is the Pocket wizard Flex & Mini that bad?

After reading comments I'm hesitant in even considering such a system. The appeal for such a system is having a flash on camera while having the capabilities of having a remote flash ettl or manual mode.

In my application I'd be no more than 30+ feet away from my subject. The AB cybersyncs haven't missed a beat but there are times I like to have a flash onboard while having remote flash.

Is this a product with lovers and haters?

Mine is very inconsistant and the work around from the manufacturer didn't help that much. I'm shooting in studio, so the problem is not only for long distances. I'm ready to go back to old PW.

Some have much worse luck than others.

My experience is no, they are not that bad. They are great, range is good, reliability is good, they let me do things I couldn't with any other system.

So yeah, I guess there are lovers and haters. I'm a lover!

One thing I don't like about them is that the seem to be fussy about what 3.5mm cords they'll work with. They're also not quite as consistent as my skyports but they're still good enough - just the odd misfire every now and then. I use 550EXs for ETTL applications so I've never had any trouble with the range.

I use the mini for classic channel manual PW triggering only. I thought I'd be able to use it with a 580 in it's shoe so I could have an on-camera flash. Well, for the life of me, I can't figure it out. It doesn't seem to want to work like a regular on-camera ettl flash when it's in the mini shoe. The exposure goes all over the place. It's a bit frustrating because that's what I wanted it for in the first place.

But one thing that I really really do love about it is the Hypersync function. For that alone I think it was totally worth it.

picturecrazy wrote in post #8681487
I use the mini for classic channel manual PW triggering only. I thought I'd be able to use it with a 580 in it's shoe so I could have an on-camera flash. Well, for the life of me, I can't figure it out. It doesn't seem to want to work like a regular on-camera ettl flash when it's in the mini shoe. The exposure goes all over the place. It's a bit frustrating because that's what I wanted it for in the first place.

But one thing that I really really do love about it is the Hypersync function. For that alone I think it was totally worth it.

How, actually, do you use the hypersync function? I have both the MiniTTL and the FLEX5.

I wonder if they will be doing some new revisions in the circuitry instead of firmware updates.

Lloyd, one shot that comes to mind is when you put a flash behind a couple in their first dance. A 580EXII in the hotshoe of the flex/mini ontop of the camera for some fill would be such an great feature.

I guess in this situation I could use my cybersyncs and put the cybersync transmitter on the camera (if it fits with bracket) and use a trigger on the flash on a camera bracket in manual mode.

Bummer to hear about the hotshoe issue. Hypersync and the hotshoe on the trigger is so appealing.

Hey Alan!

Yeah, that's is really what I wanted it for. First dance photos so I could use the on-camera flash for some fill. Normally, I have to get a bracket and sync cable to attach the PW to my camera, which is a pain. I thought the mini would be the answer but it is not. hopefully some firmware fixes that?

You can do the same thing with the PW II's. You place the 580EXII or whatever flash on the hotshoe, mount the PW II onto the flash (I have a mounting bracket to attach to my flash) and then connect the PW II to the sync port on the camera. Now you have ETTL capable flash on camera and manually controlled flash off camera.

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

idyguy wrote in post #8681531
How, actually, do you use the hypersync function? I have both the MiniTTL and the FLEX5.

You gotta use the PW software and attach it to your computer. You set a hypersync offset that do trial-and-error tests with it until you find an offset that works best. Then when you shoot above 1/250 you go into hypersync mode. I turn off high speed sync completely because I don't use it.

shimmishim wrote in post #8681777
You can do the same thing with the PW II's. You place the 580EXII or whatever flash on the hotshoe, mount the PW II onto the flash (I have a mounting bracket to attach to my flash) and then connect the PW II to the sync port on the camera. Now you have ETTL capable flash on camera and manually controlled flash off camera.

I know a lot of people use setups like this but I tried and just didn't like it. It is much harder to tilt and swivel your flash head with a PW stuck onto it.

picturecrazy wrote in post #8681803
I know a lot of people use setups like this but I tried and just didn't like it. It is much harder to tilt and swivel your flash head with a PW stuck onto it.

I see what you mean but to me... (at least) it's not that bad. I've seen other people attach it to the side of their flash via one of those bungie balls. It doesn't get in the way of swiveling or tilting the flash.

It's strange that the flex system won't allow you to use ettl with a flash mounted on the camera... quite quite unusual.

shimmishim wrote in post #8681828
I see what you mean but to me... (at least) it's not that bad. I've seen other people attach it to the side of their flash via one of those bungie balls. It doesn't get in the way of swiveling or tilting the flash.

It's strange that the flex system won't allow you to use ettl with a flash mounted on the camera... quite quite unusual.

I tried the side-mount thing too. The straps block part of the screen and block the control buttons/wheel. And the antenna for the PW interferes with head swiveling.

ETTL kinda works on-camera on the mini shoe, but it just acts so extremely strangely. I can't figure it out. Sometimes I need to dial in +2.3FEC just to get a close exposure, sometimes -2FEC. It's just all over the map.

picturecrazy wrote in post #8681907
I tried the side-mount thing too. The straps block part of the screen and block the control buttons/wheel. And the antenna for the PW interferes with head swiveling.

ETTL kinda works on-camera on the mini shoe, but it just acts so extremely strangely. I can't figure it out. Sometimes I need to dial in +2.3FEC just to get a close exposure, sometimes -2FEC. It's just all over the map.

Must be something in your hardware or configuration. I use an ETTL flash on top of mine all the time and it meters the exact same way as it does with no pocketwizard.

Hermes wrote in post #8682013
Must be something in your hardware or configuration. I use an ETTL flash on top of mine all the time and it meters the exact same way as it does with no pocketwizard.

Same here.