PocketWizard FlexTT5 and AC9 – Both for Canon Cameras
[by Jack Foster Mancilla
a photo by LensLord on Flickr.
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For quite a while I have had several “Alien Bee” Strobes. I used to use them quite a bit, when I shot pets at Petco. … I was good at it, still am. “Link to Pet Images.”
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. … When I was using the Bees I had some very inexpensive, and very cheap, radio triggers. Since then, I have moved to using Canon Speedflashes for most of my work, because they are just more portable.
But, there has been a drawback for the 580 II, and earlier flash units. They were all ETTL via an infrared signal. I had quite a problem shooting in the desert, and into the sun, and around corners. The problem was that they just could not do that.
I did want some radio triggered PocketWizards for quite a while, but at the time, PocketWizard did not make ETTL wizards. And I wanted all the benefits of ETTL. … So I waited, and waited, getting by with lesser products. Finally, PocketWizard made the FlexTT5 for Canon cameras. Now, I could control my off camera flash units with ETTL via radio. Yahoo!
But, then I had another problem, all the Alien Bee strobes that I had only synced to a 200th of a second. And, they did not work with ETTL. So the Bees were mostly consigned to storage. … Bummer dude. …
Sometimes Magic happens.
Now, the wizards at PocketWizards have made these little adapters, the AC9 adapters. I hook one of these little guys to my FlexTT5, and then via a small connecting four wire, RJ14 cable, I can wirelessly control my Bees into Hypersync, and now far beyond the earlier limit, now it is up to an 8000th of a second. And I can modify the levels of the flashes from my camera, just by changing the shutter speed, or the aperture. And I can use my canon speedflashes simultaneously.
They are amazing.
I have a Prom to shoot next week, and I wanted to incorporate all my flash units for maximum flexibility!
Today was my test time. A charm! They work like a charm! 🙂
