Wireless Studio Flash Trigger

Let's examine the most popular radio triggers from various brands. Let's talk about cheap Chinese radio triggers and expensive Bowens Pulsar and PocketWizard. For those who don't know, a radio trigger is a radio transmitter and radio receiver to operate flashes without wires.

 

Introduction

And so in the very beginning there were wires. Simply a wire that allowed synchronizing the shutter opening with the flash burst. The inconvenience of such a system is the wire, which limits our distance both to the subject and to the flash itself. And another unpleasant thing is that you can't operate multiple flashes. Theoretically you can make adapters, but it won't be practical and the studio will turn into a wire mess. The next revolution is flash sensors, which are both built into flashes and available as external flash "catchers". The wire problem is solved, but there needs to be direct visibility with the flash (or reflected flash), which limits the flash placement location. The same works with Wireless InfraRed triggers. And the next generation is radio triggers or transmitters, which allow placing flashes behind walls and at much greater distances than in the case of wires or flash, but not all radio transmitters and receivers work the same. Let's look at the most popular ones.

Made in China

The cheapest and most accessible to the public are cheap Chinese radio triggers. At mdfoto.lv they sell for 40 Ls, but on eBay you can purchase for 10-15 Ls a complete set with one transmitter and receiver. On eBay they can be found under the name "Wireless Flash Remote Trigger". There are various models and even various brand stickers are glued on them, but they work the same. I have personally tried 3 different ones and was disappointed in all. The biggest problem is stability. They simply don't have it. Shooting in the studio there's no problem, but dislikes start when shooting on location in other interiors and outside. Since they are the cheapest, they have no protection against radio interference, and often other radio signals fly in the air, which cause these to start working. From mobile phones, microwave ovens or other equipment nearby, these radio triggers start behaving unpredictably. Often they start arbitrarily firing the flash continuously, or refuse to work altogether. Sometimes they only work on every third attempt. And from what I've noticed, in 50% of cases when shooting outside the studio I encountered such problems. In my studio there was no radio interference and there they worked great. Reception distance ~30 meters.

Bowens Pulsar

Bowens Pulsar radio triggers are more reliable, they don't react to other radio interference and work reliably. The only thing is that their price makes you cringe if you need to equip three or more flashes with these radio transmitters. At mdfoto the starter kit costs 230 Ls, but at bhphotovideo 140 Ls. They don't distinguish between receivers and transmitters, but any can work both as a receiver and as a transmitter. Their distance is ~50 meters. However they aren't perfect and depending on the batch they refuse to work smoothly with camera flashes. I've bought from the same place twice and one of the batches with my Nikon SB-800 gives two flashes at once. Such a miracle also happens with Canon flashes if you get such an unlucky batch. Other users have encountered this problem too and here you can read discussions links and links.  To solve this problem you need to interfere with the electronics, which I haven't done myself. However another batch works perfectly. But with studio flashes they work reliably. Another minus of these devices is the PC sync port, which is weak and without any holding or tightening mechanism in the contact itself. Sometimes they don't want to react precisely because of the bad contact which needs to be poked.

PocketWizard

PocketWizard are among the most reliable. They have two types: Plus II and MultiMAX. They differ both in price and functionality. Plus II synchronization with flashes is from 1/250- 1/500 second, but MultiMAX allows synchronizing 1/500-1/1000, which is relevant for high-end studio cameras, but the prices here are even steeper. At bhphotovideo Plus II one transmitter/receiver price is 100 Ls, and MultiMAX one receiver/transmitter price is 150 Ls. That means a starter kit of two Plus II triggers would cost 200 Ls and MultiMAX two 300 Ls (here in Latvia such a kit would cost 400-500 Ls). PocketWizard operating range is 500 meters. Their biggest minus is the construction, which is not durable and many complain that over time the antennas break.

Others

We looked at the most popular radio triggers, but there are many other manufacturers:
www.microsyncdigital.com - the smallest radio triggers.
www.studioflash.co.uk - Chinese various models
Flash Waves Radio Trigger - looks convenient for camera flashes
If any of you use something else reliably, write that review in the comments.

Conclusion

If you shoot often outside or in unfamiliar interiors with one or two flashes, then it's worth saving up and buying more reliable PocketWizard radio triggers, but If you don't have much funds and need to shoot with several flashes, then it's still worth taking cheap "made in China" triggers, which will solve many inconveniences that were related to wires or flash synchronization, but will create other unforeseen problems. From my experience I can say that I started exactly with the cheap ones and was happy that I used them, because it's still better than nothing, and that becomes more relevant if you need to shoot with 7-8 flashes, because spending 800 Ls just on a radio synchronization system is an expensive pleasure.

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