Pixiq

In the previous article in this two article feature I tried to explain that buying a new camera might be the solution to get your flash free from your camera. Now, for those that already have the camera, here is the salvation path: flash radio triggers.

Please remember that this article is not a rule setter but more an explanation, from my point and view and needs, and your own solution might differ. If, anyway, this helps to enlighten your decisions, I guess I’ve done something good. So let’s start.

I am a Canon user, with all the good and bad things that choice can represent. In terms of flash, Canon has their own way of doing things, so we don’t get optical slaves within their flashes,  as other brands do, and it is not easy, at least in Portugal (remember I am living and buying things here, so your experience might be different), to get different options of optical slaves to choose from. Those I’ve tried, do not work. So, in practical terms, for me, it’s as if they don’t exist. Anyway, optical slaves are not exactly the solution I wanted for my photography. I use flash a lot outside, in nature, so I was looking for something else. In fact I needed something very specific: I tend to use just one flash in my nature photography, so I don’t need to carry two flash units around all the time, although I have a Speedlite 580 EX II, a 420 EX and an old 430EZ (more about this one latter…)

Now, the Speedlite 580 EX II was bought mainly for one reason: to control an external flash, and this means that I use the 580 EX II to control the 420 EX. It’s not a cheap solution, but I decided to go that way as I am using a Canon EOS 50D. I’ve no reason to buy a EOS 7D and thus the 580 EX II is the only way to get the E-TTL working fine. I could by the ST-E2 Transmitter, but as I wrote on my previous article, I don’t think it is a wise solution for people just needing to control one or two external flashes.

So my normal E-TTL setup uses two flashes: a big 580EX II on the camera and the 420EX as a remote flash. Now, the funny thing is that the 580 EX II on the camera ends up working, many times, just as a commander, as I don’t want it to fire into the scene – I am doing mainly photographs of small things, from flowers to mushrooms… It’s a bit of a waste, really, but that was the only way to get things working.

I know some people will just say that for this kind of photography I could use a cable to connect the camera to the Speedlite 420 EX, have E-TTL and live happily for a long time. Yes, I could, if I was not at some distance from my subject. Because for many mushrooms and flowers – not all but a lot of them – I tend to use a long lens, the EF 100-400mm, that has a close focus distance of 1.8 meters. There are no cables in Canon that go that long, although there are from independent brands, but anyway I try to avoid cables as much as I can.

The solution found recently is very interesting and it’s somehow the reason why I started to think about this article. I am using a pair of Phottix Atlas radio transceivers to get my camera to communicate with the flash. In fact, I’ve the option to do a two flash setup if I need to, using this piece of equipment. I now have three Atlas Phottix transceivers, and that means I can use one on the camera and the other two on my Speedlite 580 EX II and the… Speedlite 430 EZ.

If you’re wondering why my 420EX flash is out of the equation, let me explain that the 420 EX is an all auto flash, and you can not control the manual output of it. That is the reason why Canon has built a new one, the 430 EX II, that let’s you control things very much as you do with the 580 EX II.

Using the Phottix Atlas you loose E-TTL, and have to work in Manual, so I could not use the 420 EX, and suddenly my old 430 EZ that was already on the upper shelf of my photo equipment cabinet came down to the working area. It lets me go down to 1/64 of light outpout. Great old flash.

Now, although sometimes I do need a two flash setup, I mainly use one flash and a reflector on my nature photography. Using a flash on the camera is not something I want to do regularly, so until now I’ve been forced to take two flashes with me. Now, with the Phottix Atlas, I am travelling a bit lighter. I just carry one flash – yes the 580 EX II is the choice these days – and two transceivers. That gives me all the light I need, with the freedom to place the flash where I want. And because the Phottix Atlas works with radio, I can place it exactly where I want to – like hiding behind a tree log, pointed at a mushroom – without having to care about the line of sight that infrared usually needs.

This setup takes us to the original title of this article: because if you’re the owner of a camera that does not have the type of external flash control found in the EOS 7D or EOS 60D, the best solution for your needs in terms of flash photography can be the radio triggers from Phottix. With a unit price around €100 (that will be around 120 dollars, more or less) they’re some of the cheapest radio triggers around, specially when you think they’re compatible with Pocket Wizard’s own triggers, and are as reliable as these things can be. In fact, I’ve tested mine shooting at distances over 100 meters, with the Atlas hidden, and they kept working fine all the time. And some photographers claim to have used them from over 200 meters away without problems.

On normal work they’ve been a fantastic tool that easily let’s me get light where I need it. With one on the camera, the other connected to a 580 EX II and a reflector in, if I need some fill-in light, I’ve everything I need to be happy for a long time. And once everything is set I can just move around my subject and take pictures. Remember, you loose any kind of TTL, have to work in manual and set power output on the flash, but once you’re done, it works flawlessy. And it’s great to be in control, manual flash is always a learning experience.

The Atlas Phottix is, in fact, an interesting solution for photographers that want to get their flash everywhere. Capable of working as a transmitter and receiver, it has an hot shoe port and a PC Sync port to connect to flashes and studio strobes, has a tripod mount, and can also be used as a shutter release. With a synch speed of 1/250 and four channels for communication, it uses 2 AA batteries and has a two-color status LED. And a test button.

On my case I discovered another advantage of using the Phottix Atlas. It can work with my Canon system  and also connects to my Olympus E-PL1, so I can use the Canon Speedlite 580 EX II with my little Micro Four Thirds camera. Not a bad association, and one that amuses people. For supporting the Canon flash I use, sometimes, a small Nikon tripod. Imagine: Phottix, Canon, Olympus and Nikon working together to give me some nice pictures.

Even for someone that has a E-TTL or similar system, the radio triggers are a solution for when infrared does not work. And if you’re looking for a cheap solution to use flash creatively, and you own a camera without external flash control, the Phottix Atlas might be the solution. I would say that two radio triggers and a flash, the Speedlite 430 EX II in the case of Canon, will be enough for most people and a great setup for “strobist” experiences. It’s, an accessible, cheap, considering the other options, and logic solution to discover that flash can - and should - be used far beyond the regular “when the lights go out”.

And this may not be the end of the story. After testing the Phottix Atlas  transceiver and with the recent news of some more products coming from the company, even flash units, I asked if it would not make sense to have a “starter kit” with a transceiver and a flash with a built-in receiver, sold at a sensible price. I was told that such a project was already in study.