (#065) with 'Classic' heads.
The next generation heads are a *lot* better. The new packs are good as well: Faster recycle (IIRC about 1.8 seconds from 200Ws). 7 F-stops control.

200Ws is plenty mostly IMO. You can (just) overpower daylight. If needed, you can add a booster to go to 400Ws, up to 800Ws or 2400Ws, depending on head. The longer recycle times make anything above 400Ws very impractical IMHO.

Have a look here for a kinda 'review'.

Some portraits with Lumedyne as fill (adding a bit of direction) or as portrait lighting:
Click.

Lumedyne through umbrella as main:
Click.

Lumedyne with PW is a great combo. No cables for anyone to trip over, 100% reliable, very much control, a lot of modifiers to use.
It also looks quite a bit more 'pro' then a setup with a few Speedlights on a stand, if that is important to you.

Only drawback is that the modeling light is not as bright as I'ld like. But the first alternative there would be something like a Hensel Porty or ProFoto setup: More expensive, way bigger. (Okay: And a few stops more power)

That's a great source for info on the Lumedyne. Thanks Rene! It really makes me want to go that route now!

What setup/modifiers did you use on that band shoot? (portraits)

IIRC, I Bounced one flash off the back left wall for a bit of backlighting / seperation, one off the ceiling for fill, and a shoot-trough umbrella on the right as keylight.