PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 with Canon 580EX II Review: Part II

Oh boy…

…and not an OH BOY!

My second day of testing the new PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 with the Canon 580EX II and I’m quite literally bummed. This isn’t how I was hoping things would be going with this setup. Reliability and consistency is the issue here, and I have to say from the get-go, the new PocketWizards are a HUGE disappointment.

Now to be up front, these “tests” I’m conducting are no more than just throwing everything out there in real world conditions and seeing what you get. There are several non-ideal situations that I’m doing with the PocketWizards that even the company says will cause issues, but for me and for products that cost this much, I should get much better results from the beginning.

So here was my initial set up at a park my two boys and I went to yesterday. Yes, PocketWizard and several other reviews I’ve seen would like to see the units up off the ground. I totally understand that, but I didn’t want to drag my light stand this time around, plus I wanted to see what the worst case scenario was. Also, there are issues with the frequency the PW’s use and the interference caused by the Canon 580EX II. Ugh. Quick sidenote: Why then put out this product if there are known conditions with one of the best flashes available for Canon?

I start about 5 feet away and take a test fire. Everything triggers fine. I move back to about 10 feet. At 10 feet, it’s hit or miss. I can’t even pinpoint why the flash would fire sometimes…and then get nothing other times. I go back from 8 – 12 feet just to find a sweet spot, and I have to say, just to get it to fire, it’s under 10 feet.

Here’s another sidenote. I did read on another review, that possibly changing the channels the PocketWizards are on, may give me better, more consistent firings. I even think that info came from someone that works at PocketWizard. They suggested channel 20. I did change it to 20 before coming out.

So even by changing channels, I’m getting maybe 10 feet. And the quality of the shots were erratic. Overblown sometimes. Underexposed next time. All on the same settings, shooting manual on the camera. In the year 2013, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development or the link below: The forthcoming projects in 2014 are as follows in the field of Broadband and telecommunication: 6.6 million mobile broadband subscribers are the target of Telecommunication by the end of year 2014, Supportive are the LTE networks of Telstra, Optus and Vodafone(and those launched in 2013), iiNet targets to activate 30,000 Wi-Fi hotpots in capital. levitra online order The joint viagra cialis generico efforts of these two brand names helped the drug to be crafted with the best remedial action against impotency. Manganese powder ignition point of 450 C, extinguish the burning manganese powder is suitable to use suffocation method and the isolation method. female viagra pill This drug cialis 20mg generika has become the choice of all most every impotent victim.

So, let’s try something else. Let’s move the MiniTT1 up a bit higher. I put in on the bench. I shot from 10 feet and got consistent fires. I moved back to about 30 feet and that is where I started having drop outs. Between 25-32 feet, I would get fires every so often. I thought if I changed out the batteries (I didn’t start with fresh ones)that maybe that would help. After the change, I did find the new batteries (rechargeable Energizers) did help out, but my distance pretty much stayed the same. I was more consistent getting fires from 30 feet, but couldn’t get it to fire past 30 feet.

So let’s try it even higher. I put it up on the jungle gym. Now, in other reviews, there seemed to be some evidence that your distance improved if someone was holding the light stand – essentially acting as an antenna conductor. In this setup, I wondered if sitting higher and up on a metal jungle gym would help. Indeed, I squeezed out more distance, but it topped out at about 50 feet.

Now, back to my “fine print”. Perhaps, I have my setups all wrong. I just can’t believe that I can’t get reliable, consistent results at these short distances. Aren’t the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 rated at over 500 feet or something? That may be with a flash like the 430EX II that doesn’t have the “interference” than the much better 580EX II emits. I have two shoots coming up this week that I’d like to try my PocketWizards at, but I’m scared to death to bring them with me. If I had to, I would probably use them if I stayed within 10 feet. But that’s just to get them to fire…I haven’t even started experimenting with getting creative or just getting the flash over/under exposure controlled.

So what’s next? Lots and lots of reading and internet searching. I’ve verified that I have the latest firmware updates, so it’s going to come down to either what I’m doing wrong, or what limitations I have to live with in using (and keeping) the PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5.

Some other questions I had while shooting today that are probably in the manual or easily answered:

1) How to control flash exposure compensation from the camera with connected with the Mini and Flex.

2) Why, when the MiniTT1 is attached (and no flash on top) does it prevent me from going faster than 1/250 when I turn the Mini off. Some high speed sync issue here, but why is that when the flash is essentially turned off? I had to physically take the MiniTT1 off the 40D to get my shutter speed up over 1/250.

3) What are the differences and nuances in shooting in manual on the camera and ettl on the flash while using the PocketWizards as opposed to shooting Tv or Av?

I’ll be back with Part III next week and I figure some stuff out.