Cheap Wireless Radio Flash Trigger

[robertwatcher]

I figured that there was nothing to lose for the price, and so early this morning I ordered this radio flash trigger from China:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270395697932

I could have purchased the single receiver ones for about half the $45.00 price tag (WITH FREE SHIPPING TO CANADA)- but decided on this package with 2 receivers and the interesting flash mount with 2 hotshoes. Also this one has adaptors to attach it to my Elinchrome and MultiBlitz studio flashes - whereas some others only triggered with a hotshoe.

I have been leary of ordering such products from overseas, however my 3D Animator friend recently ordered a ridiculously cheap wireless shutter release for his Nikon D200 (about $10 compared to Nikon asking $130), from Ebay - and the shipment arrived safely from China and has worked just fine for his purposes.

They are a little flimsy and probably more of a throw away item when something gives up. At any rate - they let me know that it is on its way, and I am looking forward to trying this unit out for the same purposes I did when 20 years ago I had my much more expensive Quantum Radio Triggers.

We'll see how it goes and I'll report my findings here.

Cheap Wireless Radio Flash Trigger

[robertwatcher]

In some further research I have found that apparently the distances don't live up to the 100 foot (30 meter) claim - - - but there are some relatively simple hacks that can supposedly increase the distance as much as 10 fold:

Increase effective distance on 'ebay' flash remote trigger transmitter with antenna

And this from Flickr which also includes adapting the battery power pack:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157594463784267/


A Flickr Discussion about these inexpensive units:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/strobist/discuss/72157600136709187/


Here is a video talking about the the Gadget Infinity remotes (similar to what I have ordered):

<div><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CsMgFUdh_Lw&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" width="650px" height="392px" wmode="transparent" quality="high" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="never" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" autoplay="false" autostart="false" /><noembed><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/CsMgFUdh_Lw&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/CsMgFUdh_Lw&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0</a>

[robertwatcher]

Last night I also ordered from a different company, a "IR Wireless Remote Control for Olympus E-420 E-520 E-3" for the price of US $8.49 - - - as well as a "Battery for Olympus E-30/E-3/E-520/E-510 BLM1 BLM-1" for the price of US $14.99. FREE shipping to Canada at that. I got the notice this morning that these products have been shipped to me.

I have never had a wireless RC for my camera and will likely not use it much, but can't go wrong to have one at that price. I have several brand name BLM1 batteries for my cameras, but can never have enough during the course of a long shooting day. I also have 3 third party Optex batteries that have served me well. The price of the Olympus BLM1 battery is $89.95 CDN, the Optex is $49.95 CDN (I just purchased another 2 Optex, last week) - I'm really curious to see what $14.95 US (about $18.00 CDN) will give me.

[robertwatcher]

Last night I also ordered from a different company, a "IR Wireless Remote Control for Olympus E-420 E-520 E-3" for the price of US $8.49 - - - as well as a "Battery for Olympus E-30/E-3/E-520/E-510 BLM1 BLM-1" for the price of US $14.99. FREE shipping to Canada at that. I got the notice this morning that these products have been shipped to me.

I have never had a wireless RC for my camera and will likely not use it much, but can't go wrong to have one at that price. I have several brand name BLM1 batteries for my cameras, but can never have enough during the course of a long shooting day. I also have 3 third party Optex batteries that have served me well. The price of the Olympus BLM1 battery is $89.95 CDN, the Optex is $49.95 CDN (I just purchased another 2 Optex, last week) - I'm really curious to see what $14.95 US (about $18.00 CDN) will give me.

Crazy delivery time - - - I ordered battery, camera remote, free pouch (for ordering 2 items)  from China on July 2'nd - got it today July 9'th. I'm impressed.

Cheap Wireless Radio Flash Trigger

[robertwatcher]

I finally got around to editing the footage that Richard and I took last year - - - that dealt with the ISHOOT Radio Flash Trigger testing and antenna modification.

First up was the Shutter Sync Speed Test. I fired the flash at popular sync speeds of 1/125'th, 1/250'th, 1/320'th, and 1/500'th second. The flash fired in all cases, but was ineffective at 1/500'th of a second with my Olympus E-3 top sync of 1/320'th. At any rate - contrary to some claims that I have read on the web, stating that these inexpensive units don't sync properly - - - I found that not to be the case with this particular unit:

<div><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EFjmNLzAm-Q&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" width="650px" height="392px" wmode="transparent" quality="high" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="never" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" autoplay="false" autostart="false" /><noembed><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/EFjmNLzAm-Q&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/EFjmNLzAm-Q&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0</a>

[robertwatcher]

Here is a video demonstrating the process that we took with the Antenna Modification. Unfortunately I ran out of video tape during the section where we actually did the soldering of the wire onto the board. The unit had been assembled by the time we got another camcorder rounded up. But I think that this little video will give you a good idea what the insides look like and how the process goes as we saw it anyway:

<div><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/IRXZSunsxTU&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" width="650px" height="392px" wmode="transparent" quality="high" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="never" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" autoplay="false" autostart="false" /><noembed><a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/IRXZSunsxTU&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/IRXZSunsxTU&amp;ap=%2526fmt%3D18&amp;rel=0</a>

[robertwatcher]

Something new that I discovered about this flash trigger, is that being it has a jack that will allow connection to the cameras PC terminal - - - I am able to use my on camera FL50R flash (or any other auto flash) in TTL mode as I always do, and have the trigger fire external flashes that may be positioned around the room (they may be set to Manual or Auto output).

This could work well for ambience or accent lighting in the corners of a room at a wedding, event or party - where I can still roam freely with my camera and flash in Aperture TTL mode.