I've been looking at options to go off camera, but the cost of a PW makes me cringe. I am not interested in rebuilding an "eBay Trigger/Ghetto Trigger", anyone with input on the Elichrom Skyport?
I've no experience with the skyport, BUT, I will say this: just looking at the specs, if you need range, the Pocket wizards are better. Now, I won't comment on reliability, I don't have both to compare. As for features? Well the Multimax has a ton, the plus a few, but the Skyports have one that trump either, that being the ability to control the power output on Elinchrom lights with digital panels.
I would say that if you owned Elinchroms, the skyport should be your first choice.
Max, I appreciate that. I don't own any as of yet. Trying to get all the infor before I jump. If $600 is the only real way to do then, we'll save longer and wait and hope I don't get a job with that need.
I have had my Skyports for about 2 weeks. I got a transmitter and 3 receivers. My Skyport kit cost me $440, a little more than a PW transmitter and receiver. They are much smaller than the PW's.
The biggest convenience the PW's have over the Skyports, is my Sekonic meter can fire my flashes from the subject to check exposure.
I am no expert, but I ordered the Skyports to use with my Vivatar 285 HV's. No go. I returned them and got the PW's. They work perfect. So I guess it depends on what flash you have.
PW Plus II units appear on ebay from time to time from this one seller for $169 each plus about $12 for shipping - the ebay units are BNIB as well. Saves about $40 over B&H.
Skyports are awesome. I loved them, they were more than half the size and weight of the PWs, and they worked. I used them over a course of a couple of weeks with my Ranger RX pack, and it was flawless. The ability to change the power wirelessly is just that great. But the only inconvenience was using my Sekonic meter to trigger them.
The PWs are the gold standard, but the Skyports are right next to them. Yes the range isn't as good, but my PWs (even on full batteries) don't often go up to 200ft, I haven't figured it out. Skyports have atleast 200ft, I tested them at about 300ft with sporadic results, but more triggers than mishaps at that range.
I would go with PWs if you don't have Elinchrom RX lights, and if you shoot outdoors more often than indoors. If everything you do is indoors, I would go with Skyports, they are that good.
PWs now has a worthy competitor breathing down it's back. The major advantage they have is the integration into a variety of different brands (Profoto, Sekonic, etc).
We have PW II's and Skyports. Used PW's for years. The Skyports for a few months. We have Elinchrom lights, but not all are RX. We also use Metz flashes, but don't use the remotes that much with them. We have various flashmeters, none are Sekonic. Although the PW have longer range and have definately proven themselves reliable, the Skyports are rapidly gaining favor with us over the PW's. Probably because of small size and RX, but also to our surprise the Universal has proved the equal to the PW in our studio as well. They have taken a lot of abuse and everyone loves the smaller form factor. We thought we'd keep the PW's around as back up and for the odd job where greater distance was required, but we found the Skyports could be daisy chained when needed too. So except for the odd assignment where a camera trigger is needed, the Skyports have been getting the call. Our feeling is that it is great to finally have a quality alternative to the PW. The cost of the PW cords alone was a great source of irritation for us. (We were shocked to see all the extra cords the Skyports came packaged with.) I suppose if we were doing sports like Max or using remote cameras at a track or arena, we probably stick with PW too, but for now the Skyports are working out better than expected. I know some people really enjoy having a remote trigger in their flashmeter, but for those of us who don't have one, having a smaller trigger than a PW II is the next best thing. They're definately worth considering.
david010167 wrote:
The skyports can camera trigger as well, if you buy the pocket wizard camera cable, or a Hong Kong ebay version that does the same thing.
David
Excellent. We have the PW camera cables, so how do we get them to remote fire the camera?
This is great. FMer's have a great deal to offer those of us that are still learning and course shifting. The anticipation of usage is for on site jobs both indoor and outdoor. Close proximity subjects. Looks like the PW and Skyport fill a need, for now the Skyport would be the first level of wireless freedom later when big bucks are available a set of PW's...
I too enjoy my skyport universals. I like setting up lights on different groups to test lights independently, and then set the skyport to fire flashes on all channels when I want to take the actual shot I've been building up to. I don't think the PW II's have this capability.
I do need to get some rubber washers to place around the on/off button on the receiver though... The receivers have a habit of inadvertently turning on while in transit due to the poor design of this button.
Brad B wrote: I am no expert, but I ordered the Skyports to use with my Vivatar 285 HV's. No go. I returned them and got the PW's. They work perfect. So I guess it depends on what flash you have.
Does anyone else know of problems using the Skyports with the Vivatar 285HV?
Skyports and the 285HV didn't work for me either. I like the Skyport's group / all capability, but had some range/interference issues (like any time I had the flash around a corner) so I went with the PWs.
PWs work with the 285HV.
