PocketWizard Noob

[Jesse]

Do I need one transmitter and then a separate transceiver for each off-camera flash?

[Drizzt321]

Yes, unless they are tranceivers (a transmitter and receiver in one thing). I believe that most of the PocketWizards (at least the higher end models) are tranceivers. Check the model you are going to get, and read the online documentation. You can generally find the full user manual online as well, which will tell you as well.

[Halfrack]

Are you using on-camera flashes that do TTL or a strobe system that can be controlled remotely?  Yes, you need one PW device for each strobe you want to fire, unless you're plugging the PW into a pack.  Basically there are 2 types of PocketWizard systems:

PlusII/PlusIII/PlusX/MultiMax - these are basic 'fire' commands to a strobe.  You get to adjust each strobe independently of each other, but this can be a pain.  The MultiMax can be setup in zones, and you can turn on and off each zone from the master.  These are best as transceivers, as you can use 1 on camera, and 3 on strobes, or 2 different cameras each controlling their own strobes (if you set them to different channels).

FlexTT/MiniTT - these have transmitter only and transceiver models, and are designed for situations where you're controlling power manually or via eTTL.  The times I've played with them, the MiniTT1 was more of a pain than it's worth, and it was just better to work with all TT5's.  Now the key thing to remember is the AC3 accessory needs a TT1 or TT5 to sit in (this confused me until I played with it).

Depending on the strobes you have, there are additional modules for specific brands, so you may or may not need certain pieces.  Then again, depending on what you're using for flashes, you can also set them do optical slaves, so as when one fires, it triggers the others to blink  (not good when other flashes are going off).

[Jesse]

Looking to get a Canon 600ex-rt flash for my 5D3 to use as an off camera light for starters. Plan on adding either more flashes or strobes to my kit in the future.

[Halfrack]

Looking to get a Canon 600ex-rt flash for my 5D3 to use as an off camera light for starters. Plan on adding either more flashes or strobes to my kit in the future.

Save your money and buy a second 600ex or a st-e3 to wirelessly (RF) control your initial 600.  PocketWizards literally were created to do over radio what Canon was trying to do via infrared in the 580ex's (or not at all).  Canon finally got into the RF game with the 600ex and while we're waiting for a cheaper 430ex-style RF flash, folks are buying 600ex'es just to simplify their life.  The 600ex is all that and a big bowl of guacamole.

If you move to bigger strobes, many of them can be set as optical slaves, so you can trigger them from your 600ex.

[neuroanatomist]

Looking to get a Canon 600ex-rt flash for my 5D3 to use as an off camera light for starters. Plan on adding either more flashes or strobes to my kit in the future.

+1 to Halfrack.  The Canon RT system is excellent and easy to use.  I do have a PW setup (MiniTT1, two FlexTT5s and a PowerMC2 for a Buff Einstein monolight), but I had that prior to the Canon RF triggering capability.  Although the Einstens can be optically slaved, I prefer direct radio control.  But for lighting setups where I don't need the monolight (and the big 48" octabox I put it in), I use three 600EX-RTs in Lastolite softboxes, triggered by an ST-E3-RT.

[Jesse]

What if I can only afford one 600 right now?

[Random Orbits]

What if I can only afford one 600 right now?

You could get the 600 now and a long ETTL cord to move it off camera.

[scottkinfw]

The TT5 can be a transmitter or receiver

Are you using on-camera flashes that do TTL or a strobe system that can be controlled remotely?  Yes, you need one PW device for each strobe you want to fire, unless you're plugging the PW into a pack.  Basically there are 2 types of PocketWizard systems:

PlusII/PlusIII/PlusX/MultiMax - these are basic 'fire' commands to a strobe.  You get to adjust each strobe independently of each other, but this can be a pain.  The MultiMax can be setup in zones, and you can turn on and off each zone from the master.  These are best as transceivers, as you can use 1 on camera, and 3 on strobes, or 2 different cameras each controlling their own strobes (if you set them to different channels).

FlexTT/MiniTT - these have transmitter only and transceiver models, and are designed for situations where you're controlling power manually or via eTTL.  The times I've played with them, the MiniTT1 was more of a pain than it's worth, and it was just better to work with all TT5's.  Now the key thing to remember is the AC3 accessory needs a TT1 or TT5 to sit in (this confused me until I played with it).

Depending on the strobes you have, there are additional modules for specific brands, so you may or may not need certain pieces.  Then again, depending on what you're using for flashes, you can also set them do optical slaves, so as when one fires, it triggers the others to blink  (not good when other flashes are going off).

[Jesse]

This is more confusing than I thought it would be.

So if I get 2 600 flashes, I can use one to trigger the other? Even if they're both off camera???

[distant.star]

.
You may want to spend a few minutes with this video and see if it might save you some money:

Review: Yongnuo RF-602 Flash Trigger - PocketWizard Killer?	Small | Large

[Halfrack]

This is more confusing than I thought it would be.

So if I get 2 600 flashes, I can use one to trigger the other? Even if they're both off camera???

You'd use 1 of the 600's on camera (or the ST-E3), with the second one off camera.  The one on camera talks via RF to control the one off camera.  Canon put the IR Master function into a few cameras (60d/7d/??) and there for you could trigger an off camera flash, but that feature wasn't part of the 5dmk3.

If you're looking for a stop gap to have a single flash off camera, get one of the really long eTTL cables like http://ocfgear.com/ sells - yes, it's wired but you have complete control of the flash from your camera body - AND it's good to have a wired backup just in case.  Syl has a number of books that people like specifically on Canon flashes, and a good amount of info on his blog http://pixsylated.com/blog/

The reason we're saying to not purchase the PocketWizards is that if you went the cheapest method possible - a MiniTT1 and a FlexTT5, to add a second 600ex-RT would require yet another FlexTT5.  Where as if you purchased a ST-E3-RT or an additional 600ex-RT, you would save the cost of the PocketWizards, plus the overhead of added, unnecessary gear.

Make sense?

[neuroanatomist]

The reason we're saying to not purchase the PocketWizards is that if you went the cheapest method possible - a MiniTT1 and a FlexTT5, to add a second 600ex-RT would require yet another FlexTT5.  Where as if you purchased a ST-E3-RT or an additional 600ex-RT, you would save the cost of the PocketWizards, plus the overhead of added, unnecessary gear.

That's true only if one wants/needs E-TTL flash metering.  If you use manual settings, the PW PlusX transceiver is $99, so a pair of them costs less that the ST-E3-RT.  Obviously, other options like Yongnuo, Cactus, etc., are even cheaper. 

Still, if one is planning to grow into a multiple Speedlite setup, I think the ST-E3-RT is the way to go as a controller, as then there's no need to buy anything for but additional flashes down the line (and it's likely there will be a cheaper slave-only 4x0EX-RT at some point in the future).

[Jesse]

Alright, I understand now. I'm gonna grab one 600 flash and an ST-E3-RT. Another couple flashes when I can afford them. Thanks guys.

[Jesse]

Can I use Yongnuo YN-560 II Speedlights with a 600 ST-E3-RT system?