I am considering options for connecting my 580EXII or (and?) MT24 to the 5DmkII. I mainly do outdoor close-ups and macro. I have the short Canon spiral cable, but it is on the very short side, and tends to pull on camera when positioning. In macro, just a minor pull can significantly alter composition even with a sturdy tripod.
Ideal would be 2 m = 6 feet straight cable (had that on my old OM and Contax systems). I contacted Zebraflash, but they cannot make custom lengths on ETTL cables: either 1 m spiral, or 5 m straight. The former is still rather short, the latter is a strangulation and trip hazard. Putting two 1 m spirals together is clumsy, and one more connection to worry about. Are there other custom TTL cable manufacturers?
The alternative is TTL radio. Pocket wizard and http://www.pixelhk.com
have some interesting products. Distance is not an issue, as the flash will be at the most about 3 m away. But I often handhold the flash and my hand/arm/body may be in between the transmitter and the receiver. How much of a problem is that? With IR it is a non-starter, but with radio that should work better. Anyone can comment on that? Any experiences with pixelhk vs. pocket wizard? A significant difference is that pixelhk uses 2.4GHz (also a common frequency for cordless phones), whereas pocketwizard uses 344 MHz/USA. On the other hand pixelhk is used on a globally available frequency, while with pocketwizards one may be legally restricted depending on country. I kind of doubt it is a problem in real life when traveling.
Price is not a consideration. I will purchase whatever works best.
