Yongnuo, is it end of Pocket Wzard ?

[vadim]

I owned almost all of 'ebay' type radiotriggers and despite others complained about their reliability I never had any problems with them, with exception that my Cactus V2s would sometimrd not fire Calumet Genesis but always woked with 'vivitar 285. I attribute it to loose connection in the PC cord but cannot tell for sure now. Next came CTR-301 P. These were OK at short distance but still bore that cheap ebay feeling. Today my Yongnuo RF-602 arrived and the only thing I can tell "WAW!" Even before I unpacked the platic packaging I knew this is a completely new level in quality. Just the fact that transmitter and receiver contained a bag of silicagel and the supplied batteries are normally functional batteries instead of previous "test' batteries already tells a lot. The specified working distance is 100m - 10 times higher than most triggers in this price range. The hot shoe connector pins are made so much better than the one in CTR-301. 2.4 GHZ and a lot of connection options makes this a very worthy rival to Pocket Wizard. My guess is there is very little justification now for buying 10 times more expensive PWs.
By the way two AAA batteris are duracell but the CR-2 that goes into the transmitter is also made by Yongnuo.

[georgebellon]

Let's see some pictures of em, they sound interesting.

[JerryA]

Here's a link. I have the CTR-301s, and got them from this seller and am very happy with them. I have two sets and use one of the senders to fire the strobes/flashes from metering location, works great and range hasn't been a problem for me yet.

These look even neater!!! Thanks for the heads up
RF602 RF-602 for Canon 5D 5DII 50D 40D with 3 receivers - eBay (item 180401094761 end time Sep-26-09 18:08:00 PDT)

[vadim]

So I went to the beach and asked my wife to look at the receiver and point the thumb up when it lightes up, otherwise point it down. So as I started walking away I realized how shortsighted I was. The receiver kept flashing far after I was able to destinguish that sign. Finally the receiver stopped detecting the signal. It was at 330 meters - or 1000 feet; far more than almost any imaginable setup would require.

[Brooks]

Originally Posted by vadim

...Finally the receiver stopped detecting the signal. It was at 330 meters - or 1000 feet; far more than almost any imaginable setup would require.

It's not about the range in distance, it's about the reliability when there is a lot of other radio interference in the area.

[vadim]

Originally Posted by Brooks

It's not about the range in distance, it's about the reliability when there is a lot of other radio interference in the area.

Don't tell me But... If something works at 330m it would be very strange if it would fail at a usual distance of 3 meters where the signal is 10,000 times stronger. I did not have time to run any exhausing tests but from a couple hundreds times I pressed the button it failed only once when the distance was beyond 330 meters limit. There were a couple reports confirming the trigger reliability.

[Prairiemaiden]

Originally Posted by vadim

Don't tell me But... If something works at 330m it would be very strange if it would fail at a usual distance of 3 meters where the signal is 10,000 times stronger. I did not have time to run any exhausing tests but from a couple hundreds times I pressed the button it failed only once when the distance was beyond 330 meters limit. There were a couple reports confirming the trigger reliability.

I want to get my 580EXII off camera will this setup be able to do this? Thanks for your review.

[gryphonslair99]

Originally Posted by vadim

Don't tell me But... If something works at 330m it would be very strange if it would fail at a usual distance of 3 meters where the signal is 10,000 times stronger. I did not have time to run any exhausing tests but from a couple hundreds times I pressed the button it failed only once when the distance was beyond 330 meters limit. There were a couple reports confirming the trigger reliability.

You have never shot in a packed arena with a whole lot of steel beams, catwalks, 15,000 + people and are stuck at the base line at one end of the court have you. PW's are the industry standard. On an open football field I can get over 1600 feet sometimes. In some venues range can and is greatly reduced do to all of the various electronic interferences.

[vadim]

Originally Posted by gryphonslair99

You have never shot in a packed arena with a whole lot of steel beams, catwalks, 15,000 + people and are stuck at the base line at one end of the court have you. PW's are the industry standard. On an open football field I can get over 1600 feet sometimes. In some venues range can and is greatly reduced do to all of the various electronic interferences.

That is what I mentioned: I managed to fire RF-602 at 1000 feet. ( even though the specs only say 100 meters).
But being an industry standard is actually a big minus. In placec overcrowded with photographers ( yes there are such places ) there is a good chance that a few of them are using the same channel as you are. And if someone of them is angry with you you can forget about the photoshoot . I can only imagine a gloat expression on the face of some guy sitting behind you with a pocket wizard in his pocket

Ok all this is a joke. The reality is that RF-602 is 2.4 GHZ while PW plus is only 315 to 433 MHz. There is much less ambient noice at at 2.4 GHz than at 433 MHz and I wold not expect much trouble with RF-602. In fact up to now I did not manage to get a single misfire.

[vadim]

Originally Posted by Prairiemaiden

I want to get my 580EXII off camera will this setup be able to do this? Thanks for your review.

Sure, but it will not allow ETTL so you would have to use the flash in manual . Probably Auto will also work. I will try it tomorrow. A big advantage of this trigger over similar ones is that it will wake up the flash if it falls in the sleep mode.
And do not forget that the main function of this trigger is a remote shutter release , so you can also trigger the camera.
Shih... it started sounding like a commercial

[kvkk]

woah ........... interesting here .

just would like u guys comments on Continuous Triggering of this system.

can dis yongnuo do continuous triggering ..... lets say 4fps ?

PW claims it support 12fps .

pls do a test & let us here know .

thanks
.

[Observeearth]

Hi fellow shutterbugs. Okay, I finally opted to get one of these things (Yongnuo rf-602).
I shoot with a canon 50D and for flashes I have a 580ex II and also a 430 ex. I've been messing with this thing for nearly 3 hours and I cannot get it to work at all.

I'm not a strobist at all and am completely new to off camera flash. Anyhow. . . I'd love to learn how to use this thing if anyone can break it down step by step. . . I'd be extremely grateful !

What I'm trying to do is set up my 2 flashes on stands and have them fire wirelessly
or if that's not possible
have one flash attached to my camera via hot shoe and have the other located elsewhere and fire both off wirelessly.

Thanks in advance for everyone and anyone who can explain this to me.

Kisses,
- Dawn

[vadim]

Not sure what to say. I just attached the receiver to the flash and pressed the button on the transmitter and it works without any issues. Please note that since this setup is also designed to be used as a remote release the button can be half pressed. Half pressing the button will wake a sleeping flash but will not fire it. You need to press it all the way down.
When the transmitter is set in the camera hot-shoe it is triggered when you take a shot.
Also make sure the flash is set to the manual mode.
And lastly these triggers come in different modifications for most popular cameras. Make sure that your version is intended for use with Canon and not for example with Pentax.

[kewk]

Here is a flickr thread 5 pages long discussing this. It's damn cost effective and seems to work for most people with the occasional manufacturing defect. Flickr: Discussing New type of eBay triggers [CTR-301] in Strobist.com

[transcape5]

I just want to add that I followed the link JerryA included and bought one. Thanks, Jerry!

It came a few days ago from HongKong and was really painless to use out of the box since they included all the needed batteries, which is quite a pleasant surprise. I've tried it both as a flash trigger and a shutter release (using the included cable) for my 40D and it worked very well.

Regarding the 2.4GHz frequency my home phone is also using the same so I'll give that a test when I get a chance.

Dawn - Can you be more precise in describing your problem with it so we may be of better help.? Is it bad batteries, loose connection, etc.?

[Observeearth]

Thank you all so much! i figured it out. . . I didn't realize that I had mounted the flash unit on backwards. Sheesh. I'm such a dork =)

[generic]

Originally Posted by Observeearth

Thank you all so much! i figured it out. . . I didn't realize that I had mounted the flash unit on backwards. Sheesh. I'm such a dork =)

humphhh....! I have never, in my life, made a mistake like that !!!

What a revoltin development that would be

[Ed Shapiro]

Let me tell y'all

I have been using optical and radio slaves since 1959- the first unit I owned was call a "Slavey" wich was used with flash lamps. The unit was larger than my 4x5 press camera! I can say that I have used just about every kind of popular optical and radio system that has been on the market. I shoot all my weddings with multiple off camera lighting and at some venues I use as many of 8 units so I am allways looking for reliable triggering and economy of cost. Buying and maintaining all those units can become expensive and having units fail in the middle of a big job is frustrating as can be. So my conclusion based on experience is that ain't nothin' beats the Pocket Wizards and the Quantoms a close second. Both of theses systems can be ordered along with better flash systems to be pre-installed in the units so that the will respond to your existing transmitters.

I have put a flash unit in my studio window and walked blocks away at night so I could see the flash from a long distance. When I got to 10 blocks away the thing was still working each and every time.

Some of my units are the very first editions- the little black rectangular ones and the are all still working. The blue ones comprise most of my collection and the all work with no problems. I have added a few of the TRANSCEIVERS to the mix and the are fully compatible with the oldest ones I have. Within reason- the take a beating in full time professional use and I can be a bit hard on my gear. New units are on the way with data transfer.

Electronically speaking, I have NEVER had problems (with my Pocket Wizards) with radio frequency interference (RFI) that is, where other kinds of mobile and base station and repeater radio transmissions interferes with your radio slaves and cause erratic firing. There is a good selection of channels which are handy if more that one photographer is workin a room with multiple flash and you can set up "banks" of lights on different channels to work alternatively- you can switch them on and off from your transmitter.

A general tip. Many radio slaves, regardless of make, will work better if you keep battery terminals clean and tight, use fresh batteries, keep strain relief on all connecting cords because jacks are easily damaged my eccentric strain. Don't bend antennas, keep them vertically upright when in use and don't allow them to come in contact with your camera bracket or light stands.

I hope this helps. Ed

[km6xz]

First post, be gentle.

The 2.4Ghz band is primarily used using Spread Spectrum modulation systems which are very resistant to interference even with multiple units set the same "channel". The UHF systems such as PW are modulated fixed carrier frequency type that do require isolation between systems either by frequency or distance to prevent interference.
Range is greatly affected by what is in the way between receivers and transmitter so some of the long ranges described are only valid for that particular signal path on that particular time.

When I first got back into photography last fall I built RF links for my home made studio strobes, and use them on my D90 and SB900/sigma 530 Super iTTL. As it turned out, my expected use of studio lighting was not to be, I found that I spent little time in my home studio and most of my photo time walking around my city, in theaters and dance clubs. The wireless systems I used were also 2.4Ghz because MMM (Monolithic Microwave Modules) are available for low cost single chip solutions for local oscillators and mixers needed to make receivers and transmitters at such high, and difficult to build for, frequencies.
Back to listening mode...

[Mike66]

I was considering the PocketWizard miniTT1 system for Nikon when (if) it is released. However, while reading the technical information, I saw that PW will release two versions: a US version operating on 344MHz, and a CE version operating on 433MHz. I live in Germany now but travel frequently to the US and will eventually return to the US to live. Any system I buy for one region will not be legal for use in the other.

I wrote to PW and asked about the feasibility of modifying a CE unit for use in the US. The answer was not encouraging. Although the frequencies can be changed in the software, the RF sections cannot be tuned or easily replaced. PW experimented with this and found that changing the frequencies without changing the RF section reduced the range to a few feet.

I also asked why PW did not use the 2.4GHz band that is common for almost all new model RC equipment. The answer was essentially it was too hard to do. So...if I want remote iTTL with my Nikon speedlights without violating any nation's frequency management laws, it appears that I must continue to use the CLS function built into my D90 and rely on unobstructed line of sight with the remote flashes.