Skyports or PW's

mattograph wrote in post #5906084
Are these the Paul Berg / Alienbee / White Lightning units?

I believe you mean Paul Buff, and yes they are.

TMR Design wrote in post #5906129
I believe you mean Paul Buff, and yes they are.

Paul Berg is a biochemist. Opps.

As someone mentioned before, the fact that Pocket Wizards are so common does come in handy, if you shoot with groups regularly. I've only been in such a situation once, but the ability to put all our Pocket Wizards on the same channel and get a six-strobe groupshot going on was pretty nice.

Also, as a sidenote, don't put rechargeables in your PWs, if you get them. NiMH rechargeable batteries will start to lose their charge after about a week, whether you use them or not, so you're gonna do a lot of charging. Normal alkalines, on the other hands, will last you a very long time in Pocket Wizards.

bieber wrote in post #5906157
Also, as a sidenote, don't put rechargeables in your PWs, if you get them. NiMH rechargeable batteries will start to lose their charge after about a week, whether you use them or not, so you're gonna do a lot of charging. Normal alkalines, on the other hands, will last you a very long time in Pocket Wizards.

So very true. Pocket Wizards are a great example of a device that is better run on standard AA alkalines rather than rechargeables.

Many low current work better on standard 1.5V cells, Alkaline and Carbon Zinc are 1.5V, rechargables are usually about 1.2V. Rechargable cells can usually deliver more current, but voltage is important too. I have some devices that work fine on 1.5V, but not at all on 1.2V. Most devices work on either voltage. AA cell info.

tim wrote in post #5906238
Many low current work better on standard 1.5V cells, Alkaline and Carbon Zinc are 1.5V, rechargables are usually about 1.2V. Rechargable cells can usually deliver more current, but voltage is important too. I have some devices that work fine on 1.5V, but not at all on 1.2V. Most devices work on either voltage. AA cell info.

The issue with NiMH cells and Pocket Wizards is not so much the voltage, but the fact that NiMH cells run down rapidly just sitting.

On devices like a Pocket Wizard that does not require a lot of power, alkaline's with there tremendous charged shelf life are a much better choice. I think charged shelf life of an alkaline cell is over 5 years.

If Pocket Wizards were chewing up batteries like a flash unit, then one would likely just have to use NiMH for cost issues, but their paltry consumption of power makes that not necessary.

Enjoy! Lon

I got the Skyports because I wanted to work with off-camera lighting more than I wanted to be in the elite group of PW owners. Plus I'm broke and didn't want to waste cash on more crap eBay sets.

FlashZebra wrote in post #5906265
The issue with NiMH cells and Pocket Wizards is not so much the voltage, but the fact that NiMH cells run down rapidly just sitting.

Sanyo Eneloops or Maha Imedions would take care of that. And you could recharge them!

Rudi wrote in post #5906486
Sanyo Eneloops or Maha Imedions would take care of that. And you could recharge them!

Yes, but it would still be a lot of unnecessary expense. Buying a couple AA's every couple months really isn't that big a problem...

I use standard alkaline AA's in my Pocket Wizards and I get 2 to 3 months of use with several thousand triggers. If I was using rechargeables I'd always be worried about charge or shelf life and with the alkalines I can let them sit for days or a week without even giving it a second thought.

My feeling is that I already have enough 'charging' to worry about without extra sets of rechargeable AA's adding to the mess.

For the price of the cybersyncs, I think I could sacrifice my want for using standard AA's in my transmitter/receivers. Damn those things look legit.

tenoverthenose wrote in post #5902165
The only feature I like better about the PW's is the ability to romote trigger a camera.

can skyports not trigger a camera? i thought it was just the matter of getting the right cable.?.

thelightofsound wrote in post #5909037
can skyports not trigger a camera? i thought it was just the matter of getting the right cable.?.

I had to design and build an interface circuit to trigger my 20D with my Skyport system. The Skyport receiver output is a VERY short pulse of electronic "contact closure" and that could not be recognized by the camera.

Also, in order to "wake up" a camera that has powered down by itself, two different circuits need to be triggered in succession with a certain amount of delay between them.

My circuit handles all of this quite nicely. However, it does not trigger my son's 40D. I have not borrowed his camera long enough to figure out what the difference(s) is/are.

My skyport transmitter fell apart during a shoot. This was only the third or fourth shoot with the skyports so they had very limited use on them. Everything was working fine for a while and then I started to get misfires. I removed the transmitter from my camera and the center pin on the skyport transmitter fell off along with a small spring. I was unable to put it back on or to get it to work on the hotshoe again without using the PC cable that came with the skyport. Thank goodness for that cable.
I am pretty disappointed with the skyport quality though. Hoping to get it repaired at some point. I'd opt for PW's but I have the RX series lights and half the benefit is the ability to control the lighting functions with the skyports so I am pretty much committed to them for now.

DavidPhoto wrote in post #5970766
I am pretty disappointed with the skyport quality though. Hoping to get it repaired at some point. I'd opt for PW's but I have the RX series lights and half the benefit is the ability to control the lighting functions with the skyports so I am pretty much committed to them for now.

Nothing man-made is perfect. It could just be a freak occurrence, that's what warranty is for! Get it sorted under warranty and see how they hold up long-term...