Pocket Wizards

For the past year I've been using Cactus Triggers I bought from Gadget Infinity to fire flashes as well as an off brand remote for studio strobes. The Cactus triggers work well enough but failed once due to a loose connection that was easy enough to fix. The sync speed on them wasn't always consistent and sometimes I had to dial down my shutter speed to use them without blacking out part of a frame. The off brand (really they have no noticeable brand) wireless remotes that came with my studio strobes worked very well until the past few months. Then sync speed started falling despite new (and rather odd/expensive) batteries. Also they simply started failing us during shoots which was really embarrassing and annoying. I would flick the remote in my hotshoe and switch the receiver between strobes and while the client was waiting I'd be praying I could get them to work. Not good.

Sync cords are reliable and I've used them as backup, but they are annoying and being as I'm clumsy I really don't want to have cords to trip over causing my lights to come crashing down. Just not an ideal solution.

So, I bought Pocket Wizards. They are expensive (almost $200 each) but rock solid reliable, work at any distance that I might need (you can fire them from a football field distance or more), can be used to remotely fire flashes, studio strobes and my cameras and are pretty much the professional industry standard.

I've used the pocket wizards before in my studio lighting course I took at Vancouver Photo Workshops. Since I've received them I've only used them once, but they are fantastic. They sync and fire as fast as your camera and lights can keep up and just plain work. So for photographers I can't recommend them enough if you can afford them. If you do order them, make sure you go to Flash Zebra's website and get any cords you need to properly attach them to your camera and/or lights. Nothing like getting a new toy and not being able to use them. Thankfully I bought all the cords in advance.