$95 for a cable??

So I was looking into remote triggering for my PocketWizards and I find out that I need this:


http://www.pocketwizard.com/products/cable_accessory/38/CM-N3-ACC/


So I go to B&H, and I look up the price...and I proceeded to laugh uproariously.


$95. For a cable? Adorama, same price.


So, please enlighten me, since I clearly know nothing about this stuff--why on Earth is this cable nearly half the cost of a PocketWizard? It baffles my mind. Are there any fancy electronic devices embedded within? What is this thing capable of doing other than simply serving as a shutter release? And why is this cable 3 feet long, if PocketWizard is recommending that the FlexTT5 should be mounted to the hotshoe? I'm at a complete loss.

My guess is that it's just a high margin product. You might consider buying a cheap knockoff from China off ebay for $25. Perhaps its the same manufacturer who makes them for PW, just a different logo on the front.

im not sure why length is an isssue but flashzebra.com has one @ 54" (dunno why) but its at a good deal for under 30$ +shipping

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Originally Posted by wickerprints

And why is this cable 3 feet long, if PocketWizard is recommending that the FlexTT5 should be mounted to the hotshoe? I'm at a complete loss.
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No explanation for the price tag. For cable length, I know it's a surprise, but there are more products on the market than the FlexTT5. :) The Pocket Wizard Multimax is the original "user" of these cables, and it may or may not get mounted in the hot shoe because of its height.

The price is a rip-off no doubt.....you could make your own (with components from Radio Shack) for less than $10 EXCEPT you probably can't get your hands on the Canon cn3 jack....most likely a proprietary design specifically soyouCAN"T use commonly available, cheap cables....I really hate it when companies do this kind of thing. Sort of like batteries and chargers....drives me crazy.

+1 for FlashZebra. I have one of the cables I use to trip the shutter using my Cybersyncs. You could buy the same thing onEbay (I assume), but the customer service at FlashZebra is next to none. Lon will be happy to answer any questions you have. He's a real pleasure to deal with.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Daniel Browning

My guess is that it's just a high margin product. You might consider buying a cheap knockoff from China off ebay for $25. Perhaps its the same manufacturer who makes them for PW, just a different logo on the front.

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I just recently purchased and received a CM-N3-ACC 'knock-off' cable from one of these a ebay stores in China for a little over US$20. Does the job. The only noticeable difference between it and the much more expensive PocketWizard one is that mine doesn't have the latching N3 plug commonly used on higher-end (e.g. Canon, PocketWizard, etc...) N3 compatible accessories and cables (see the difference in the photos below). The cheaper cable uses only friction to secure it to the camera's N3 socket - which for time being I don't have any issues with; however, I can imagine that with frequent use the fit may become loose in time. I could see the latches being particularly useful if remotely mounting the camera where it might be susceptible to vibrations that could possibly cause the cable to detach from the camera body (e.g. mounted to a bicycle, basketball backboard, hockey rick dasher board, etc...). However, a little gaffer tape likely would fix that problem too.





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