PocketWizard FlexTT5 with Nissin Flash

[pahowes]

I'm just wondering if anyone has tried the new PW FlexTT5 with a Nissin Di866 flash.

I'd like to buy some PW triggers to run my large strobes, but am torn between the Plus II and the new ControlTL products. If I buy the ControlTL products, they could pull double-duty with my Nissin (speedlite) flash and hopefully support eTTL-II.

However, since both PW and Nissin reverse engineered the eTTL-II protocol coming from the EOS bodies, I wonder if they will play well together, or if their implementations are not compatible. Any thoughts?

[pahowes]

I know it's bad form to reply to your own post, but I'm going to...

I stopped by the local camera store and bought the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5. I downloaded the PocketWizard software to my Mac and made sure that all of the channels matched up between the two devices. The FlexTT5 was mounted to my 5DMkII and powered on. The Di866 was mounted to the FlexTT5, powered on, set to TTL, and finally the FlexTT5 powered on.

The camera and strobe had no communications. It wouldn't fire at all. As far as the camera was concerned, there was no flash connected at all. The Di866 was then set to Manual firing mode. The camera was able to fire the flash just as if it was a full-size studio strobe, but obviously without the benefit of eTTL-II metering.

So there you go---The Nissin Di866 will work, but this setup is no better than using a pair of PocketWizard Plus II transceivers and sync cables.

One further note: If the Di866 is connected to the shoe on top of the FlexTT1 while the Flex is on your camera body, the Di866 will not fire. It does not matter if the Flex is powered or not. Apparently there is more to the "pass through" connection than PocketWizard is letting on.

If anyone reading this has any questions about this combination, or experiments that they'd like me to try, feel free to reply to this thread and let me know.

[inkista]

Thanks for adding to the knowledge base, and sorry it didn't work out. At least it was worth a shot.

[pahowes]

It was an expensive experiment, but I needed the remote trigger for my studio strobes anyway. I spoke with PocketWizard's technical support. They're focusing on the development of the Nikon version of the Flex and Mini before implementing support for third-party flashes.

[inkista]

I'd be willing to bet that work on Sony/Minolta, Pentax, and Olympus support before they get around to looking at making sure Metz/Sigma/Nissin flashes work, too, alas.

[pahowes]

You're probably right. Although at this point, I'd be happy if the "pass through" shoe on the MiniTT1 worked properly with the flash set to manual mode.

[pahowes]

PocketWizard has started to support some third-party speedlites on their FlexTT5. They are listed on their wiki: Canon Compatibility - PocketWizard Wiki

Currently supported are the Metz 58 AF-1 (AF-2 should also work according to an email I received from their technical support group), Metz 48 AF-1, Nissin Di866, and Di622.

The Metz 58 and Nissin Di866 are equivalent in power and features to the Canon 580EX-II. All can operate as a master speedlite when using Canon's optical master/slave system. The Metz 48 and Nissin Di622 are similar to the Canon 430EX-II, and like the 430 can only operate as a slave when using Canon's wireless system.

I sold my Nissin Di866 a while back and bought a Canon 580EX-II to replace it because of the lack of support on the TT4. I have been happy with my 580 but wanted more speedlites to play with. A few days ago I bought a Metz 58 AF-1 for around $285 that I'm going to test outside as soon as the weather warms up a little. If it works well, I may buy more of them as they are little more than half the price of a 580.