wireless transmitter

[Bercy]

Oh no!! I have lost my ST E2 transmitter for my 2 Canon 420EX flashes!! I have been doing some homework on an economical solution to off camera flash. I use a couple fo umbrellas to bounce some soft light, eg. for cookbook food photography.

I thought e-TTL would be important, but maybe not for the cost of replacement when there are less expensive options, and I can read flash output with a light meter - a more purist approach anyway. Besides which I think the 420EX's don't have adjustable output; at least not manual.

I think Pocket Wizards are too pricey - I could just get a 580 II flash! Some Chinese manufacturers appear to be making some nice gear! Previous threads have not really approached this current mini-flood of products, like YongNuo et al. Any thoughts or experience. I am happy to get one of these cheapies (until I find my ST-E2!!)

Look forward to any musings!

[vk2gwk]

I have a Yongnuo transmitter/trigger and three receivers which I use with my flashes and umbrella's. Works great as long as you don't have other radio-electronics that use 430 MHz nearby otherwise your flashes may go off "untriggered" once in a while... :) The whole set cost me less than $ 100 - can't remember exactly how much.

Mind you... it is just triggering - there is no exposure value our flash output communication.

[ZedEx]

the ST-E2 is such a massive waste of money. There is a generic version getting around now that has better range and swivels...but the way they work is still less than perfect. If you do want to go wireless, don't get the cheapo ebay wireless slaves. I have only ever had bad experiences with them. Maybe try to find some optical hot-shoe slaves for your Canon flashes? Set everything up in manual and run them like that, in a home environment this will work absolutely fine

[I @ M]

Yongnuo RF602,
cheap, 2.4ghz, powerful and quite well made, able to use rechargeable AAA's in the receiver, they double as a radio remote shutter, we have a couple of pairs and they haven't missed a beat in quite a few thousand actuations.

[dulvariprestige]

Maybe look at these
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/PIXEL-TR-332-Flash-Wireless-Trigger-Canon-E-TTL-II-/350376109007?pt=AU_Cameras_Photographic_Accessories&hash=item51940b23cf

[Speedway]

I use one of these (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/4-channel-Hot-Shoe-Flashgun-Trigger-3-Receivers-T4E-/110510423050?pt=AU_Cameras_Photographic_Accessories&hash=item19baef3c0a) and have used it up to 35m away, also through walls to put light in windows and doorways.

[JM Tran]

I have a Yongnuo transmitter/trigger and three receivers which I use with my flashes and umbrella's. Works great as long as you don't have other radio-electronics that use 430 MHz nearby otherwise your flashes may go off "untriggered" once in a while... :) The whole set cost me less than $ 100 - can't remember exactly how much.

Mind you... it is just triggering - there is no exposure value our flash output communication.

The Yongnuos shouldnt be affected by that as it operates at 2.4g frequency so anything 433Mhz or below would not interfere. I have never had that problem before, indoors or outdoors.

Yongnuo RF602 is my recommendation, for reliability and range, find me other alternatives that can trigger at nearly 150m away:)

[Bercy]

Thanks for the comments. I made fair use of the STE2 in times gone by, but - I had two misgivings. The main one was when the victim of my photography would say "One of your flashes did not go off". The other point, especially in food photography, was that it was just natrual to move the flash units backwards, forwards, sideways upwards or whatever, to get the right effect! So I would feel more comfortable with a very manual approach rather than pushing buttons to get the same effect. Yongnuo seems to be be getting some gongs, but for the price I would not be expecting that it will be made out of titanium. I like the one with the umbrella hold a bit more though, as it gets the flash more central!

Let your know how I go.

[Bercy]

For $38 I just went for the triggers with the umbrella holders!