I'm going to try a little off camera lighting very soon. I will be using my D3s and sb900. I'm going to purchase a basic Westcott 28" softbox and Manfrotto stand. I have intentions of upgrading to Einstein's in the future, but not too soon. May also add a Vivitar 285hv before upgrading to the strobes. I will mainly be doing portraits of 1-3 people, mostly family.
I can't decide if I want to stick with the basic Plus II's or the Flex. I like the Flex, but coming from Canon I know there were problems with interference. Would you folks recommend the Flex over the Plus II's? I have also considered other options, but have decided to use Pocketwizards. I also don't see any reason to use the Mini. The size is not an issue as far as I can see.
The cost difference is negligible, I want a product that will give me the most consistent results with the least headache.
I appreciate any opinions/input provided!
Sep 25, 2011 at 07:42 PM
Jonathan Huynh Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
If you have the intentions of upgrading to Einstein's in the near future, you may consider the flex system.
like mini TT1 this will trigger any Pocket wizard, and more, there is a adapter like the PowerMC2 Receiver Module enables remote power control of Einstein™ flashes using PocketWizard ControlTL technology. With a MiniTT1 Transmitter or FlexTT5 Transceiver on your camera and a PowerMC2 plugged into your Einstein™ 640 flash, you can now adjust the flash power settings directly from the camera position.
I failed to notice the Plus II would not trigger the Einstein with the MC2. I'm not certain when I'll be upgrading to strobes. There is also a possibility when I'm prepared to upgrade there may be a better option for me than Einstein.
Disregarding the possible Einstein upgrade, would Flex or Plus II be better suited for my situation?
Sep 25, 2011 at 09:38 PM
Jonathan Huynh Offline • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
let make this simple.
Plex system allows trigger both manual and TTL for Nikon and ETTL for Canon and Plex TT1 and TT5 can also trigger all pocket wizard and Plus II in manual mode.
Plus II can only trigger manual mode no TTL
Definitely flex, plusIIs are horribly overpriced for a basic trigger.
With the flex units you can manually change your flash power with a spin of a wheel on the AC3, how useful is that when your SB900 is totally enclosed in that wescott apollo softbox? Remote power control with Einsteins too.
There are no radio interference issues with the flex nikon system so a lot of the canon user complaints don't apply.
I own Flexes, Plus II's, and the Einstein and MC2....
The Plus II *does* trigger the MC2 as a basic trigger. You can actually select the receiving channel right on the Einstein unit itself- both TTL and standard channels are available.
I usually use the Flex to trigger the Einstein because it's convenient to control strobe power with the AC3 unit. However, one thing I'm able to do with the Plus II is trigger the Einstein at the full frame rate of my camera. With the Flex on the camera (D7000), it doesn't let me shoot at 6fps, even if I switch to manual. I guess the camera still sees it as TTL as long as the Flex is up there. With the Plus 2, it lets me happily shoot at 6fps.
Since you are not interested in iTTL, and you know you will move to Einsteins......I would consider the Buff CC system. You could buy a Cyber Commander that would give you a very good flash meter, a tranmitter for your camera, and their battery powered trigers for the SB900s. Later, when you buy an Einstein, all you need is the small receiver.
Thanks for all the opinions! I ordered a couple of Flex's today, along with the stand and softbox. I'm not 100% set on the Einstein's. Their my choice right now, depending on how long before I'm ready to "upgrade" that could change. I've also considered the Elinchrom 600rx using their skyport system.
I figured I'm better off to start small and work my way up.
Mr Kris wrote:
I usually use the Flex to trigger the Einstein because it's convenient to control strobe power with the AC3 unit. However, one thing I'm able to do with the Plus II is trigger the Einstein at the full frame rate of my camera. With the Flex on the camera (D7000), it doesn't let me shoot at 6fps, even if I switch to manual. I guess the camera still sees it as TTL as long as the Flex is up there. With the Plus 2, it lets me happily shoot at 6fps.
That's terrible, there must be some configuration or setting to make it shoot at 6fps. Have you tried giving PW or Paul Buff an email about it?
Well, it would definitely be a PW thing... it's not related to the Einstein at all. It does the same thing if I've got an SB700 in a Flex on the receiving end... or actually, even if I have nothing at all on the receiving end, with just a mini or a flex in the camera shoe in controlTL mode.
I *think* it can be worked around by setting the trigger to basic trigger mode... which effectively just changes the Flex into a Plus II. It hasn't been important for me... because when I do want to do this (not often), I just use an actual Plus II, since I have it anyway.
I can try it though, and report back if you're curious.
To add to my previous comment, I haven't tried this again since PW released firmware version 3 for the Nikon Flex system. I've upgraded to this version of the firmware, but haven't checked max continuous shooting rate. Will try it out later.
Setting the Flex to basic trigger does allow the D7000 to fire happily at the full frame rate.
However, using Control TL in any form, whether setting output manually with an AC3 or using TTL, slows frame rate significantly. The level of "slow down" could be unique to each camera system; I'm not sure. Exposure and focus set to manual for this trial so that wasn't slowing it down.
Getting back on topic a little, I noticed a comment about range/interference. The Flex system is HIGHLY sensitive to antenna position. Always make sure the antenna is "fully deployed." If the antenna is folded in, with the flash in cetain orientations, I lose reliable triggering after maybe 50 feet. With the antennas folded out, I get reliable triggering at 400 feet with Control TL without having to do anything special. I've gotten further if I do things like put the transmitting unit on a TTL cord and hold it up in the air. YMMV.
Remote power control with Einsteins too.