Elinchrom EL Skyport Universal Trigger

Have you used them? What was good, what was bad?

 

I need an h plug for my norman packs, I assume the Elinchrom's do not come with

this wire but I can purchase one. Is this correct?

 

Thanks for yor help.

 

Phil

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the good.

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- small size

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- high sync speed with cameras that can (1/1000th i think).

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- feature set is nice, though i still haven't had use for the group function.

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- comes in a protective case.

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- reliable sync (well, until my sync cable broke, but i see that as a lesson in "keep spares").

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- trigger takes easily available cr-2430 batteries

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- receiver is rechargeable.

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the bad.

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- receiver has a power button, and not a switch (it sometimes turns itself on in the bag).

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- antennas are not the most robust designs, but i'm not too worried about them either.

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- receiver is rechargeable (doesn't take rechargeable aaa's).

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- no battery check.

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good kit. reasonably priced.

Not sure why people think the antenna is fragile. I've had no trouble with any of the five of mine. They have survived a couple of serious falls and rough use in my outdoor photography. They have been reliable in the coldest weather I've used them in so far--10 degrees below zero (F). They've been absolutely consistent for me. The on/off button is now a switch on the side and would be difficult to turn on accidentally.

 

All in all I'm very pleased with mine (6 of them.) I plan on buying a few more. They do come with an H plug as I recall. I love their small size!

 

 

Kent in SD

Are do they misfire? Do they fire each time you pop your shutter? Plz, be honest... :( I dont know and would like a transmitter and 4 receivers myself and refuse to spring for pocketwizards. I work in a interference loaded area.

I've had mine for some time now, and not one misfire, even under heavy use, with the batteries getting low (make sure you recharge them after every use)

 

only once did they not fire, but that was because the trigger wasn't completely in place on the hotshoe, so easily fixed

 

that might be the only down thing for me (except the power button on top of the unit), there is no mechanism to hold the trigger in place on the hotshoe

" high sync speed with cameras that can (1/1000th i think). " - and that is when connected via the PC sync cable, right ?

 

If via radio trigger, there were reports that even 1/200 sec had some problem, and needed a 1/160 sec to work propetly.

 

Can any user confirm or deny that ?

Thanks Thorir, Kent and Claude for the info. I second dg's thought that the very single most important issue for me is that the trigger fires every single time. Sync speed for me is not a big issue. I am thinking of buying them locally so I can see for myself how snug the transmitter fits on the hotshoe.

 

Phil

dg & pe, i've had no misfires. the flashes go off on every shutter click, in sync. (well, i mentioned something about a broken sync cable, but best i don't blame the skyports for that)

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re high sync speed... maybe i'll dig up the near dead d70, that's supposed to sync at all speeds, and check for myself...

re max shutter speed; syncs up to 1/800th on my semi dead d70 (whose illness has nothing to do with the shutter).

thorid,

 

we know that D70 can trigger at any speed e.g. 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000 sec. and still register even partial flash light exposing entire sensor, when triggered via electric cable connection to hot shoe.

 

The question is if SkyPort can trigger remotely fast via radio signal.

 

Why this question ? - Previouly it was reported that due to radio signal delay, only 1/160 sec speed was reliable the fastest syncing with radio trigger.

 

What is your verdict for the Radio SkyPort ? (no sync cables used).

frank, <br>

there has to be a sync cable to connect the receiver to the flash, no way around it. i had no sync cable connected to the camera however.

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so, trigger in hot shoe, receiver connected to flash (sb26 in this case) via sync cable, i got flash illumination at 1/800th. at 1/1000th (which i think is elinchrom's stated top sync speed) i got a practically unexposed frame. i say "practically", because i tried taking a picture of the flash itself, and up to 1/800th it showed the vast overexposure i would expect. at speeds higher than that, it showed some illumination in the flash, but it looked like it wasn't fully illuminated by the time the shutter closed. still, at 1/800th, it's a lot faster than most cameras..

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it's worth noting that i just popped a few frames beside my computer, to see if i could sync at high speeds at all. there was practically no distance between trigger and receiver, max 50cm or so.

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So, I guess the with a D80 the highest flash sync will be 1/250th. Also, in what situation would you use 1/1000th flash sync?