Pocket Wizards Plus III - what am I missing here?

[V8Beast]

Coming from someone who shoots with three 550EXs, and is about to shell out big bucks with multiple 600EXs and an ST-E3, I'm certainly not doing it to save money over a proper monolight setup! I'm on location for 90 percent of my shoots, and using off-camera flash in 90 percent of those shots. The portability, the lack of cords, the lack of a power supply, quick setup time, and precise ETTL metering is why the Speedlites suit my needs most of the time. However, they are by no means a substitute for a set of real monolights in a studio environment. If you need to light up a large subject with fast recycle times, you need a set of monolights.

Speedlites can work just as well as monolights in certain situations, but you pay a hefty premium for the added portability. IMHO, Speedlights and monolights are merely different tools for different situations. One isn't necessarily as substitute for the other, and arguing that one is better than the other is silly.

 

[Maui5150]

Coming from someone who shoots with three 550EXs, and is about to shell out big bucks with multiple 600EXs and an ST-E3, I'm certainly not doing it to save money over a proper monolight setup! I'm on location for 90 percent of my shoots, and using off-camera flash in 90 percent of those shots. The portability, the lack of cords, the lack of a power supply, quick setup time, and precise ETTL metering is why the Speedlites suit my needs most of the time. However, they are by no means a substitute for a set of real monolights in a studio environment. If you need to light up a large subject with fast recycle times, you need a set of monolights.

Speedlites can work just as well as monolights in certain situations, but you pay a hefty premium for the added portability. IMHO, Speedlights and monolights are merely different tools for different situations. One isn't necessarily as substitute for the other, and arguing that one is better than the other is silly.

Never said it was.

The title of this thread is "Pocket Wizards Plus III - what am I missing here?" and there is a general theme that since it does not have e-TTL it is crap, where in many of the cases enumerated, not only do these hold their own, but are cheaper and preferred.

And agreed, both speedlites and monolights have different advantages and uses, and depending on ones needs and uses, certain features will be more valuable than others.