Off camera flash. Pocket Wizard and Sekonic 478

Geoffc

Senior Member
Last year I decided I wanted to learn a bit more about using a flash properly so I purchased an SB900. I bought some books and improved my knowledge including using my friend's Sekonic meters. I'm quite lucky as he sells them so I've tried the whole range from 758 down. I also started to play with some pocket wizards which he also sells ;)

Eventually and after much evaluation my wife and I decided to make some purchases so we got another SB900 (One each), a Sekonic 478DR and the Pocket Wizard mini/flex units. The reason we went down this root was because the 478DR can trigger the Pocket Wizards with its built in radio and even neater you can adjust the power of the speedlights from the meter. This makes for a very convenient solution. The other thing that swung it for the mini/flex rather than Plus III was the off camera TTL. If it's not practical to use the meter or I'm just being plain lazy I can pop a speedlight on the Flex and fire it with the camera mounted mini and it will use normal TTL control.

Within certain fairly long limits you can put the flash some distance away. This is great when the grand kids are round as I can put a light anywhere in the room and start shooting, knowing the exposure will be correct and all without wires.

The final thing I wanted to be able to do was trigger the camera remotely. I was thinking of things such as putting it near a bird feeder and firing from my bedroom window with a handheld trigger.

It's fair to say that this is not the cheapest solution, however it does what it says on the tin and is well supported. Needless to say it can also be used on the dumb studio strobes as well.
 

PapaST

Senior Member
I really would like to expand my knowledge about this subject. I pictured I'd go a route similar to yours but have not done the homework yet. Thanks for sharing, it gives me food for thought.
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
I really would like to expand my knowledge about this subject. I pictured I'd go a route similar to yours but have not done the homework yet. Thanks for sharing, it gives me food for thought.

If you're looking to meter your flash you need to think about how you'll trigger them when you're at the subject. I often found I couldn't reach the flash head or I had flash sync cords trailing everywhere. This is where the meter with built in triggers comes into its own.

If you only want trigger dumb flash heads you can probably get away with a much cheaper radio trigger setup a or the plusx type triggers. That said I bought some for £20 off ebay before the pocket wizards and they failed after 20 shots. Probably a fluke but the pocket wizards just work.
 
Top