Tony Hoffer wrote:
I bought a headphone extension cord last night and tested this out. I was getting about 250ft consistently with my 580ex. Then I took the extension cord off and was still getting 250ft. Weird. When I'm on a shoot, these things are never consistent like they are when I test them.
Doesn't that make you want to bite through a steel beam??!
Tony Hoffer wrote:
I bought a headphone extension cord last night and tested this out. I was getting about 250ft consistently with my 580ex. Then I took the extension cord off and was still getting 250ft. Weird. When I'm on a shoot, these things are never consistent like they are when I test them.
Weird. There is no doubt for me that having the PW away from the speedlite made all the difference. I have velcro on the side of my flash and when I stick the PW to that it works only for a range of about 30ft.
You would think the folks at PW could do something about this conflict with the canon speedlite?
So true! I tried testing my PWs and I can see them go off down the block with or without a headphone extension cord. I could not see a difference either, even though PocketWizard seems to blame the interference from Canon flashes as the source of the problems. However, when I am at a wedding I sometimes can't even get 30 feet reliably...
Tony Hoffer wrote:
I bought a headphone extension cord last night and tested this out. I was getting about 250ft consistently with my 580ex. Then I took the extension cord off and was still getting 250ft. Weird. When I'm on a shoot, these things are never consistent like they are when I test them.
Just had a shoot today and of course, same problem. Since I was doing my tests using the test button and not the camera, I'm thinking it could be the camera contact. I hard wired the Pw on camera and that was more reliable. I'll test more like that and see what happens
I had it on the shoe, but I plugged it into my camera's PC port and into the 'Camera Flash' spot on the PW. That's how I do it when I have a flash on camera.
To help clarify the setup, since the experiences are so varied, you should include what type of pocketwizard (plus, multimax), how it is mounted (hotshoe, sync connector, phone plug) and whether a Nikon/Canon flash is involved.
My experience has been mostly positive except for a failed receiver in a Profoto Acute 2R pack (which I simply ripped out and replaced with an external Multimax, since it was a $300+ repair from Mamiya).
PW: Multimax x 2
Camera: Nikon
Mount: Hotshoe/Phone Jack to Profoto Acute 2R pack.
I shoot with mine consistantly beyond 100-200 feet. I have had a problem before when shooting with an AC pack. The pocket was resting against the side of it and for some reason it wasn't working. Now I just hang them off of my lightstands and haven't had an issue since.
Tony,
Found this:
"Also, try to keep the antennas vertical and parallel to the other antennas. However, if you are triggering an overhead remote camera, you should turn the Transmitter to about a 45 degree angle and the same with the Receiver unit. This should be done because of the way the signals are produced by the Transmitter unit. The signals are emitted from the sides of the antenna, not the top."
Tony Hoffer wrote:
I had it on the shoe, but I plugged it into my camera's PC port and into the 'Camera Flash' spot on the PW. That's how I do it when I have a flash on camera.
That's how I set mine up, too. My PW's are in for service right now... they can't find anything wrong with them, but said they would have a more experienced tech go over them. I'm starting to think it's the interference thing with the Canon lights.
I found with my wireless's that if I secure them too tightly (around the housing) that they become erratic. I figured out that the extra external pressure on the housing was enough to cause this. By simply NOT securing them so darn tight my problems went away.
BTW mine are not PW's, but I can easily see the same thing happening.
I ended up trying my PocketWizards with a Sunpak 383 flash and surprisingly it worked very very well. When I slave my Canon flashes, they wouldn't fire reliably at any distance over 30-50 ft. Which is sometimes a problem for me at weddings.
I ended up buying an older Nikon SB flash and it works as well. There is definitely something going on with Canon flashes (i.e. radio interference).
I ended up trying my PocketWizards with a Sunpak 383 flash and surprisingly it worked very very well. When I slave my Canon flashes, they wouldn't fire reliably at any distance over 30-50 ft. Which is sometimes a problem for me at weddings.
I ended up buying an older Nikon SB flash and it works as well. There is definitely something going on with Canon flashes (i.e. radio interference).
I modded my 580exs and they all work well with the PWs, maybe that's an alternative if you don't want to spend more on speedlites? it costs just a few bucks for the wiring & ports to do.
I've never had any problems with Nikon flashes either, which I love putting on my Canon just for fun, and to confuse any uncle Bob with expensive gear
I just started having problems after 3 years of using Plus II's. I eventually determined that the PC socket on my Nikon SB-800 is bad. It ruined several photos this week, since it wouldn't work, then it would work, then it wouldn't. Whatever, it's done. Time for a visit back home to Nikon. --brad
Some of what we may be experiencing can be contributed to cellular, CDMA/TDMA, Fm and WiFi jammers. They are growing in popularity in the US and are really causing problems when used and installed improperly in major installations. Many malls in the Denver area utilize them to channel gang members and others into highly monitored and video surveillance areas (where cellular and other frequencies are not jammed) to track gang movement in these facilities. Hospitals, and other types of secured facilities are also starting to use them to prevent teen ... Ok and addicted adult employees from texting on company time. In many cases there is not a darn thing you can do except move farther away from the jamming source. Kids in high schools are using them as well just to disrupt service and play jokes on others. If you remember a few years ago with radar detectors, the police came out with a radar detector detector..... Same thing but in a world where we just want to trigger a flash for a client.. Get used to it..... as its a growing problem .....
In my personal opinion... Its only going to get worse and PW as well as Quantum and other wireless manufacturers are going to do some rapid development to overcome this growing problem.. Oh if you have a cell phone within 2 feet of a PW... it to can disrupt a PW... try it!
I was speaking with tech support from PocketWizard and they suggested that there is a known problem with Canon flashes (specific models more than others) emitting high levels of interference, which hurts the radio range on them.
I have colleagues who get 100% reliability with their Profoto, Alien Bees, and non-Canon flashes. I was the only one using a 430EX for my PocketWizard slave. When I tested their PocketWizards in my setup I still wasn't getting better reliability. So then I tried using one of their Sunpak 383 flashes and everything suddenly just worked?!
mcarr wrote:
What is the interference from Canon flashes?? The 580ex doesn't "emit" anything, other than light! If I'm mistaken, someone correct me.
