The Best Just Got Better: Pocket Wizard Updates

For those of us who shoot with strobes and can’t be attached to them, we must figure out a way to get the strobe to fire when we push the shutter. In recent years there have been a lot of new options but by and large, those who need the best chose Pocket Wizard’s.

The system is simple. A transmitter sits on the hotshoe of your camera and a receiver is plugged into your strobe. When you press the shutter, the transmitter sends a signal through the air to the receiver on your strobe and the light fires.

This allows great flexibility with strobe placement and reduces messy wires.

A recent system (one that i use) that comes in at a much smaller size and price has made some wonder why Pocket Wizards must be so large? While the Paul C. Buff (Alienbee) transmitter comes in around the size of a quarter, the Pocket Wizard is about the size of your palm. While the PW system certainly works better, the cheaper price and smaller size make the Paul C. Buff version a better choice for many.

It is time for an update. And Pocket Wizard has come through. The new system is somewhat smaller but it also has a number of improvements that can’t be matched.

As of right now, only Canon users will benefit from the changes, but Nikon systems are on the way.

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MiniTT1 Canon

The New Shape of Wireless Freedom

The smallest PocketWizard radio ever, the MiniTT1™ Transmitter locks onto the camera’s hot shoe supporting an on-camera flash with its own hot shoe while working with remote PocketWizard units. Remotes can be one or more PocketWizard FlexTT5™ Transceivers connected to Canon E-TTL II flashes or any PocketWizard Receiver for triggering flash or remote cameras.

The MiniTT1 Transmitter is easy to use; just slide in place and begin to shoot. The new PocketWizard ControlTL™ System interprets the complex E-TTL II data being sent through the camera’s hot shoe and digitally transmits it in a reliable radio signal. Change the flash compensation dial on the camera, and those commands pass seamlessly through the system to your remote flash. Adjust your shutter speed, aperture or ISO and the system corrects for those changes. A ratio command set on the flash or command unit passes through the MiniTT1 to set the remotes. PocketWizard ControlTL radio communication allows you to shoot farther, faster, around corners, through walls even at high noon in bright daylight. Now you can deploy a wireless flash system wherever you want, without infrared limitations, in seconds.

Use the MiniTT1 for standard triggering with any PocketWizard Receiver including the FlexTT5, PlusII or MultiMAX. When used this way with a digital camera, you can take advantage of PocketWizard’s HyperSync Technology that allows up to 1/500th of a second camera sync with many camera/strobe set-ups. HyperSync allows you to advance the timing of your flash trigger so that faster than X-sync speeds can be achieved.
Need more speed? Push your ControlTL system beyond 1/500th and go into FP/High-Speed sync mode automatically. No buttons to press or settings to change other than your shutter speed will give you flash sync all the way to 1/8000th.

A new PocketWizard Utility program is provided to support the MiniTT1 via a USB port. The Utility allows you to configure your channel settings, dial in your HyperSync timing, adjust your sleep-mode timers and update your product to the latest firmware.

The PocketWizard MiniTT1 Transmitter is the start of a new era in wireless trigger control.

AVAILABILITY: For Canon, March 1st. For Nikon, Q2, 2009. US & Canadian Markets. Contact your local Distributor for availability in other markets.

FlexTT5 Canon

The Most Versatile PocketWizard Ever.

The dedicated FlexTT5™ Transceiver, with its built in hot-shoe and ControlTL™ firmware, is the perfect addition to Canon E-TTL II flash systems. The FlexTT5 takes the existing benefits of Canon wireless systems beyond the boundaries of infrared technology. When paired with the Mini TT1™ Transmitter or another FlexTT5 Transceiver, a whole new world of wireless flash freedom opens up. The FlexTT5 is also the perfect Transceiver for your manual triggering needs and works with all MultiMAX channels and many of the MultiMAX advanced functions.

The FlexTT5’s simple design comes to life through its hot-shoe connection with a camera or flash. Mount a flash or command unit on the FlexTT5 to use the same zone controls and ratio commands as you would normally. The system tracks your changes in ISO, shutter speed and aperture and reacts accordingly to make sure exposures stay right on target. Use the flash compensation dial on your camera or flash just as you would normally and the changes pass seamlessly through the system.

The FlexTT5 has two channel configuration settings; C1 and C2. Each can be programmed as needed with up to 20 ControlTL channels for TTL photography, or 32 standard channels for manual flash photography. The FlexTT5 Transceiver also has a three-zone selector switch for ease of use with Canon zones and ratios.

With PocketWizard HyperSync™ Technology, the FlexTT5 can precisely advance the timing of your flash trigger so that increased flash sync speeds, up to 1/500th of a second is achievable with many strobes.

Need more speed? Push your ControlTL system beyond 1/500th and go into FP/High-Speed sync mode automatically. Simply change your shutter speed to get flash sync all the way to 1/8000th. No buttons to press or settings to change!

A PocketWizard Utility program is provided to support the FlexTT5 Transceiver via a USB port. The Utility allows you to configure your channel settings, dial in your HyperSync timing, adjust your sleep-mode timers as well as update your product to the latest firmware.

The FlexTT5 also has our Auto-Sensing Transceiver Technology that enables it to switch back and forth between Transmitter and Receiver modes as needed for greater flexibility on the job. When a hot-shoe or other trigger is detected, it automatically switches to Transmitter mode. With Auto Relay Mode you can easily trigger a remote camera in sync with remote flash. Put a camera where you can’t be and use remote TTL or non-TTL lighting at the same time. Expand your coverage and increase your creativity.

AVAILABILITY: For Canon, March 1st. For Nikon, Q2, 2009. US & Canadian Markets. Contact your local Distributor for availability in other markets.

Tags: photography, pocket wizard, strobes

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 8:50 am and is filed under News, Photography News, Technology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.