I bought the RadioPopper JrX Studio set a couple weeks ago when they first went up for sale. If you've been following, you know that these are the first commercially available radio triggers that will allow you to set the flash power level on TTL flashes like the SB-800, SB-600, SB-28, 430ex, 580ex, etc.
The problem is, this functionality (called "EZSet") is not available until you have a special piece of hardware that doesn't exist yet. RadioPopper has stated that their "RPCube" will be available in several weeks time. As anyone that has followed past RadioPopper announcements also knows, this could easily turn into a MUCH longer timeline.
So I took it upon myself to get the EZSet functionality before RPCube is available.
It was really quite easy, and not too technical at all. All I had to do was cannibalize a Nikon off shoe flash cord (mine was an off-brand version of the SC-28), and splice it into a cable with a 3.5mm (1/8") stereo jack on one end. A little web research to find the Nikon hotshoe pinout and identify the quench pin, and a little testing with a multimeter to identify which wires were which in the off-shoe cable and the stereo cable, and all that was left was a bit of wire twisting, soldering and electrical tape, and I now have my home made "RPCube". It works perfectly, I can now control the output level of my SB-800 from a hundred feet away.
If anyone else wants to give it a shot, and has any questions, let me know.
Does anyone know where I can find the pinouts for the old standby Vivitar 285? It has a squelch circuit too... I just need to find out how to get to it.
Here's a shot of what the final product looks like. If I make another one, I'd like to use heatshrink instead of electrical tape, but I didn't have any around the house, and I was excited to get it all together to see if it worked.
bobbyz wrote:
Would like to see what you did and some exampple shots to see how well it works.
Unfortunately, I didn't think to take pictures during the construction process, but it's pretty simple, really.
As far as example shots, I haven't had a real world chance to use it (it's been pouring rain here for the last two days). But honestly, you wouldn't be able to tell example shots from normal radio trigger flash shots. The only new magic here is that the power is easy to set.
I did some controlled tests around the house to make help me get used to the power level adjustments. The docs state that the transmitter will control 8 stops of power, and that each 1/8 turn represents a one stop adjustment. However, the knob doesn't turn 360 degress, so one of those statements has to be wrong.
From my testing, it seemed like 1/8 turn was pretty close to one stop adjustment, but since my flash (SB-800) doesnt report it's power level after firing, I can't tell if the lowest RP transmitter setting corresponds to the lowest flash power level. The highest RP setting seems to fire the flash at full power. I guess I could do some more sytematic testing with sample shots by cross references my histogram in manual mode at different settings to the RP controlled shots. Not tonight.
Does anyone know where I can find the pinouts for the old standby Vivitar 285? It has a squelch circuit too... I just need to find out how to get to it.
Tom
Tom-
Does the 285 work in TTL mode with Nikon cameras? If so the, the quench pin must be in the same place as on Nikon flashes. On Nikon flashes, it's the one located at the corner of the 'L' in the formation of pins.
cordellwillis wrote:
I would like you to make mine. How much? seriously!
Cordell- well, the parts to make it cost me about $30, and it took me about an hour, so I really don't know if you'd want to pay what it would be worth it for me. It really is a simple operation though, and if you're even a tiny bit competent with a multimeter and a soldering iron, you could knock it out fairly easily.
You may feel silly paying me $50 for my home brew one, if RP comes out with theirs in a couple of weeks for $25. Just sayin'.
Erik Moore wrote:
Tom-
Does the 285 work in TTL mode with Nikon cameras? If so the, the quench pin must be in the same place as on Nikon flashes. On Nikon flashes, it's the one located at the corner of the 'L' in the formation of pins.
No, no... the old Vivitar 285's are not ETTL capable at all. However, they DO have a auto-thyristor controlled quench circuit. It is controlled by a sensor on the front of the flash. Some Nikon and Canon flash units have this too.
Tom
PS: The auto-thyristor circuit in a Vivitar 285 was pretty amazingly accurate given its antiquity. If I had to bet, I would bet more wedding photos were taken with the old 283/285 Vivitars than any other flash ever made.
seriously!