So I bought some pocket wizards :)

[kkl7040]

Hey all, I've been kind of a lurker on the forums and just picked up some pocket wizards that were delivered today - 2 flex TT5s and a TT1. I'm still stuck at work so haven't had the chance to play with them too much.


Aside from getting the flash off camera, I was hoping to set these up to remotely trigger my camera. Ideally, a TT5 on the camera, a TT5 with the off camera flash, and the TT1 for use as the remote trigger. I have a t2i and believe i need a pre-release cable such as this one: http://www.amazon.com/Fotodiox-Pre-Trigger-Cameras-Shutter-PocketWizard/dp/B004FL95SI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=13037 53361&sr=1-3


I was hoping someone had experience with this. If they're all on the same channel, i'm unsure if the camera will trigger fast enough to catch the shot. I read on one sight that you would need 2 PWs on the camera, 1 on 1 channel for the shutter release and 1 on another channel for the flash...i hope this isn't the case! I also wonder if the TT5 is smart enough to use 2 channels, one for the flash and one for the shutter release. If anyone has any experience or links to sites explaining this in deatil, i'd really appreciate it!


Thanks--kurt

[Sean Setters]

I've done something similar with Cybersyncs. To fire my camera and flashes using Cybersyncs, I...


1) Attached a CSRB receiver to a motor cord which was attached to the camera's remote port (much like the one you linked to, except I purchased mine from FlashZebra).


2) Set a CST trigger to the same channel as the CSRB receiver connected to the camera. This was handheld and used to fire the camera.


3) Set another CST to a different channel and placed it in the camera's hotshoe.


4) Set the CSRB receivers connected to my flashes to the same channel as the CST transmitter placed in the camera's hotshoe.


I believe I could have used another CSRB receiver set to relay mode (using the same channel as the CSRB connected to the camear) to trip the shutter. However, I had two CST transmitters, so it was just easier to do it with them.


Result?

[kkl7040]

Hey sean, i

[Sean Setters]

For the earliest shot like this in my flickr stream, I used a Fat Gecko camera mount. For this particular shot I used an Avenger F1000, umbrella swivel, and quick release plate to secure the camera to the car. To be honest, I think a heavier duty suction cup would be best (or the use of two of them and a magic arm or something).

[kkl7040]

OH i think i found it:


www.pocketwizard.com/.../auto_relay_mode


looks like i can hook up my flextt5 to my computer and configure the tt5 to do exactly what i want:


Step One


Slide the FlexTT5 into the camera

[Sean Setters]

That's pretty neat.

Another thing I've been trying to figure out is how different aperture/shutter/iso's changes the exposure of the 'non-flashed' area of the image. Any rules of thumb with respect to this?

Changing the aperture or ISO will affect the ambient and flash exposure equally. Changing the shutter speed (up to the max flash sync speed) will only affect the ambient exposure. This is because the entire flash pulse is captured up to the max sync speed (let's say 1/250 second). In other words, the amount of flash captured in the exposure will not change up to the max sync speed. However, you'll be taking in a lot more ambient light at 1/30 second than you will at 1/250 second.

[kkl7040]

aha - yes, i was in aperture priority mode and not getting much of a difference with changing aperture & iso (and even flash exposure compensation). This is the mode i usually shoot in...but it looks like i

[Sean Setters]

I generally shoot at my max sync speed (1/250 sec) using Cybersyncs. If I want to kill bright ambient, I generally use ND filters which block enough ambient light to bring down to my sync speed at relatively wide apertures. Unfortunately, the ND also blocks my flash equally, meaning I usually resort to monolights to provide enough power to get a decent flash exposure on my subject.


With your Pocketwizards, you can indeed use shutter speeds in excess of your camera's max sync speed--but in reality, only slightly. After about 1/640 second, the ControlTL changes to HSS mode firing. While HSS allows you to avoid clipping, you lose quite a bit of power as the shutter speed gets faster. You can time the Pocketwizards to capture the tail end of a studio strobe (instead of the peak pulse), but again you're losing a lot of power in the process.


That's why I generally buy high-powered monolights and use ND filters to dial in how much ambient exposure I want. It can be a bit cumbersome, and overkill at times, but for me it's much simpler.


For this recent session I shot at 1/250 sec, I used a CPL as a weak ND filter, and I chose a slightly more narrow aperture than I would usually use (this was shot at f/6.3 instead of f/4 or wider). This allowed me to bring the relatively bright sunlight under control so I could see detail in the clouds. I had three monolights on him--two in gridded stripboxes left and right, one in a gridded 16" Ebay beauty dish high slightly camera right. He was also facing the sun, so it's providing a good bit of fill light.









I didn't post the setup picture to Flickr, but I figured I'd upload it to a Google Photos gallery just so you could see it. In the shot above I think we increased the distance of the monos in the stripboxes so that we could get a wider angle (which would explain why they're a bit weaker in that picture).