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Archive 2014 · 580EXII Question

  
 
PatrickSweeney
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · 580EXII Question


OK, this might seem odd and a bit fussy. but I have the gear I have at the moment, and want to know if I can make it work the way I'd like.

Setup: Canon camera on tripod, with remote trigger. Pocketwizard PlusIII on hotshoe.

Canon 580EXII on tripod, with Pocketwizard PlusIII for trigger.

Can I set the 580EXII as "Master" and use it to trigger another Canon speedlight? Or must the 580 be a slave, when hooked up to the PW?

And if I experiment, will there be a sub-critical nuclear detonation?



May 01, 2014 at 02:01 PM
Focus Locus
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · 580EXII Question


It's been 3 weeks since I logged into FM, but it seems to me that this same exact question was asked 3 or 4 weeks ago.

That means that this is either a strange coincidence, a popular question, or perhaps the same inquiry that didn't get answered before.

So I pulled two 580exII flash heads, and two PW Mulitmax Transceivers out of my bag to try it. I didn't bother with a camera, as the Test button on the PW would simulate a shutter fire.

I first married one PW to a 580exII via the PC port on the 580exII and the Flash port on the PW, set to receiver mode.
I then took the second PW, set it to transceiver mode, synced channels, and fired the test button. Flash popped.

Now for the acid test... I changed the setting to the married 580exII to "Master". I then fired the test button to the transmitting PW again. No flash pop.

I turned the Master setting back off on the married flash, hit the transceiver test button, flash popped again.

I then turned the married flash to Slave setting. Flash wouldn't pop with the PW.

I turned the Slave setting back off on the married flash, hit the transceiver button, flash popped again.

From this brief test, I would conclude that marring a 580exII with a PW MM via a mini phono to PC cord somehow disables the ability of that married flash to function as a Master or a Slave in Manual mode.

I don't have time to do exhaustive testing in all possible situations, but this test was enough to determine that no sub critical nuclear detonation is likely to occur if you conduct such experiment using your own equipment. We all survived over here, and are no worse for wear.

Can I just add that why would you want to bother with Canon's master/slave scheme which is LAME compared to radio triggering? If line of sight triggering was effective, then one might as well just use a reflector and save even more money rather than buying another flash head. If line of sight worked, entire industries of radio transmitters for triggering flashes would not exist. If line of sight worked, then Canon wouldn't have produced the 600R whatever the heck their latest head is called.

Canon's line of sight doesn't work in any really useful manner other than the most simplistic setups within unobstructed indoor environments. Canon's flash system is the number one reason why I wanted to switch back to Nikon. For 500 bones, one would think that they would at least put a battery life meter on the darn thing.

I'd just get another radio and forget about the master/slave thing. It didn't work at all in my tests, and I forgot to say that I did turn on the second 580exII and set it to slave, ensured the channels were the same, and tested the master slave response without the radios, etc.

I gave up on the master/slave deal years ago. I use radios, period. PW MMs... I have a small box full... one for every 580exII I have (4). Additionally, I have four studio strobe power supplies which have PW radios built in. My light meter also has a PW radio built in. The very idea of sculpting with multiple sources of light is thwarted by also having to have those lights "see" each other. Line of sight doesn't work for me from either a creative or a logistical standpoint.





May 01, 2014 at 11:48 PM
PatrickSweeney
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · 580EXII Question


Thanks for the test, and the risk of setting off the nukes.

I was wondering if I could get a slave to work that way, using what I had, rather than springing for another PW.

Since it won't (and I'll try this myself, and report if I find anything different) then it is time for PW #4, and perhaps even a better speedlight as well.

This is why I come here.



May 02, 2014 at 09:43 AM





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