Pocket Waster Plus

I think speedlites are really nifty. They are amazingly portable, bright, and convenient. Unfortunately camera-mounted flashes look as good as point-and-shoot flashes (unless you get tricky and Fong-Bong them or use some similar bounce device), so at some point in time you need a remote trigger. Enter the PocketWizard Plus II.

In fairness to PocketWizard, they are not totally to blame for poor performance, the real blame is with Canon (especially on the 580EXII). PocketWizard advertises usable distances of 1600ft "or more", which is much farther than most users will ever venture. However, I was lucky to get 35' of distance when using a Canon 580EXII, inside an enclosed reception hall. So what is the issue?

After a quick response from PocketWizard, their engineer informed me that the 580EXII emits enough Radio Frequency information to bring down a 747 on a runway approach---apparently Canon feels the need to broadcast terabytes of data for ETTL and Slave shooting. PocketWizard's solution was to swing by Radio Shack and purchase a Ferrite Choke. The engineer is really saying that your $450 speedlite and $170 PocketWizard remote are useless without a $5.99 magnet. Awesome.

So what are my findings? I decided to use my Canon 580 EX II and a Promaster 5million (it really doesn't matter, its a promaster). Without the ferrite choke on the Canon 580 EX II, my average distance was about 35'-40', using the ferrite choke I was able to extend that range to 50'-60' (more than a 25% improvement). In addition I was able to use the Canon at closer distances with obstructions, thanks to the ferrite choke. On the other hand, the Promaster, without ferrite choke, averaged 75'-100', and after installing the ferrite choke there was little improvement (extended beyond 110').

I am certainly not giving up on improving the distance between my Canon and the PocketWizards, but it seems that if you need speedlites, save the money and purchase any non-Canon brand flash, seriously, any other flash would perform circles around the Canons in this regard. If you've had similar problems please let me know how you've dealt with improving the distance between flash and remote.

A friend/colleague of mine, Cameron Braun of Braun Photography, tried to talk me out of this set-up, I did not listen and now I am paying the price.  

UPDATE: as of 6/18/2011, even with the installation of ferrite chokes I am still very dissatisfied with the off-camera consistency of the Canon 580 ex II's / Pocket Wizards. I am going to research some more and experiment with a few more variables, then report back t you with the results. If my results are still lackluster, the next blogpost may be a Craigslist posting for our Canon flashes.
   

 

For the experiment: Canon 580 EX II, Pocket Wizard Plus II's, Ferrite Choke, Promaster Flash

 

$5.99 Ferrite Choke, via Radio Shack