Can my Canon 5D Mark II remotely operate the flashes speedlite 430EXII and 580EX

[briansquibb]

Here is a video with the mini and the speedlight within 30cm of each other

http://www.pocketwizard.com/inspirations/tutorials/control_tl_introduction_mini_tt/

 

[Viggo]

Here's proof otherwise:

http://photobyviggo.com/random/pw2.jpg

http://photobyviggo.com/random/PW1.jpg

These two (and the 40 other shots) are at the same manual power setting. The only difference is speed. I had the curtain showing from 1/3200s through 1/6000s, then at 1/8000s the suddenly worked. And from 1/1000s and up to 1/3200s I had no power. This was completely consistent for this day, yet , other days showed other symptoms.

After the guys over at PW customer support saw these (and my other examples and mails) they said "So sorry we can't fix this for you, please return your radio's for a full refund"

Another time I had ONE setting with the AC3 giving me consistent no power, and they said "wow, that's a strange one, never seen that". Which is the problem, the errors are never the same so it's extremely hard to figure out, other than replacing radio's and flashes.. oh yeah, I did that, nothing helped....

Here's an example of that error, and this kept showing with 100% of the shots that day.

http://photobyviggo.com/random/pocketwizard.jpg

 

[briansquibb]

So you are shooting in manual not eTTL then?

 

[briansquibb]

What are your high speed settings then?

I rarely go over 1/1000 and then probably not over 1/1500

Sun is forecast for tomorrow so I will try some high speed shots - they will be eTTL though and not using a AC3 either.

I will be on 2 flash off the camera, with a mini on camera

All my PW is at v6.00 firmware with factory defaults set

 

[Viggo]

So you are shooting in manual not eTTL then?

Oh I have tried both ettl and manual mode, same story. These examples were in M mode to illustrate how the power output changes at random , even though I don't change it.

I've tried with and without the AC3 , and also used a TT5 as a transmitter to another TT5. Same story, with loads of random errors.

I often need fast speeds for portraits so I need them to work at all speeds-

 

[briansquibb]

So you are shooting in manual not eTTL then?

Oh I have tried both ettl and manual mode, same story. These examples were in M mode to illustrate how the power output changes at random , even though I don't change it.

I've tried with and without the AC3 , and also used a TT5 as a transmitter to another TT5. Same story, with loads of random errors.

I often need fast speeds for portraits so I need them to work at all speeds-

Your experience is bad - I cant remember a failure or mis fire. Will be more interesting tomorrow as I will be watching it

 

[Viggo]

0

Your experience is bad - I cant remember a failure or mis fire. Will be more interesting tomorrow as I will be watching it

I hope they work for you and everybody else, I really do, but my experience and many others as well indicate a high level of bugs with their system... wonder if the Nikon people have it the same way, haven't checked as I am trying to forget all about the flex-system...

 

[Canon-F1]

in short.. sold my PW flex system -> too many problems.
if you want to know more have a look at their support forum!

bought phottix odin -> perfect.

had a look at the "pixel king" but to be honest for 150 euro less these triggers offer much less then the phottix odin.
the display alone on the phottix is worth 100 euros for me.
much quicker to see the settings of your groups etc. ... odin is a much better trigger.

 

[te4o]

What are the chances that the upcoming 5D and the 1Dx can trigger our speedlites remotely?

 

[Viggo]

None, at least for the X , as we know all the specs already.... but the interesting question for me is why? Why are we still stuck with the unless IT system from the last ice age....