# Radio trigger



## Brandman (May 15, 2012)

If I wanted to radio trigger my 430ex II what would be the best radio trigger. Don't know exactly the name of the product but I want it to specifically work with a speed light


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## Buckster (May 15, 2012)

"Best" is going to be Pocket Wizard, followed probably by Radio Popper, followed by everything else.  Those top brands will cost you hundred$, but they're the "best".

Or

You can get a $30 set of Yongnuos and trigger your lights.

By the way, you didn't say - Do you need/want ETTL capability with that radio trigger?  If so, you'll pay more.


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## Brandman (May 15, 2012)

Yes I would like ettl capability what brands are the best for this


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## Buckster (May 15, 2012)

Brandman said:


> Yes I would like ettl capability what brands are the best for this


Pocket Wizard, Radio Popper, or your 7D camera to control your off-camera 430EX via line of sight (I think that'll work with the 430EX - works between my 7D and 580EXII).


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## Village Idiot (May 15, 2012)

IIRC, there's a chinese brand that does TTL now.


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## KmH (May 15, 2012)

Many think using eTTL is easier than using manual control.

It's not.

eTTL is pretty complicated and has many permutations. The learning curve is quite a bit steeper than the learning curve for manual control.

Since the camera and speedlight are just machines running a software program, they often produce results in eTTL mode that don't come close to what the photographer wanted. It's amazing but it seems eTTL alwasy fails to be consistant at the worst possible time.


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## 2WheelPhoto (May 15, 2012)

Buckster said:


> *"Best" is going to be Pocket Wizard*, followed probably by Radio Popper, followed by everything else.  Those top brands will cost you hundred$, but they're the "best".
> 
> Or
> 
> ...



Second to none


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## Buckster (May 15, 2012)

KmH said:


> Many think using eTTL is easier than using manual control.
> 
> It's not.
> 
> ...


Prove it.

I have both Radio Poppers with TTL capability plus a few just for my  studio strobes without, and half a dozen cheap ($30 per pair) Yongnuos  without any TTL capability at all.

These days, I do almost all my shooting with just my speedlites (up to 4  of them), and I usually just use the Yongnuo triggers with them.  I use  them because they're easy to set up (just connect them and turn them  on) and they get the job done in manual just fine.  I'm comfortable with  taking the time and making the effort to manually dial my lights to  where I need them in most situations I shoot, which is more of a static  setup studio environment, so I already have a good idea where to start,  having set them up so often.  So, I'm kind of with you on the whole TTL  being unnecessary, for the most part.  I rarely, if ever, have any real  desire to shoot in TTL.

However, there are situations where I really do like to have my TTL, and  it usually comes down to getting out of my studio comfort zone.  When  I'm out in the field bug-hunting with my macro gear, for instance, I use  TTL: Buck's Field Macro Setup With Example.   When I'm running around a kid's birthday party doing snapshots I still  get the flash off camera with a stroboframe or stretched out to arms'  length with my left hand or whatever else I come up with, but also still  use TTL.  In fact, pretty much anytime I get off my tripod and get my  flash(es) off their normal stands, I go into TTL because it takes a LOT  of my guesswork out of the equation when my distance to subject is  constantly changing and my light is changing, and all the rest of it.   When the situation is very fluid and dynamic like that, TTL gives me one  less thing to deal with so I can concentrate on compositions and trying  to capture the moments in a run and gun.

I'm also a big fan of Joe McNally.  I've read all his books, have  several of his DVDs, subscribe to his blog, and just love the examples  and setups he uses.  I went to the FlashBus roadshow tour (caught it in  Atlanta), and loved every minute of it.  He shoots a LOT of TTL in a LOT  of interesting situations.

In all of my TTL shooting, and the TTL shooting I've seen from McNally's  examples, including the stuff that went on during the FlashBus tour,  I've never had or seen the kind of trouble and problems you keep  referring to when you talk about TTL in these threads, working to  dissuade people from getting and using that feature.  Never.  Ever.

It's true that there are times when I've decided to dial it up or down a  notch and reshoot, but that's the case with manual a LOT more than it's  been with TTL, in my experience.  And even then, it's usually close  enough that the first shot can be used, since I shoot in RAW and have  the latitude to deal with it, and it's not that far off.  It's just a  perception issue when I chimp the shot on the back of the camera that  causes me to rethink it.

So, I'm speaking from experience and from seeing the results of some  pretty successful TTL shooters like McNally who use TTL extensively:   It's not the bad or difficult or hard to control thing you tend to make  it out to be.  It's not the wild, wild West of flash, just doing  whatever it wants, lighting wildly off, either too much or too little,  like it's completely stupid, the way you portray it to be.  It just  isn't like that at all.  In fact, it's just the opposite.  It mostly  just plain works and does a really nice job with little intervention at  all.  

What experience are you speaking from?  Have you used Radio Poppers or  Pocket Wizards with TTL and ratios?  Have you used a commander with  ratios when controlling multiple TTL flashes or groups of flashes?   When's the last time you used TTL with one or more speedlights and  really had a problem with it, such as those you describe to others?  Or  are you speaking from a theoretical perspective, based on what you think  it's like?

Bottom line: Based on my own experience with TTL and what I've seen from  others who use TTL, your testimony about TTL being unreliable, inconsistent, difficult to work with, difficult to control, etc., etc., etc., doesn't ring true to me.


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