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Best CHEAP Radio Triggers?
Hi all, I am looking to purchase some wireless (preferably radio) triggers to remotely trigger flashes from my D50. I know that most people swear by their Pocket Wizards, but I am still an amateur/hobbyist and don't want to spend $800 on just triggers (I will need a transmitter and 3 receivers) That said, what would you recommend on the cheaper end? Thanks, J.Kal Aug 19 08 12:05 am Link cactus triggers, $40 on ebay. Aug 19 08 12:07 am Link Cactus V2s from Gadget Infinity, like ~$40 a pair. They have a shorter range but they work. People have problems with their reliability but its because they have a loose hotshot. I mount my flash with the head facing backwards from the body to put more weigh onto the cold pins of the shoe and I get 100% reliability. Aug 19 08 12:08 am Link The new Paul Buff CyberSync triggers are definitely worth a look: http://www.alienbees.com/remotes.html Aug 19 08 12:14 am Link I read about 50% good 50% bad reviews on the GI triggers, you guys have used them with minimal issue? Aug 19 08 12:14 am Link JKal wrote: Used them on about 4 photoshoots now, no problems as long as it's mounted in the way I described previously. They are cheap as hell though, I don't expect them to last too long. Aug 19 08 12:18 am Link Angelo Lorenzo Photo wrote: Never thought of that and I just tested it with my Poverty Wizards (cheap china products) I got off Ebay and it works. I shot in the garage today and I experienced alot of misfires when my ladder was between the trigger and receiver. $40 with misfires will work until I can justify a set of pocket wizards. Aug 19 08 12:24 am Link Angelo Lorenzo Photo wrote: thanks for this tip. Aug 19 08 12:24 am Link I've been using the Cactus triggers: http://www.gadgetinfinity.com/product.p … at=0&page= So far no problems at all. I've used them for my Nikon SB800 and SB600 and for the studio strobes with no problem at all. I paid $92 ($40 of which was FedEx 2 day shipping) for a trigger and 2 receivers. I ordered at 11PM PST on a Thursday night and received them Monday morning. Aug 19 08 12:25 am Link rp_photo wrote: What they said... they work great! Aug 19 08 12:25 am Link Another good option, though I have not gotten my hands of these yet: radiopopper.com Aug 19 08 12:28 am Link Atrei wrote: Or better yet from the Gadget Infinity web site Aug 19 08 12:32 am Link JKal wrote: Excepts for the fact that they aren't very rugged, they work well. I have several here that the hot shoe plate has been detached. The PC adapter still works though. Aug 19 08 12:33 am Link AEmagine wrote: I just got mine and they are fantastic for the price. Are they PW? No. But they are meant to provide a cheaper alternative. Aug 19 08 12:36 am Link I tried the GI triggers. They were 99.9% reliable indoors and 50% reliable outdoors. Actually, sometimes, they were as high as 80% outdoors. I've since switched to the CyberSyncs from Paul Buff. I love them. They've been great! I got a very, very early set. The transmitter had a spring that lost its springiness and the pin to the shoe thus did not make contact well. Buff took them back without question (and had me return the original receivers with the transmitter). The new ones have had zero problems and have been fantastic. I have two transmitters now (both newer models after Buff switched fabricators), three AC powered receivers and two battery powered receivers. Total was about $400. I could NOT be happier. Aug 19 08 12:39 am Link Brian T Rickey wrote: For the record, I use Pocket Wizards and the Cyber Sync units. The only thing the PWs do that the Cyber Sync doesn't is radio link to my flash meter. Aug 19 08 12:47 am Link You might want to look into the Radio Poppers.  Aug 19 08 12:50 am Link I experimented with the Cactus V2s triggers from Gadget Infinity. Indoors, I could not count on them 100% of the time and the success rate dropped precipitously when shooting outdoors. The wasted frames and extra time spent trying to get them to work were enough for me to can them and upgrade to a professional set- setting up lights on location is one thing, but having to troubleshoot them each time tests the patience of all involved. The trigger set I'm using right now is the Elinchrom Skyport system. At about $100 a transmitter/receiver unit, it's just a little more than half as expensive as a PocketWizard with comparable reliability. I've never had my system fail once after thousands of shots. Plus the form factor is a positive- the transmitters and receivers are tiny compared to the rest of the market. Other options in that range are the AlienBees Cybersyncs, as people have mentioned. The Radiopoppers are specialty units designed to allow you to retain eTTL/iTTL flash metering while using radio triggering, versus proprietary infrared systems. As such, they aren't really a cheaper alternative to PocketWizards (at $180, they're about even). They've announced plans to relase a Radiopopper Jr. model, which will likely compete directly with the Cybersyncs, but no firm date or price has been released. Aug 19 08 12:54 am Link http://cgi.ebay.com/A-Slave-Flash-Trigg … dZViewItem i have had these for two years, with HEAVY use. occasionally, they are wonky (firing for no reason), but until last week, no problems. a new pc sync i had gotten jammed in the housing of the og one, so i got two more sets. for the price, you can't beat them! and this brand has all those different ways to hook them up. i use them on my quantum with the standard pc input, and my monolights with the 1/4" jack. Aug 19 08 12:57 am Link I like these  http://www.microsyncdigital.com/home.cf … N=20683939 ...but they aren't all that cheap. They are a bit less than Pocket Wizards, but a lot smaller and because of their small size, the foot doesn't break off like the PW's are prone to do. I've never had a problem with mine. 100% reliable. Aug 19 08 12:59 am Link So which cactus units do you recommend the 16-channel or 4-channel model? Thanks, J.Kal Aug 19 08 04:30 pm Link What do you consider cheap? I use the Calumet LiteLinks at about $119.00 each. They work well but with a shorter range than the Pocket Wizards. Aug 19 08 04:33 pm Link Another option to consider is the Elichrom Skyport system Not cheap compared to Ebay stuff but way less than PWs  http://www.ppmag.com/web-exclusives/200 … ess-s.html More info in this review http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/03/el … eview.html Aug 19 08 04:41 pm Link These are plenty cheap but they work for me. I bought two units, for the money you can get 3 or 4 for backup. http://cgi.ebay.com/4-channel-Wireless- … dZViewItem Aug 19 08 04:42 pm Link JKal wrote: i've been using my GI triggers for about 6 months now on quite a few shoots and they are awesome...well worth the $40 and they fire from a good distance away as well if needed...and mine fire every time... Aug 19 08 05:07 pm Link Brooklyn Bridge Images wrote: I heard good things, bought them and the transmitter refuses to fire right off either of my Nikons hotshoe. I'm using a PC cord to make sure they fire, I've borrowed PW's and never had that problem... Aug 19 08 06:13 pm Link Personally, I've heard horror stories about the wireless triggers sold on eBay. On the other hand, I recently read an excellent review of the new AB system which costs a fraction of the cost of the PWs. I use PWs, but would look seriously at the ABs if I had to replace them. Aug 19 08 06:25 pm Link Elinchrom Skyports. Had the Gadget Infinity ones which worked okay, but the reliability wasn't 100%. And when I got my 5D, they interfered with the CMOS sensor. So I got Skyports and love them. Aug 19 08 06:51 pm Link I had (well, have) the GI Cactus triggers. They worked fine until this past Sunday, as I was setting up for a shoot, at which point they decided not to work. I've heard good things about the Alien Bees triggers, so I may try those next. Aug 19 08 08:02 pm Link I don't know about their reliability but ran across an ad in a Porter's catalog for wireless triggers for $70 and extra receivers for $50. www.porters.com Aug 19 08 09:20 pm Link Mikes Images - Mike #4 wrote: Second that! Just be sure if you use them with a strobe power pack that you get the surge supressor to go between the receiver and the power pack. I use mine with the Speeotron setup and my XTi all the time and love it! Aug 19 08 10:58 pm Link I would recommend that you stay away from gadget infinity triggers. I bought 2 pairs. THe hot shoe attachment is absolutely terrible. I use chunky sb26s, and they twisted the little attachment like it was butter. The range is appalling. In anything other than daylight, I get better results from using optical slaves. I tried to trigger them from 20 metres away to illuminate a lighthouse last night. No luck. I ended up having to set the camera on a timer, run to within 3 metres of the flash, and trigger it with the remote, manually. If you are working indoors, they will work great. If you are working at close range outdoors, in bright sunlight, they will work great. If you want to do unusal stuff, eg: - placing the flash in a high tree on a foggy night, and simulating moon light on your model - Putting the flash in a car and using it to illuminate the driver as he drives past - Generally using them more than 5 metres away I would suggest that you go with a different option. SOme people manage to successfully modidy these triggers, however it is not a elegant solution. THat said, once you come to terms with their limitations, you can certainly get nice shots with them. The nice shots you get, however, just may not be the nice shots you wanted. Lighthouse:  Aug 19 08 11:16 pm Link You are a "semi pro" and you are looking to cut corners on the parts to make your lights fire? What will the cost be when your lights do not fire? The industry standard is Pocket Wizards for a reason. Aug 19 08 11:30 pm Link skyports! Aug 19 08 11:38 pm Link I have the one listed in the link below (though I think I paid about $10 less). It has worked reliably for me, though you need to be sure you have extra batteries with you. It doesn't eat them up (quite the opposite really), but it's easy to forget that they need them because it's so long between sets. The hot shoe contacts fine, but because it doesn't have a tightening mechanism it often slips back just far enough off the camera to loose it's connection and misfire, but that's easily remedied with a small bit of gaffers tape  . Despite the high reliability I've experience, I'd still recommend buying 2 of them, just in case. The plastic is pretty cheap after all and it doesn't seem like it would take much for the shoe mount to break, though I've never had that happen. As for performance, they work well withing the 30 feet they are spec'd for and I've only had one shoot where some interference seemed to occasionally set the strobes off. It didn't affect or interfere with the shoot but was a bit annoying. For the difference in price from PWs, I felt I could live with it. If you find the range starting to seem limiting, just replace the batteries and all is good again. They also make a version that uses the power supplied to the strobe for the receiver, but I haven't used it and can't comment on the performance. The battery powered version is more flexible for my needs since I occasionally use off camera flashes instead of strobes when I want less output than a pack supplies. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 0286419012 Aug 19 08 11:40 pm Link FJL Photo wrote: That totally depends on how critical them firing is. Shooting a model: one misfire out of 100 really isn't going to hurt. Now if it were a wedding, a misfire could cost you big time. Aug 19 08 11:42 pm Link JKal wrote: When it is 50-50 you then have to think of problems of sample variation in terms of quality control, while some had luck with them others haven't. Aug 19 08 11:44 pm Link Stephen Fletcher wrote: I bought a couple of pairs of these two weeks ago and so far they have been great. I have one pocket wizard that I bought on ebay and before I purchase the other two I need for someone to explain to me what are the advantages to shooting with pw vs these cheap no name knockoffs that appear to do the same thing....especially for portraits. Aug 19 08 11:51 pm Link Yup, Semi pro and looking to cut costs on some level. I believe in looking around and seeing if I can find a better price for a product that is near to or just as good as the higher priced gadgets out there. I shoot weddings and am hoping to find some thing that's reliable yet affordable to use at receptions until my situation falls on better times. That being said...the 580exs I use don't have a hot sync. So I'll need something that will work with that. Back to the drawing board. Thanks for all your responses. Sep 29 08 03:06 pm Link QPLLC wrote: The 580EX flashes will work with just about any trigger system you choose if you have the right connection cords to make up for the different connections. Look up paramount cords - I use a sync-female hotshoe cord for my 430EX. Sep 29 08 03:13 pm Link |
