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Question from David: “My big question, so many different answers. I have a Canon 60D and a 580exII flash. I want to be able to have the flash off to the side (not on the camera) for different lighting at my house studio and in the field. How do I go about making the 580exII work when it is not attached to my camera without wires? Do I need a transmitter? And at that point how does it work? Every site talks about Slaves and other stuff I just dont understand. Can anyone help?”
Barb: I use the pocket wizards and have my flash on a very light light stand so I can set it any place I want outside as I like shadows etc. Works great.
Aaron: Did you google this at all? “How to wirelessly trigger 580EXII.”
David: You need a Transmitter TX (Master) and a Receiver RX (slave). They act as a wireless cable. The other option is your camera’s built in flash can set off the external flash (RX or slave). This option creates a fill flash because there is a slight delay.
Jennifer; I use a Cactus Wireless Flash
Jaye: Btw I think those are affiliate codes…
David: I googled it, and just got so many different ways of doing it.
David: And I am good with everything this is just a confusing topic for me
Melanie: Pocket Wizard +2 transeiver. It transmits and receives. But you need two of them
Jaye: Cactus V5s are great, too!
But basically, what you need is a wireless trigger. There are cheap ones (like the two I linked above that are about $20-30), mid-range ones (like the Cactus V5s), and then more expensive options (like Radio Poppers and Pocket Wizards). They are do basically the same thing, some just do it better. I’m cheap so I bought the Cowboy studio triggers and they work GREAT! Virtually no misfires related to the triggers in over a year of use.
So, what you do is attach the “transmitter” onto your camera and then mount the flash onto the “receiver” (on then onto a stand or something). Turn both on and make sure they are on the same settings. Then whenever you press the shutter the transmitter will send a signal to the receiver and trigger the flash. Easy peasy! Oh, and not to be *too* confusing, but with triggers like the Yonguo and Cactus triggers are both receivers and transmitters so you do NOT need to buy a receiver! Just an FYI because that confused me when I first started.
Usually the difference between cheap and expensive is the distance you can move the transmitter from the receiver. With Pocket Wizards you can set up multiple lights in a large room and be able to trigger all of them. With the Cowboy Studio triggers I wouldn’t recommend using them in a large area. I believe the distance you can work with is about 25 feet.
Chris: 60D has a built in wireless trigger for their flash units. Your owners manual or the Canon website support will explain how to link it up.
Chris: I have one and an older canon flash that I can link to my 60D without any extra equipment.
Tom: I have the same camera and flash. I use PocketWizard. All you need is the PocketWizard Flex TT5 and Mini TT1. The TT5 goes on your camera and the flash hooks on to the Mini TT1 off camera on a stand.
Angela: I actually found a slave for 25 on amazon and a mount for about 8 and use mine with a shoot through umbrella!
Jim: Pocketwizard plus iii, these are awesome!
Cheryl: Thank you foe this question….I’ve been ttrying to do this as well and needed a breakdown. ..thank you jay I was reading the manual and the sites and was like….wth and i missing…why isn’t this working?
Rebecca: Get yourself a Cactus trigger. They’re WAY cheaper than the Pocket Wizards, albeit a few limitations. Then all you need is stands for your flash.
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