Can I radiosync 580II and 580 rather then using the infored syncing?

[antonshmerkin]

This may sound really dumb whether or not you can do it but I am goiong to ask anyway. Every once in a while I

have to use two flashes so I have recently boght the CANON infored trigger. Well, its pretty crapy, the angle with

which it gives a strong enough signal is really hard to compose so I am wondering if I can use radio syncing for

CANON flashes instead of info red. There have to be some sort of adaptors and stuff, right?..

[benjamindbloom]

There are a few options:

 

Radiopoppers will let you keep TTL flash

 

Pocket Wizards are reliable but require manual flash

 

Cactus & other ebay-like triggers are like PW's, but cheap and less reliable.

 

I have no 1st hand experience with any of the above, but I'm tired of IR as well. I may get some Cactus triggers to play with. It seems like they're usually OK.

[alec_myers]

I've had real problems with cheap ebay triggers and canon strobes - they're not reliable (that's a 580EX and 550EZ I've tried.) PW's are fine though.

[tomweis]

<p>Two more options: Alien Bees now makes a radio trigger system: http://www.alienbees.com/cybersync.html <br><br>Also, this

guy may be able to modify your 550 EZ with a PC socket: http://www.michaelbass.blogspot.com </p>

[john e v bailey]

There is no built in radio and as you recognise you need triggers. The Ebay triggers are fine if you're not depending on them for the shot, and are so much cheaper than PW (ﾣ15 for trigger and reciever set, compared to 2xPWs at ﾣ200+) and neither carry ETTL.

 

A good resource to search upon is the strobist group on flickr, people have done mods and things to make them more reliable and have longer range etc. They are commonly referred to as Poverty Wizards, Cactus (various versions V1, V2, V2s I think) and I believe are mainly made main by a company called Gadget Infinity.

 

I have not modified mine and they have never failed me (I have had occasional misfires, and failed-to-fire but this was all in a controlled situation so taking more shots wasn't a problem and so I came away with the shots I wanted, I've used them with a combination of different cannon flashes inc Canon 430EX, 580EX, 580EXII and a Vivitar 3500).

 

If you need reliability over long range the PWs are the pro choice (although there are others above) and with it being the pro choice it's very expensive in comparison, it's down to you as to whether you can justify and afford the cost.

[peter_j2]

Anton: I am not a fan of Canon Wireless flash photography. I have a couple of 580EX II Speedlites and an ST-E2 transmitter. It works flawlessly most of the time. But, still not good enough when it doesn't work as intended. I received yesterday the Paul C. Duff CyberSync transmitter and battery receivers. They work as intended. But, you must set your 580EX and 580EX II on manual to get great results.<div></div>