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School me on Pocket Wizards
Looking to pick up a couple soon. There seem to be different versions of them. Which ones should I choose? I am also going to be using them with some old vivitar flashes (strobist style). Is there a limit to what they are compatible with. Also I'm assuming the cheapest place to get them would be Amazon. Right? Thanks in advance. Jan 31 08 09:18 am Link Sagelike Photography wrote: Buy them at B&H for a very good price and walk in help/exchange. If it is cheaper then B&H buyer beware. Jan 31 08 09:23 am Link There are only two PocketWizard versions available. The older ones were either a transmitter or receiver. One xmitter for the camera and as many receivers as you had lights. The new PW Plus IIs can be a transmitter or receiver based on how you connect it. The other PW is the MultiMax. It can do a whole lot of cool things (selective zones, delays in flash) but only works with other Multimaxes. The PWs are around $190 and the MultiMax around $300. The PW Plus IIs are all we need here on MM. I had a MultiMax for a while and was hard pressed to see how I'd be able to use it in my work, so I just sold it recently and replaced it with a plain old PW Plus II. As to usage, they will work with any light with a synch plug. Just a matter of getting the appropriate connecting cord. Jan 31 08 10:31 am Link Sagelike Photography wrote: Yaaaay! You won't regret it! There seem to be different versions of them. Which ones should I choose? I personally went with the Plus II Transcievers and they're fabulous! I am also going to be using them with some old vivitar flashes (strobist style). Is there a limit to what they are compatible with. I have mine working with my Vivitar 285, just make sure you get a connection cord to go to your Vivitar from the PW. Also I'm assuming the cheapest place to get them would be Amazon. Right? I got mine through Amazon, you can also look at B&H as suggested, look around for the best price on them. Jan 31 08 10:32 am Link I adore the Plus 2's, I have 4 now and they're awesomely useful. You really will not regret it. The fewer cords there are running around the place, the more freedom you have to move. Jan 31 08 10:36 am Link What cord do you need to connect to Alien Bees? RB Jan 31 08 11:43 am Link To connect PocketWizards to Alien Bees, use a simple mini to mini cable (also referred to as an 1/8th inch to 1/8th inch) that's mono. Be sure it's mono. If you look at the tip, it will have only 1 black ring around the metal portion of the plug. The stereo connectors have 2 rings. The packaging should tell you if it's mono or stereo. Any Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's or general electronics store should have it. I got mine from Radio Shack. Jan 31 08 11:58 am Link brother7 wrote: Thanks much. I appreciate the info. Jan 31 08 12:07 pm Link A tip for PocketWizard owners... When your PocketWizards aren't being used, remove the batteries. I've had to send back THREE PocketWizards for repair because of leaking batteries. They were Energizer batteries, not some cheap off-brand. Battery leakage is NOT covered under warranty. However, they offered the option to upgrade to the Transceiver model for a fee, which I did. (I had the Transmitter-only and Receiver-only versions) Jan 31 08 12:37 pm Link i run plus 2's *shrug* they are 4 channel...the other ones available where like 32 channel... Jan 31 08 12:44 pm Link Imagenes wrote: Clarification: SOME of the MultiMax features--zone capability, flash confirmation, etc--require both the transmitting and receiving units to be MultiMax. Others, such as regular sync work with the Plus or Plus II (only the first 4 channels), as does rear- or middle-curtain sync, some of the repeating triggers, and so-on. Jan 31 08 03:04 pm Link hope someone knows the answer will come check this thread sometime, but i had 2 questions on PW's. i have 4 of them, theyre great, love them, etc. but i had a couple 1/8 miniphone *stereo* plugs laying around that im using to sync with my AB's. this isnt going to do anything to them, right? and second, i was on a cruise over christmas, and they had about a half dozen or so photographers doing portraits during the formal dinners, and they were all using PWs. i thought there were only 4 channels on these things, how did they manage to have over 6 people shooting on 4 channels? May 06 08 01:00 am Link Alex Minkin Photography wrote: The PocketWizard Plus/Plus II units only have 4 channels. The older, long discontinued PW Classics had 10, and the Max and MultiMax units support 32 channels. May 06 08 02:10 am Link just got the new elinchrom radio slave its way cool and you can actually change the output of the strobe remotely have not figured out how to use it yet but it works brilliantly im not good at judging distance but about a football field and a half check it out May 06 08 02:15 am Link Kevin Connery wrote: so does that mean youd have to upgrade your entire set to multimaxs if you needed to shoot on more than 4 channels? May 06 08 02:22 am Link Back in NYC, I took a photo course which stressed the importance of using Pocket Wizards and ProFoto Equipment (everything was for sale, of course). The point is, personally, I thought Pocket Wizards were physically HUGE, I felt like a moron with the huge antenna flopping out the top of my camera like some sort of insect ... so I opted for a much less expensive, lower profile, more discrete model, which works great with my Alien Bees and doesn't take up so much room in my bag. I compare them to the big grey cell phones the size of a brick of the 80's. There are other options to going wireless. I use only 3 lights, and they all shoot at the same time, different f/stops... nothing fancy like delays or anything. Dan May 06 08 02:55 am Link Sagelike Photography wrote: I have 4 PW plus II's and 5 Multimax's. I wouldnt trade them for anything. I have several of the Multi's modified with unique codes so at events, no one can use my strobes. There is an additional cost for this but well worthit if doing event photography. May 06 08 03:06 am Link |
Enjoy! 
