Radio Slaves/wireless Slaves Thread Options

[mikejl29]

Alright, after numerous posts about slaves and people being dumb about them... I've compiled some info for people. Feel free to add details. If I left stuff out, it's either because I don't believe in it.. or because I just don't like it.

First up... The Camera
In order to get your flash off camera, you need to check what your camera is packin'. Do you have a hotshoe, a PC terminal, or both? Most lower end cameras these days won't come with a PC terminal.


This shows the Nikon D2H which happens to have both a hotshoe and a PC terminal.

If your camera does not have a PC terminal and you are looking to use PC Cables (more on these further down) you will need something to convert the hotshoe to a PC. One of the best products to do this is the Nikon AS-15. I'm not sure if you can use this on a Canon SLR or DSLR but I don't see why not.


This shows the Nikon AS-15 with the PC terminal coming out the back.

Now let's look at the Connection Method
There are three (ok there are more) ways to get the slave flash firing.

PC Sync Cords
Alright, these are basically some cords that run from your camera to the flash.

The left side is a PC (Male) and the right side is a PC (Female).
If you would like to run more than one slave flash, you will need a splitting device that looks like this:

With this method you will need to plug the splitter into your camera or a sync cord between your camera and the splitter. From the splitter you would run a PC Female to (Insert Plug for your flash here).

You could also run a Hotshoe to Hotshoe adapter like the Nikon SC-17/SC-28/SC-29. This works exactly like it looks. One end plugs into the hotshoe, and the other has the flashes hotshoe slip into it. The bottom of the end for the flash has the threads for a tripod.



Optical Slaves
Not going to give much detail on these because I don't like them. Essentially you have one flash fire from your main camera... and from there each slave flash has a sensor mounted to it. When it senses a burst of light over ambiant light, it fires the flash it's connected to. These suck during the day time though.

Radio Slaves... Pocket Wizards
Pocket Wizards are the greatest invention ever. They start with a transmitter mounted to the hotshoe of your camera.


When the camera sends a signal to the hotshoe, the transmitter picks up that electrical pulse from the camera and emits a signal up to 300 feet around which is picked up by any receivers you have mounted to flashes in the area.

Now the receiver gets connected to a flash somehow through some cord. These cords must usually be purchased seperately. Some of the Pocket Wizard kits include a Miniphone to PC cable.

This shows the top of the Pocket Wizard receiver where the Miniphone connection is plugged into.


Now let us study the FLASHES situation.

Different flashes have different connection that must be made. All manufacturers have different types of cables. To find out which works for your camera, head over to www.paramountcords.com and take a look at what they have before asking on Skate Perception. Those questions get really annoying.

Now... some things to think about.
The Nikon SB-800 has a built in PC terminal so you can use the Miniphone to PC cable that comes with Pocket Wizards.

However, the Vivitar 285HV accepts a different cable called the VC-1.

In order to connect my Pocket Wizards to my Vivitars, I custom fabricated a cord built from an old set of headphones (Thats how I got the Miniphone) and from an Old VC-1 Vivitar cord.



Sometimes there are no inputs and you will just need to use a PC to Hotshoe converter. Here is an example of one made by Kaiser.


Remember, it's all about finding the cord that goes from your camera or your Pocket Wizard... and connects correctly to your flash.

In case you are wondering... it is possible to mix the two methods. You MAY connect more than one flash to a Pocket Wizard Receiver. Mamiya and Pocket Wizard have said it is OK to do but do not recommend more than 2 flashes per receiver. I have personally used 3 flashes from a single receiver without an issue.

Next we'll discuss Mounting your flash.
Your super cool flash and Pdubs arent just going to lie on the ground are they? I would hope not. This is where you get some lightstands or some shitty WalMart tripods and get your flash where you want it. Now... most tripods come with a screw on the top.. but that doesn't really fit a hotshoe does it? So we need something to convert that.

Here is an example of a product made by Kaiser.

I have also used a Nikon-AS19 for this purpose.

Now for a shot of the whole SHABANG...



Well that's all for now guys. Remember to feel free to add stuff to this. I am well aware that there are other methods (Infrared, Ebay Slaves, Nikon iTTL Creative Lighting, Canon eTTL) but the above methods are the ones I have the most experience with.

This is just an overall guide to get people started and understanding how the system works with slaves.

Take it easy,
Mike