Wireless flash triggers and copal shutters

[chuck94022]

I'm pulling together a flash system to be triggered by my Copal shuttered lenses. I have a cheap chinese wireless trigger system made by Yongnuo, the RF-603N series. But they can only trigger from a Nikon hotshoe, and worse, the device that transmits will only go into transmit mode if it detects a particular ready signal from one of the Nikon hotshoe pads.

There is a mod available on the web for this device that will allow it to be triggered from the PC port, which would be perfect except I'd rather not do the mod unless it is my only option.

Are there other (preferably cheap) devices that can trigger from the PC sync signal, rather than only from a hotshoe? Is anyone else triggering lights with their large format cameras wirelessly?

[chuck94022]

Oh, I should mention that this is intended to be a very lightweight system using speedlights as my strobes. I have the strobes, which work fine with my Nikon gear, but would also like it to work with my LF gear.

[marcant21]

I use the one from Cowboy Studio that has a hotshoe and a pc-cord cable. So it can shoot on my NIkon F4 and my LF lenses. I bot it on Amazon and they're very cheap.

I use it to fire my Speedo's remotely. Work well, but haven't tested the range.

Search on Amazon for "cowboy studio wireless NPT-04"

[polyglot]

I have the "Cactus V2" style triggers (4 channel not 16 channel, the newer ones are apparently more finicky) from eBay; I think they're "phoshot" branded. Transmitter is a standard hotshoe with a 2.5mm socket on the side and (included) 2.5mm-to-PC cable, so it plugs right into an LF shutter. Receivers are likewise hotshoe and they have PC sockets on the side, so they plug right into my studio strobes. Mine are basically identical to item #350643305790 though I got 1 TX and 3 RX in a package for $50ish.

[Leigh]

Dump the junk and buy a couple of Pocket Wizard Plus II units. Used units can be had quite inexpensively.

They work fine on Elinchrom and Novatron strobes with my myriad Copal shutters.

- Leigh

[chuck94022]

Thanks guys. Living in China I have to struggle sometimes to find what I need. We have a great camera mall in Beijing though. The CowboyStudio brand triggers are called "Nice" brand here. I found them today, and they tested fine with a copal shuttered lens I brought along.

Thanks for the help!

[polyglot]

Wukesong? I only had an hour there but it was awesome.

[chuck94022]

Wukesong? I only had an hour there but it was awesome.

Yes, great place. Tons of used equipment if you are into collecting. They have a couple of good large format shops, one for new stuff and is packed with LF gear. The other LF shop is for used stuff. I browse both shops each time I visit, and I've bought from both.

I've also bought a number of collectible cameras and lenses from the used shops. They tend to be fair, and while they don't negotiate much, you can usually get them down a little from their asking price, especially if you pay cash.

All the Chinese manufacturers are there, so it is easy to get the Chinese brands if you know what you are looking for.

All the shops are great about taking returns. In fact I just returned a flash unit today (a Yongnuo 565EX) which is unfortunately not compatible with the new Nikon D800 (works with every earlier Nikon but not the 800, and I'd bet the 4 and 600). It's too bad, because it appears to be a great flash at a great price. But put it on the D800 hotshoe, and it goes strobocrazy.

The thing about this return is I didn't have the original box or the receipt (my housekeeper accidentally tossed them) but they took it back anyway. (I swapped it for a Yongnuo 560, which is manual only, but that's all I needed anyway for a secondary off camera flash.)

So if you come to Beijing, definitely visit Wukesong! (Contact me, I'll take you there...)

When did you visit, Polyglot?

[pasiasty]

For this purpose I got simple infra-red trigger, it was about $35. I also installed a hot shoe on top of front standard of my Cambo.

[polyglot]

I was there at the end of September 2011 - I ran low on film on my honeymoon and had to reload. The LF prices looked a bit insane (3x the KEH pricing) but I guess if you can negotiate it will come out OK.

I was lucky I had some Chinese friends to do the talking for me. Ended up paying basically B&H pricing for my film, so that was fine.

[Ivan J. Eberle]

The older version Yong Nuo RF 602 transmitter (delta shaped) that I've got for my Nikons has a standard PC connector input and works great. Unlike simple IR triggers or optical slaves, I find it works at quite a distance outdoors, and around corners, etc. One of the best sub-$50 gadgets I've ever bought. Allows me to trigger my Nikon SB800s with a Pentax 645N (even waking them up from sleep!).

I opened the TX up and went looking for a pad as a pick off point to wake up distant flashes from sleep for a long term remote camera set. Found it, put a jack on it, and it works great with a PIR detector. The receiver also has an optical isolator that functions with higher amperage than most, so it triggers camera motordrives as well as flashes. Too bad they changed the form factor to make them all transceivers nowadays.

I'd have willingly paid a couple of hundred bucks for the set at the time just for the wake-up feature alone. Nikon flash wake-up protocol seems to be a digitally encoded signal, one I couldn't suss out with a meter or oscilloscope.

[chuck94022]

I'd have willingly paid a couple of hundred bucks for the set at the time just for the wake-up feature alone. Nikon flash wake-up protocol seems to be a digitally encoded signal, one I couldn't suss out with a meter or oscilloscope.

Perhaps it is, but my SB600 can be awakened by my Nikon FM3a, which Nikon brags is a fully analog system internally (of course that doesn't mean it can't generate digital signals at the hotshoe, but seems like a lot of work for a simple function). I assumed the flash was just sensing 5V on one of the secondary pads, but I've not put voltmeter to pad to verify. Sounds like you did a lot more research than me (that would be zero for me...).

[chuck94022]

Ivan, just out of curiosity I just put a voltmeter on my FM3a hot shoe and on my F4 hot shoe. The upper right pad (as you look down on the hot shoe from the shooting position) goes to +1.59 V on the FM3a and to +1.69 V on the F4 when the flash should wake up (half press of the shutter). Since all I have is a voltmeter here, no oscilloscope, I can't go further than the above.

I would imagine the the more sophisticated cameras interpose more sophisticated signals over the same pads, but I have no idea what. I do know that obviously the engineers at Yongnuo did not get the latest D800 communication protocol right...