Wireless triggers, CT-04, part II

For the first time, I was shooting portraits manually and putting an untested faith in the setup.  For the wedding yesterday, we had a photo shoot at home.  That was my first real use of the Neewer CT-04 trigger / 3 receivers.  This trigger / receiver combination worked fine.  It was simple to set up.  Because the light came from my flashguns only and not from the pop-up flash, I had to use my camera in manual mode.  I fixed the wireless trigger on the hot shoe of the camera.  On the receiver side, I used all the receivers.  I set up two umbrellas about a couple of metres in front on either side of the subjects.  The right umbrella has my Nikon SB-900 flashgun on manual mode at full power whereas the left has my Nikon SB-800 on manual mode at half power.  I placed one SB-25 in the background against the wall.  It was by no way a perfect setup.  I have no light meter so I had to guess the f-stop and had to take a number of shots to test the exposure.  Once I had a setting that worked (by visually inspecting test shots), I kept it for the duration of the shoot.  The light exposure was consistent but whenever I shoot too quick, neither flashgun was fast enough to recharge themselves so I got a couple of black pictures.  Also, as long as I keep shooting the CT-04 receivers will happily stay online.  I am not sure how long but if I stop shooting the receivers will go into power saving mode and wake up on one trigger.  That was not a problem.

Wireless triggers, CT-04

Neewer wireless trigger opened up

One of my cousins will be tying the knot tomorrow.  I am getting my gears ready for some shooting.  One of the gears I will be using is this set of a Neewer wireless trigger and three CT-04 receivers that I bought a while ago.  I have never made the opportunity to use them yet and now when I could use them, it's not working.  Darn, I think it's time to replace the batteries.

To replace the battery that came with the Neewer wireless trigger, I had to remove a screw hidden underneath  the "QC Pass" sticker on the bottom of the trigger.  The case opens up easily, revealing a circuit board inside and a small 12V 23A battery.  I have never seen such a battery before.  I am going to go to my local electronics store and hopefully be able to find one there.  I imagine a battery like this would be more expensive than the typical AAA or AA batteries.  More shopping to do ....

[ An hour later ... ]

Well, I just got back from the local electronics store.  They carry these ATC Alkaline Max batteries for $2 a piece!  Very expensive battery!  I bought two, and we're good to go now.

Wireless flash trigger, part II

I received the package in the post yesterday morning. It might have arrived the day before actually. In any case, I had a chance to unpack and test it out last night.

My first impression after seeing the transmitter and receivers was, el cheapo, price-wise and construction-wise. They were all plasticky and cheap to the look and feel. Everything is plastic. The base of the receivers is all plastic and feels flimsy. I wonder if I should place a $500 speedlight on it. Well, I guess it would not break that easily and the speedlight is not all that heavy. Nevertheless, it does not give much comfort knowing how flimsy it is.

The receivers require two AAA batteries to operate. Rechargeable batteries work well. I used to have many rechargeable AAA batteries. Now, I don't know where they all went. The transmitter came with a battery. I have not opened the transmitter yet to see the battery but I bet it will be fun trying to find one.

Does it work? Oh yeah, just set the flash guns on manual mode and you are all set to go. There are no TTLs of any kind, just pure manual. The receivers have just one middle contact. It's either fire or not. Really, you should have a hand-held light meter to figure out all the flash output strengths. I wonder if I'd be better off getting a fluorescent light that stays on all the time so you could meter the light with the camera.

Wireless flash trigger

So, along with a brand new Nikon D7000 that I just placed an order for a couple of days ago, I have decided to delve into lighting. I have been using the SB-800 and it has been a great tool, but it was clear from last April's Henry's photo show that lighting is everything. So, I went on eBay and am bidding on a couple of older flash guns and purchased this set of wireless flash trigger units.

Sure, Nikon does have the CLS but whenever I think of IR, I think restrictions. So, I thought let's open all possibilities and go with RF instead, hence these RF trigger units.

The wireless flash trigger units are no-name but they look awfully like the Phottix brand. I expect them to arrive in a couple of days. When I get the flash guns and either soft boxes or umbrellas, it will be fun playing with light!