Toronto Photography Meetup Group

So after missing out on the ones for sale in the classified section, I went out and bought some TT5's to replace my legacy PW Plus transmitter/receivers. I used them with 3 Canon 580 EX IIs during the shoot and experienced unreliable triggering, limited range.

From something that worked as reliably as the orignal PWs, to go to the flex 5's are insane. Back they go to Vistek, I'll pick up radio poppers instead.

Sorry, don't mean to sound rude, but wasn't this a known issue for quite some time now?

Anyway, yeah, that sucks.

The thing is, every 580II puts out a different amount of RF noise, some people have no issues or very little at all.

I've tried the TT5's and have experienced the same disappointing results!

Good luck with returning yours to Vistek (they wouldn't let me return my multimax32's last year as it was considered as 'pro' gear).

Returning stuff at Vistek is a pain in the rear. The sales guy told me that if they let me return something after a few days, it's like renting it for free, so they don't want to do it unless there is something wrong with the product.

For this reason, I no longer shop there any more. I don't often return stuff, but sometimes you just do not like the way it works and you don't want to get stuck with it.

Henry's has a better return policy and their price is the same if not better than Vistek. In any case, they do price match each other anyway.

Sorry to hear that. I originally wanted to get these to replace my skyports but this was the reason I never got them. I read too many reviews with people having the same problem.

I like PocketWizard's workaround solution to extending range and misfires...

http://www.pocketwizard.com/inspiration ... ogy/range/

Exactly, why am I going to buy additional hardware (OC3 cord) to fix a problem with their product. Its not going to happen, when the radio poppers work without the hassle.

Did you pay full retail?

Yes, I returned them to Vistek today. It wasn't a bad experience, just had to wait for the manager to sign off. He said to me they are pro gear, if they aren't working the way they were designed, then I have no problems taking them back.

Good to hear you were able to return them.

I've been able to minimize the damage using:

Canon OC-E3 cord ($100)
Ferrite Core to clip to the base of the OC-E3 (Ferrite Core sold at Radio Shack $4)
Veilshield (LESSEMF.com $20)

on the key and just the veilshield wrapped around the flash for any fill lights. This will get rid of 95% of the problems. However, the tricky part is wrapping the veilshield tight enough so that it touches the metal base of the flash/flextt connector.

It's a compromise right now, that's for sure.

^^ You shouldn't have to put up with that compromise. I even considered buying units for another region on a different frequency so that I don't get interference

I know it is completely unacceptable for a company with such a long standing history for reliable radio triggers, but there aren't many players or options right now for wireless ttl via rf.

They still function reliably as a pw trigger, so if you have remote camera triggering needs or studio lights, then this isn't as bitter a pill to swallow.

I guess PocketWizard recently released a firmware to help with issues with the 5D MKII and compatibility for the 7D.

Look, you can now BUY an RF shield for your flash unit so that their remote can sort of work how it was intended to work in the first place! It should be free!! What a turkey Pocketwizard released! I think they've lost a bit of their reputation with this flop.

http://www.pocketwizard.com/news_events ... t09update/

I ended up picking up another set of these. With the sock, the range is much better.

I believe that their rationale is that their product is working properly, it is the canon 580 that is generating interference (oh well, finger pointing). I still have a set of PW+IIs, honestly, I never experience problems with my 3 Nikon flashes. May be the new version is more susceptible to RF interference? Having said that, I don't think the Radio Popper have the range problem with Canon 580s because they operate on a different frequency.

I never use the socks on both my 580 ex11 and get pretty good range but I heard of these problems on other forums.