Phottix Strato II Multi

If you follow my product reviews at my photography training website, you probably know that the Phottix Strato has long been my favorite radio trigger for off-camera flash photography.

(If you want to learn why, you can watch my video review of the Strato.)

Well, the geniuses at Phottix have just improved on perfection by creating the new STRATO II MULTI flash trigger.

The Strato II Multi has everything found in the Strato, plus these additional features:

- 4 Groups (A,B,C,D) for more easily setting up different lighting zones
- Increased range (from 100 meters to 150 meters)
- Power switch on transmitter
- Locking ring on receivers
- Test buttons on all units
- Backward compatibility with earlier Strato receivers

New A,B,C,D groups

I’ve been testing the new Multi’s and I love them.  The quality of the construction is as solid as ever, and the new group selection buttons on the rear of the transmitter look and feel more like the controls on a high-end Danish stereo system than a Chinese radio trigger.  This is top quality gear.

And the backward-compatibility with older Stratos means that I now have approximately enough triggers to light a small third-world country.

Nice work, Phottix!

You can price or buy the new Strato II Multi at the Phottix site here.

And as always, if you shop from my links, you help support this site and make my free videos possible.

Cactus V5 Wireless Flash Trigger Set

I recently had the privilege of Beta testing the new Cactus V5 Duo Wireless Flash Trigger during its development phase. Now that the veil of secrecy has been lifted, I’m happy to report that this new trigger is a big leap forward over its predecessor, the V4, and it gives a good run for the money to any other flash triggers on the market.

Those of you who saw the original version of my flash portrait photography course know that I’ve been a fan of Cactus triggers since their venerable Cactus V2 unit (if anything can be called venerable in an industry where new and improved hardware appears every six months).

Now, with the V5, Cactus has taken a completely new approach, abandoning the dedicated transmitter and receiver units for a new transceiver that can serve in either role with the flip of a switch.

Detachable foot creates a flash stand

The new design is handsomely futuristic, looking like a bar of soap from Darth Vader’s shower, and it now has a detachable plastic foot, so the unit can support a stand-alone flash on any flat surface.

For mounting, the V5 includes a female threaded coupling on the bottom, allowing you to screw it directly onto a light stand without any kind of shoe or bracket required.  And it has a nice high-quality metal foot on the bottom for mounting in standard hot or cold shoes.

The unit is powered by two standard AAA batteries (a huge advantage over past models and competitors that require a funky CR2 battery), concealed in a nifty spring-loaded tray that pops out at a touch.

Mounts easily on an umbrella bracket with a cold shoe attachment

As for performance, I found the V5 to be flawless, as did most of the other Beta test group.  As with competing brands that operate in the 2.4 GHz range, the V5, for me, was rock solid, with no interference and no misfires.  The V5 boasts 16 channels that you can select with a dial, and even something the manufacturer calls “Frequency Self Tune” which is supposed to help keep the units firing in extreme weather conditions.  (I’ll have to take their word for that, since I live in San Diego where an “extreme weather condition” might be an unexpected drop from 70 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.)

Hot shoe on top—but no TTL pass-through.

Only one feature disappointed me on the V5, and that was the lack of TTL-pass-through on the hot shoe atop the unit.  Of course, it’s great to have that shoe there—it allows you to mount a flash on the unit while it’s on your camera, perhaps to provide some on-axis fill light.  That’s great. Trouble is, that flash has to be set manually, just like the remotes, instead of working in TTL mode to adjust its exposure or help with auto-focus.  By contrast the Phottix Strato, which I reviewed recently, has a hot-shoe with TTL pass-through atop its transmitter, and I have found that feature very useful.  Maybe in the Cactus V6…

The V5 also works as a Wireless shutter release for most cameras, but I was unable to test that at the time of this writing because I haven’t yet received the connecting cable.  I hope to update this part of the review when I get a chance to test that feature.

Summarizing  the Pros and Cons as I see them:

PROS

• Slick design
• Good construction
• AAA batteries (an advantage over the competing RF-602)
• Detachable stand-alone foot
• Flawless 2.4 GHz reliability
• Long range (100+ meters)
• Wireless shutter release

CONS

• Lack of TTL pass-through (compare to Strato)
• Somewhat large and bulky (compare to Yongnuo RF-602) in the camera bag

The Cactus V5 can be purchased from the Gadget Infinity website here:

http://www.gadgetinfinity.com

Given the high quality, reliability, long range, convenient features, and favorable price, I expect these triggers to become quite popular.

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Footnote: If you want to know how triggers like this are used, check out my course on off-camera flash portrait photography where you can see me use and explain this kind of gear in great detail.

Phottix sent me a pre-release set of these new triggers to test, and now that the product is on the market I can finally talk about it.

I love this trigger. It’s got all the 2.4 GHz reliability of the Yongnuo RF-602 (previously my favorite in the low-budget trigger market), but with the added advantage of a TTL-pass-through hot shoe.

If you don’t know what the heck that means, or why it might be useful, then watch the video!

And if you buy a Strato from the link below you’ll help keep me fueled with beer (which leads directly to an increase in the quantity, if not always quality, of my photography and tutorial production).

Phottix Online Store Strato Page

Gotta love YouTube for always coming up with a splash screen where I have a funny expression on my face. They must have a special filter that searches for those frames.

If you’re interested, here is my course on Off-Camera Flash Photography.

Every wonder why the display on your Canon Speedlite 580EX or 430EX flash is blinking at you?  Ever want to throw it against the wall because you can’t get it to stop?  Here’s the solution.

Warning: It’s a bit of a rant.

Here’s my breathless 10-minute rundown of all the current contenders for radio-triggering your off-camera flashes.

This is an update of the information contained in my course, “How to Shoot Professional-Looking Headshots and Portraits on a Budget with Small Flashes.”

This technology is changing fast, practically daily, so I’ll make periodic updates available as things evolve.

I hope you find it helpful, and I welcome your feedback or stories of your own experience with any of this gear.

You might think it’s always better to buy the latest model of any photographic equipment, but that’s not always true.

For example, there is a good case to be made for the older Canon 430EX flash over the newer 430EX II. Why? Watch the video to find out which one is right for you.

If you own a detachable Speedlite-style flash, and you are shooting with it on your camera, you are wasting your investment in that expensive flash.

Face it, on-camera flash sucks. It drains the life out of your subject and makes everyone look like they are posing for a police line-up or a driver’s license photo.

You gotta get that flash off your camera!

The video above is my YouTube “commercial” for my off-camera flash course. Frankly I don’t know if it’s cheesy or if it’s cool, but I had fun making it, and people seem to love it on YouTube, so I thought I’d share it with you here.

Choosing the right flash can be intimidating to beginning photographers. It’s easy to find lots of jargon-laden technical specifications, but hard to find a simple analysis in plain language of which flash is the best one for your needs.

I’m going to make the choice easy for you.

Speedlite 270EX

If you are a Canon shooter, you basically have three options at the time of this writing in 2010: the Speedlite 270EX, 430EX II, and 580EX II.

We’re going to immediately simplify it by eliminating the little 270EX right out of the gate. In my opinion it just doesn’t make economic sense.

First of all the 270EX is small. With its head so close to the lens axis, it creates light that is not much better (in terms of direction) than the built-in flash on most cameras.

Second, the 270EX lacks the infrared focus assist beam that the larger models have to help you focus in the dark.

Third, the 270EX can’t tilt or swivel to bounce off a wall or ceiling like the larger models can. Sure, you can direct it upward, but for a few dollars you can buy a reflector that directs the built-in flash on your camera upward.

Speedlite 430EX II

I just don’t see the little 270EX as a good investment. If you’re going to spend the money on a flash, I suggest getting one of Canon’s grown-up Speedlites.

Choosing between the 430EX II and the 580EX II is a pretty simple choice. It’s not so much a matter of budget (although there is a $200 price difference) but a matter of how you intend to use the flash.

The basic difference between the two is this: the 580EX II can be used as a master control unit for multi-flash, strobist-style, off-camera lighting. The 430EX II cannot, although it can serve as a remote slave.

So, if you are buying your first flash, or your only flash, I see no good reason to spend the extra money on the 580EX. I recommend buying the less expensive 430EX II as a single flash.

Sure, the 580EX has more power, which gives you a bit more range. But frankly, I rarely find myself taxing the maximum range of my flashes. And the 580EX II has three red LED’s in its auto-assist focus beam, while the 430EX II only has two, and there are other small differences. But I don’t see these factors as being worth the $200 difference in price, if you are just going to use the flash on-camera.

Speedlite 580EX II

In fact, the smaller size and weight of the 430EX II make it more user-friendly when loaded on a camera and carried for hours at a time, unless you absolutely need the maximum power and range of the larger flash. Even though I own both models, I typically use the 430EX II for straight-up on-camera or shoe-cord photography.

However, if you want to do off-camera-flash lighting with the built-in Canon wireless Master-Slave system, then you need a 580EX II as the master control unit.

But once you’ve got that 580EX II in your bag as a master unit, you can go back to buying the less expensive 430EX II models to use as the remotes slaves.

So here’s my recommended progression:
Your 1st Flash – 430EX II – Inexpensive and light for on-camera use
Your 2nd Flash – 580EX II – To serve as Master in multi-flash setups
You 3rd, 4th, 5th etc… 430EX II – To serve as remote slaves.

And if you’re into off-camera flash lighting, you may want to check out my course:

“How to Shoot Professional-Looking Headshots and Portraits on a Budget with Small Flashes”

In there I cover all this stuff in great detail and show you these flashes in use, both with the Canon wireless setup and radio triggers, in photo shoots with live models.

Hope this helps.

Amazon Shopping Links

Canon Speedlite 430EX II

Canon Speedlite 580EX II