Photography News Issue 68

Photography News | Issue 68 | photographynews.co.uk

First tests

Imaging kit First tests We get our hands on the latest kit and share our first impressions – so you know whether or not to add it to your wish list

Reviews by Will Cheung & Kingsley Singleton

PocketWizard FlexTT5 £169

Specs

Available for Canon, Nikon and Panasonic Type Radio Working range 240m with TTL; 365m with basic triggering Groups/channels 52 channels/3 groups High speed sync Yes, up to 1/8000sec TTL metering Yes Battery

Back when strobism was really taking off, PocketWizard was the big name. Affordable and versatile, its radio triggers let you fire speedlights off-camera in a way camera manufacturers’ systems couldn’t rival, so with a couple of PocketWizards and a cheap flash you’d be making great pictures. Other companies have now caught up, and radio triggers are cheap and commonplace, so ten years since its launch, does PocketWizard’s FlexTT5 Auto-Sensing Transceiver still appeal? We went back to the Nikon-fit versions to find out, testing on both a Nikon D850 and D810with an Interfit Pro-Flash TLi-N speedlight. The FlexTT5 has been around for a long time, but there’s a reason for that. It’s a mature and stable system, with a set of features that are still relevant and reliable – mainly full TTL and high speed sync. Though it can be used with other PocketWizard units, including the similarly spec’d MiniTT1 transmitter, the TT5 unit functions as both a transmitter and receiver. It’s therefore possible to stick a few of them in your bag and not worry you’ve left a vital link at home. In syncing, PocketWizard suggests following a particular order. With everything off, you add one TT5 to the hotshoe and another to the flash, then switch on the flash, the radio triggers and finally the camera. With channels and groups aligned on the units, pressing the Test/Learn button syncs them, announced by a flash. It’s suggested you do a test shot at 1/125sec to calibrate, which we did. So, not exactly plug and play, but just a method to get used to. On a couple of occasions during testing I lost sync, but just repeated the sequence and regained it. Following that, everything’s almost eerily simple. With the D850 or D810 in Auto FP mode, the TT5’s ControlTL functionletsyoushootupto 1/8000sec without engaging any special function on the trigger, so you can shoot wide

open or at very fast shutter speeds with no problem. The flash’s effect reduces as you push upwards, but that’s normal forHSS, and pics showed no curtain shadow as you’d normally get beyond sync speed. TTL also functioned well, for example shooting in aperture-priority it almost always produced a good exposure. It did overexpose when shooting wide open at f/2.8, but this was quickly fine-tuned with flash exposure compensation. Layout on the TT5 is clear and simple with group and channel switches, and the Test/Learn button, and though the only indicator is a small LED, it tells you all you need to know: a slow blinking green says you’re ready to shoot; blinking amber or red is time to change batteries; a much faster red blinking tells you syncing has gone wrong. There are also two 3.5mm jacks on the rear for plugging into flash heads via a cable or using the TT5 and a remote camera trigger. It takes two AA batteries and these are rated to last up to 60hours. At the front is an antenna, which can be adjusted to improve range, and opening it out reveals a USB port for updating firmware. It’s important to do this, as though our test units arrived at v3.8, this has since been updated to v3.9 to include the D850, and shooting with the older firmware showed curtain shadowover 1/250sec. The updater also allows custom options like trimming the high-speed sync response, but it’s more than most users will require. There’s a hotshoe on the top side for mounting an on- camera flash. The unit’s range is quoted at 240m with full TTL function, and well over 300m without. The maximum is based on ideal conditions, and though no line of sight is needed, environmental factors will affect any radio signal. I tested it up to 70m, in woodland, with no problems. Beyond that it got patchy, but the rangewas still far more than I would expect to need.

2x AAs (60+ hours), USB Dimensions (LxWxH) 9.2x7.3x3.6cm Weight 153g (with batteries) Contact pocketwizard.com

Above TheFlexTT5s allowedus to shoot a full lengthportrait fromrange

Build-wise, the TT5 is solid enough, though not spectacular, and it’s certainly not small by modern standards. Size shouldn’t be much of an issue, though its projection may limit some modifiers. Underneath, the foot is glass-reinforced resin, not metal, and though there’s a mounting screw, it’s quite far offset, so all the weight of the trigger is pushed to one side. It looks unbalanced, and means the flash doesn’t sit central to an umbrella, but it didn’t cause any problems on test, and if you fit a regular flash stand to the foot, it lines things up better. KS

Verdict

Despite its vintage, the FlexTT5 put in a good performance. It can’t provide quite the sophistication of a dedicated remote, but it’s all you need for most circumstances: solid, reliable and with great range. Pros Simple set-up, TTL control and high speed sync, range Cons Not that small, more expensive than some

Above Ten years after launch, the FlexTT5 has features that are still relevant and reliable. You’ll need one in the camera’s hot-shoe and one for each flash youwant to trigger