Nikon D300, Nikon 17-55 2.8 DX, wireless Nikon SB800 triggered via CLS
This is BIG news in the wireless flash community.BIG NEWS.All you “strobists” out there will know just how big this is.
For years now, Ebay etc. has been erupting with affordable, half-decent triggers.While Pocket Wizard, the ORIGINAL brand of reliable, industry standard radio triggers, kept coming out with more and more expensive gizmos, many that didn’t even work very well at first, or at all.Radio wireless TTL was all the range, for some silly reason, but now I am oh-so-glad that ridiculous fad has settled down and Pocket Wizard, the brand we have all come to love, has finally gotten around to developing a new, back-to-basics yet oh-so-powerful system, for LESS than the previous generation of Pocket Wizard Plus 2’s.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Pocket Wizard Plus 3!!!
• Initial MSRP of $139, shipping in late March, available for pre-orer at B&H HERE.
• 32 Channels, like the Multi-Max units, versus 4 channels on the old Plus 2’s
• Channels 17-32 are multi-zone channels, four zones per channel.Geek translation: Instead of setting different flashes to different channels and switching channels based on which remote you want, (and therefore NEVER being able to trigger ALL remotes at once!) …Now you can trigger up to four different lights separately, or in any COMBINATION, and all within a single channel.NICE!)
• The same INCREDIBLE range and reliability, with new features that add even MORE range (via daisy-chains, or sync speed sacrifice)
• Backlit LCD display and illuminated buttons (SWEET!)
• Backward compatible with all previous Pocket Wizard devices
• Two-stage “wake-up” half-press trigger button, for waking up remote cameras / flashes
• Three-stage battery meter (Welcome to the 21st century, PW Plus!!!)
• Improved built-in antenna system, without that silly “always-bent” Plus 2 antenna
SO, are there any “cons”, or disappointments?Yes, kinda.I wish they had functionality like the RadioPopper JrX “Cube” system, that allows you to CHANGE the manual power of a flash remote, wirelessly.I don’t need TTL wirelessly, I just like to be able to change my manual flash power without walking over to my stinkin’ flash, especially if it’s 100’+ away.So, that’s kind of a bummer.If you want that feature, you still have to either buy the slightly-expensive Radio Popper PX system, or the complicated and not-as-reliable Pocket Wizard TTL system, or the cheap but extra-parts-galore Radio Popper JrX + RP Cube system.
That’s all, folks!We’ll be sure to post again as soon as they are available for purchase! (EDIT: Pre-order them at B&H HERE!)
