Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Pocket Wizards for the Nikon

 Pocket Wizards (PW) have interested me for a good bit of time. This system is designed to allow you to have iTTL (or E-TTL for Canon) control over your flashes off camera. Yes, Nikon has the CLS system that uses the flash from your camera or commander unit to have off camera flash but they are limited by line of sight. If you are outside the sun can limit it’s effectiveness as well. Until now they were only available for Canon cameras. The Nikon version of the PW exists!!! Better yet, I have them. I purchased a Mini TT1 (transmitter) and two Flex TT5 (transceiver) units so that I could control two off camera flash units. I also added the AC3 to allow full control of the flashes directly from the camera.

Below is what I see as the pro/con list.
Pros
• No line of sight required
• Range (800’)
• TTL function
• Flash Compensation from the camera
• Flash Compensation and Manual control available from the camera with optional ACR
• Mini TT1 has a low profile on the camera
• Can be used to trigger studio strobes
• USB upgradeable

Con
• Cost
• Size of the Flex 5 is larger than expected but still small
• When using the AC3 the camera no longer has an option to mount a flash. This is only useful for when you have a large group and you are looking to add a little fill in addition to the off camera. Not a deal breaker because you can always just remove the AC3 if have to
• AC3 dials are easily moved. I am a right eye shooter so when I go vertical my nose comes in contact with the dials and changes settings. Not a deal breaker because once I am used to this it will no longer be an issue.
• The instructions are painful to read but what would you expect from photo related manuals?

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