Pocket Wizard: Plus II vs. MultiMax

I'm projecting my system (mamiya 645, d100, d200, sb-28, sb-800, sekonic L358, plus occassional

profoto pack rentals) into the wireless realm, finally.

I've been looking at the specs between the Pocket Wizard PLUS II and the MultiMax, and beyond the length

in documentation and price difference, I'm still not getting a clearcut, pragmatic sense of the difference

between these two generations of transceivers. I confess, what I'm looking for is the "shooter's shorthand"

for the difference between these products. Anyone familiar with both?

Thanks,

Gabriella

I think it's actually quite simple. Do you need 32 channels? If you shoot in a building FULL of photgraphers and there are always people on every channel if you have only 4, go multimax. If you are alone, don't waste the money.

Peter

The Pocketwizard (it's one word) MultiMAX does several things that the Plus II doesn't , but

Peter hit the big one. Whether you find those other features worth while is an individual

decision. Personally on those occassions that I do need them I 'm glad I have them. The three

I use most are the sequencer and the intervalometer, followed by the quad zone features on

channels 17-32

I believe that if you want to fire a camera remotely, this is also a job that only the Multimax can do. Also, if you want two perspectives of the same moment then the MultiMax has a delay feature; according to the people at Pocket Wizard that I`'ve talked to, with careful calibration you can even use two cameras and remote flashes, they can be that precise.

The only reason I havent upgraded to these is that they have an LCD display and I often am out at night for hours in -20 C (or colder) weather. I am not sure the display would still be readable under these conditions.

I believe that if you want to fire a camera remotely,

this is not true. you can fire remotely with either one.

Gabriella, before you invest in PocketWizards you may want to look at the Elinchrom EL-Skyport Universal Trigger Set.

http://www.cromalite.com/pdf_catalogo/Skyport-ESP.pdf

From my perspective, the biggest advantages are:

1. More channels. Since I often shoot in a school environment (photo school), being able to avoid the bottleneck helps.

2. Subchannels/zones. I can turn on/off up to 4 lights independently of each other from the PW on the camera. (Well, only 3 for me right now, but that's because I need another MMax.) Saves time in metering, and lets me decide to disable a light on-the-fly if something changes.

There's tons of other stuff, but I've never used most of it. I did use the multiple cameras + multiple flash setup twice, where one camera triggered another one *and the lights* at the same time; that gave me two angles on scenes for one series, and let me record the shoot itself on one other occasion, but it's not something I'd miss if it weren't there.

Rear-curtain sync if your camera doesn't support it? Or middle-sync, if you really wanted.

But it's mostly just the two items: channels and zones.

I'll answer this in a round-a-bout way. I'd like to get about 10 units for 4 SB-26's, 2 SB-

800's, 1 SB-28, 1 no name flash, 1 camera, and 1 for the handheld let 'em all rip unit. That

is going to be one expensive deal for the Plus II at about $1870.00+ or about $2950+ for

the Max. I am still figuring out what combination would be best to reduce costs versus

going all out. So, COST is a big issue between them.

Now the thing that can make the cost disappear is what you get to do with them! Having

enough radio remote strobes and/or flashes will propel your photography possibilities in a

new realm above many other professionals. You will be able to accomplish images that

VERY FEW photographers can accomplish. This can put you straight into a specialty field

that will command BIG bucks for your images. I am speaking niche markets here.

Spending around $3000 (more if you need the flashes to go with the units of course)

should more than pay for itself for a niche photographer. Dream big, buy big, paid big!!!

Just think of the possibilities - and I find it interesting that none of the companies selling

these things have used that as a major selling point!!

Once again, the point is having a pair or so let's you do remotely what you can do with

cables (basically) and puts you in the same league as ALOT of other photographers while

having a bunch of the units and flashes propels you into a league that not many

photographers will attain and allows for niche images that very few folks can accomplish.

Ok, I guess that's enough!

Troup Nightingale