Help with Flash setup

[bucknduck]

Hi,
I enjoy spending my time outdoors shooting and recently acquired 3 Quantaray Flash units. These units are older and do not have built in slaves so now I need to figure out how I can use them to setup a small home studio. I plan on using the studio for family portraits and have no intentions of using it for business. I shoot with a Canon XSi.
I did a search on this site for more info before posting, and didn't find anything related to my situation or it could have been that I just didn't use the right keywords when I tried to search.

I was told that there are slave receivers that are available that will work with the flash units but the person wasn't able to provide any additional info. I appreciate any help you can provide even if it is recommending that I sell the flash units and use the money towards the purchase of better flash units.

Thank you

[GadgetRick]

There are very inexpensive transmitter/receiver setups available. This is from the Lighten up and Shoot guys' website:

"Yongnuo RF-602

These are Chinese Triggers, but they sure as hell don't act like them. At the PMA's we picked up a set to see what all the rave was about. HOLY CRAPOLA, these triggers do it all. They fire your flash without the need of a PC-Port, so cheaper flashes are now viable options, they act as a wireless trigger for your camera and least but definitely not last THEY ARE ONLY $35.00US for both the trigger and receiver!

If you are on a budget, you have a flash that doesn't have a PC Port or you want to fire your camera wirelessly - STOP READING AND GO BUY NOW!! No joke, these things are amazing...but, and a very big but we have not put these through the paces just yet. I have dropped them a couple of times and they still fire. But as far as taking them out and shooting all day long with them I have yet to do. I will update with that info as soon as I have it.

So as far as we can tell the only downside might be durability, but I could buy 6 transmittters and 6 triggers for the price of 1 Cybersync transmitter and 1 receiver! So maybe durability isn't as important!

***IMPORTANT NOTE: MAKE SURE YOU BUY THE ONE'S SPECIFIC FOR YOUR CAMERA SO THE WIRELESS TRIGGER WILL WORK"

So you can do it on the cheap.

[inkista]

I own the RF-602s and they're great, but they do have some advantages/weaknesses that may make the Cactus V4s a better choice. The main weakness of the RF-602s is that they can only withstand a 10V sync voltage. If your flash unit's sync voltage is a lot higher than that, it could easily fry the receiver. Secondly, they use proprietary hotshoes (Canon-only; Nikon-only), so can't be swapped across systems. The V4s are much hardier synch voltage-wise, and use an ISO shoe with the single center "fire" pin. They also use a proprietary connection port for all the sync cables, so you have to go to Yong Nuo for sync cables. Luckily, they're reasonably priced, but it can be a pain having to go to eBay to buy from Hong Kong all the time. The V4s, iirc, use a 1/8" minijack, so cords can be purchased at Radio Shack. .

On the flip side, the RF-602s use the 2.4GHz frequency (same as Cybersyncs), which tends to make the signal a bit more robust vs. the V4's operating at 433MHz. The 2.4GHz band, though, can be more crowded. The RF-602s use the proprietary hotshoe to incorporate a waking function when a flash is in power-saving mode and goes to sleep when it hasn't been used in a while. And it can also double as a remote shutter release (which is why the RF602 bundles are usually labelled as for a specific camera model--the Canon triggers are all the same, they just come with different shutter release cables).

[bucknduck]

Thanks for the help. Sounds like I might just be better off purchasing a couple of canon flash units and a pw system or invest in a couple of strobes instead of trying to do this on the cheap and run the risk of frying my camera.

Rich

[inkista]

Originally Posted by bucknduck

Thanks for the help. Sounds like I might just be better off purchasing a couple of canon flash units and a pw system or invest in a couple of strobes instead of trying to do this on the cheap and run the risk of frying my camera.

Actually, not. That's why so many folks are going the cheap route. A lot of the Quantarays are pretty safe.

Most of the newer "Strobist" flash models, like the Yong Nuo YNs and the Lumopro LP160, have very safe sync voltages below 10V. You're only going to run into the huge sync voltages if you're buying used vintage flashes, and only if you're straying outside of the OEM path. The non-HV Vivitar 283 and 285 being the main culprits on the used market. If you pick up a used Nikon SB-24/-26/-28, however, you're going to be well within 7V, and your camera can probably withstand 250V (unless you're using a really old first-gen Canon dSLR, like the D300).

The Canon flashes are only going to give you a huge advantage if you need eTTL to automatically adjust the output power. Say, if you're doing event shooting and people (and you) are moving in and out of different lighting conditions, and you don't have a chance to adjust and reshoot. In a studio situation, with radio triggers, you'll be shooting all-Manual anyway, and the extra bells 'n' whistles of eTTL are going to be inaccessible to you anyway, unless you go for the PocketWizard TTL units or RadioPopper Pxs, and those are in the $250+ price range.

Even the non-TTL PocketWizards may be overkill. Remember, that you need one unit for the camera and one unit for the flash. So, you're already going to be $300 in the hole just to set off one off-camera light with PWs, $450 for two off camera lights, etc.. Unless you need the rock-steady reliability and extended range of PWs (and, y'know, I range-tested my RF-602s to 700 feet) because a client is breathing down your neck, it may not be worth it, vs. the $100 for a three light set up you can achieve with RF-602 and V4s. Obviously, you're not getting PocketWizard reliability, robustness, or future compatibility, but if you're just a hobbyist...

[bucknduck]

Thank you very much inkista for both the link and the info. I've read many of your posts and have learned quite a bit from you. I look forward to the day when I can be knowledgeable enough to return the favor and help someone else.