RadioPopper vs PocketWizards for Canon eTTL

[Bob Rockefeller]

I've read a fair amount online about RadioPopper and PocketWizard systems for Canon radio-based TTL control. Most of the news is critical of the range and potential damage to 580EX series flashes.

Does anyone here know the truth?

[nma]

I don't know the answer to your question, but you might be interested in the Yongnuo 602 transmitter reciever kits. My experience is good. There are lots of other reviews on the web, mostly very good.

[reburns]

I had a poor experience with a Canon 5DII, 580EXII and PocketWizard TT1/TT5 even with hardware and firmware updates and shielding fabric around the flash.  Seems that the 5DII was giving PocketWizard TTL the most trouble.  At a small fraction of the cost, I'm now enjoying Yongnuo 602 on Nikon D3s/x a with no loss of sync speed.  Flickr Strobist discussion is a good place for such information.    - Ralph

Edit:  Last night I showed up to shoot with tripod but was missing the normal cable release.  The Yongnuo 602 set comes a cable release cord and lucky me it  works on bulb setting and saved the shoot.  I'm so tickled with the $30 eBay purchase.  I'm interested in trying TTL Pocketwizard for Nikon someday, but it's going to be hard to justify a 15X expense for a bump in sync speed and TTL.

[Ken Bennett]

"Know the truth?" No, but I have been using the Pocket Wizard TTL system for about 18 months now, using Canon 1D series cameras, and a mix of 580 EX II and 430 EX II flash units, along with a couple of older Canon speedlights (580 EX and 550 EX.)

The 430 EX II units work perfectly, no issues. Love 'em. Want more.

The 580 EX II units require the "flash condom" fabric cover to reduce radio frequency interference. Once you have installed the cover, and the hot shoe RF reducer, the flash unit works 100% of the time.

The 550 EX has the longest range of any flash I have tested. If you can pick these up used somewhere for cheap, they are a good choice, as they can take an external battery pack.

Using the PW system on TTL, you get exactly the same TTL flash control as with the Canon infrared system :-).  In my experience, using one flash off camera through a diffuser works pretty well -- a little tweaking with the FEC in camera, and I get decent results. It's nice to be able to move around outdoors with a subject and an assistant, and not worry about tweaking manual flash output with every change. However, with multiple lights, or in tricky conditions, I have not had much success with the Canon TTL system, so I mostly use the speedlights on Manual output, and the camera on manual as well. (Maybe I'm just not smart enough to use the Canon TTL system.)

Zone Controller: I waited over a year for this thing, finally got it a few weeks ago. The good news: it works. I can adjust the output of three zones, either manual or TTL, from the camera position. The bad news is that I find it difficult to use in real-world conditions. The dials are very small, and there is no "zero" detent -- it's tough to see what the settings are even with my glasses, and tougher to make quick changes. I have color-coded my receivers with tape, and put the corresponding tape on the Zone Controller, otherwise I would not remember which flash was in which zone.

Given my own preference for manual flash, I'd probably have been better off with the Radio Popper Jr-X system, which offers remote power control of several brands of flash units, speedlights and mono lights. It's manual only, not TTL, and costs about half of the PW TTL system.

As usual, your mileage may vary. Test for yourself.