# 5D Mark III & Possible 1D X Issue With PocketWizards



## Canon Rumors Guy (Mar 29, 2012)

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<strong>Pocketwizards</strong>


I received the following report about PocketWizards and the 5D Mark III. I have not confirmed this myself.</p>
<blockquote><p>Been using PW products for 8 years now. I currently have a Canon 1D Mark IV, which works great up to 1/800 at the studio with hyper sync, and preordered a 1D X. I just bought a Canon 5D III and won’t sync at shutter speeds higher than 1/160 using Mini TT1 and Paul C. Buff Einstein Flashes fitted with Poceket Wizard Power MC2′s. Any speeds higher than that, it will give u the dark band on the bottom of the frame.</p>
<p>I called Tech Support and they say it’s not compatible yet and although the 5D III should sync at at least 1/200, the actual speed of the shutter is lower (approx 1/160). They don’t even have a test camera yet and they expect the soon-to-be-released 1D X not to be compatible either. They will be working on a firmware update as soon as they have a 5DIII to work with.</p></blockquote>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>
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## publiux (Mar 29, 2012)

I shot this weekend with some very cheap radio triggers (not PWs), and I got banding at 1/200. It was very minor at the bottom. When I slowed the shutter to 1/160, it disappeared. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the shutter actually syncing at 1/160 instead of 1/200 or something to do with the hotshoe's signal to the radios.

I thought it was my crappy triggers, but is PWs are having problems too, something is afoot!


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## coolbiff (Mar 29, 2012)

I've used my 5d Mark III on strobes at 1/200th both on Elinchrom's and on my in arena Speedotron 2401SX's with no banding using regular Multimax's. With my Flex and Mini if you try to set a faster shutter speed for hypersync then the camera at exposure time drops back down to 1/200th. But again no banding. 

And yup, I've been told a few days ago by LPA that they didn't have a camera yet.


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## willhuff.net (Mar 29, 2012)

I'll find out later today if this affects PW Plus II.


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## wockawocka (Mar 29, 2012)

It effects the Multimax's:







But hey, turn it down to 1/160 until there's a firmware update.


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## DavidRiesenberg (Mar 29, 2012)

What's strange is that with cheap ebay triggers it is very visible, about 8%-10% of solid black band but with the Elinchrom skyport, it is only a very faint vignetting, barely visible unless shooting against a white wall. 
Using a sync cord there is no problem.


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## publiux (Mar 29, 2012)

DavidRiesenberg said:


> What's strange is that with cheap ebay triggers it is very visible, about 8%-10% of solid black band but with the Elinchrom skyport, it is only a very faint vignetting, barely visible unless shooting against a white wall.
> Using a sync cord there is no problem.



So a sync chord at 1/200 didn't produce any bands for you? I'm happy to hear that. It means my shutter isn't faulty


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## wockawocka (Mar 29, 2012)

DavidRiesenberg said:


> What's strange is that with cheap ebay triggers it is very visible, about 8%-10% of solid black band but with the Elinchrom skyport, it is only a very faint vignetting, barely visible unless shooting against a white wall.
> Using a sync cord there is no problem.



I had this issue before with Bowens Pulsars but that was never fixed so I went Pocket Wizard.


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## XanuFoto (Mar 29, 2012)

Good to know. I have a studio shoot in two weeks and am going to use the 5D MKIII.


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## DavidRiesenberg (Mar 29, 2012)

publiux said:


> So a sync chord at 1/200 didn't produce any bands for you? I'm happy to hear that. It means my shutter isn't faulty



Yeah, no banding at all with a sync cord. Interestingly enough, I did not encounter any problems with optical triggering as well. How is this possible that only radio seems to be affected? Electronic interference from the camera with RF?


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## dericcainphoto (Mar 29, 2012)

I have the 5D III and the PW Mini TT1 with the PowerMC2 for my Einstein. I tested it this morning, before reading this and noticed some odd behavior. First, I did have banding at 1/200th of a sec. I changed my exposure increments on my 5D III to 1/3 stop, instead of 1/2 stop, and the band went away. I actually shot at 1/250th of a second without it banding. The weirdest thing is that when I shot with 1/250th of a second, the preview image showed as me shooting with 1/200th of a second, and no banding. After a few minutes of testing, I felt comfortable with the results, even with the shutter speed recording incorrectly. I hope the PW Plus III's support the 5D III as I will be purchasing them and selling my Mini and Flex setup. I really don't use the TTL feature as I feel that it is not that reliable, or at least not as reliable as manual.


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## Maui5150 (Mar 29, 2012)

Have you updated your PW Mini TT1 for the 5D MKIII???

Do they have this available for the Mini yet?

You have to configure both the Flex and the Mini via the USB to set the camera up.

I got the exact same results when I first got my 5D MKII...

Why?

Because my mini was still set to my T2i.

Yup.... Went through the same thing... I thought I had a bad 5DMKII... or that my 5DMKII had to shoot at 1/160 or 1/100...

Ah... Configuration.

Right now I don't think PocketWizard has an update firmware yet:

http://www.pocketwizard.com/products/transmitter_receiver/36/TT1-C/compatibility/


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## eaglem (Mar 29, 2012)

With my 5d3 firing from mini 1 and a 430 EXII via Flex5, it triggers the flash but the flash is just a tiny amount of light at any shutter speed. So not functional at all in TTL only manual mode works. I'm not using the newest firmware which might help.


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## dericcainphoto (Mar 29, 2012)

Maui5150 said:


> Have you updated your PW Mini TT1 for the 5D MKIII???
> 
> Do they have this available for the Mini yet?
> 
> ...


I did have mine set to 7D first and all I got was black frames. I changed the config. and it works better now.


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## Viggo (Mar 29, 2012)

I'm sorry, but I'm going to a bastard. 

I am sooo happy right now... Stupid crappy PW's ;D 

I took my Phottix Odin out of the box, put in the supplied AA batteries, attached the INCLUDED cable to attach them to my Elinchrom's, switched my 1d4 to 1/8000s of a second; always trigger, always sync, no matter what. I've shot almost 3000 images with them total, with both Elinchrom's and 580 ex II's in ALL conditions and situations. Not ONE SINGLE misfire or no-trigger whatsoever. 

And yes, I have tried the Odin with a pre-production 1d X and it syncs at all speeds. If one of the 5d3's pre-ordered from the store I work at doesn't get picked up tomorrow, I will try the Odin with the 5d3 at all speeds also. And if it works, I'll be back to gloat and be a douch badmouthing the useless Flex-system once again! ;D

Thank you and good night!


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## Bosman (Mar 29, 2012)

Viggo said:


> I'm sorry, but I'm going to a bastard.
> 
> I am sooo happy right now... Stupid crappy PW's ;D
> 
> ...


 I have not heard of this brand but i hate my flex tt system so i'd be happy to jump ship for consistency. I even bought 2 430 ex II's because they dont have rf interference so they would play nicer with the Pocketwizard flex system. I don't want to always be figuring out what is wrong so i can use them i just want to use them!


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## Viggo (Mar 29, 2012)

Bosman said:


> Viggo said:
> 
> 
> > I'm sorry, but I'm going to a bastard.
> ...



Exactly what I did, I owned two 580's but they didn't work with the Flex, so I swapped to 430's, but nothing worked regardless of what I did. I replaced triggers and bought a second set of 580's, but nothing worked AT ALL for three years. PW were fantastic and gave me my money back after all that time, bought the Odin and every single time I'm out shooting they're with me and I only worry about framing and light angles, I KNOW it fires correctly. And the range is tested thouroughly to 200 meters (approx. 400 ft) with both ettl and M.

Get them and stop worrying about tweaking them in software to try to get them to use at least one speed to work


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## Orion (Mar 29, 2012)

I can only achieve 1/200, with no banding issues, and if I manually compensate the power via the 580EXII, I am prevented from using the +/- button from the camera, until I manually reset the power setting directly from the flash itself. . .

. . . also get same power output no matter what I dial in. . . 

I hope they fix this problem before April 26-28, when I have my wedding shoot. . . especailly for the ocean portraits, etc.

Got to see what happens if I use the AC3, later. .. .


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## wickidwombat (Mar 30, 2012)

Viggo said:


> I'm sorry, but I'm going to a bastard.
> 
> I am sooo happy right now... Stupid crappy PW's ;D
> 
> ...


you're getting 1/8000 second out of elinchrom studio strobes?! I have got to try this


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## Viggo (Mar 30, 2012)

wickidwombat said:


> Viggo said:
> 
> 
> > I'm sorry, but I'm going to a bastard.
> ...



Yes I did! Elinchrom D-lite 4's, no fiddeling, just set the speed in M-mode and fired away.


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## clicstudio (Mar 30, 2012)

This proves that all the reviews out there about the 5D III are really crap or done by amateurs or people that only shoot birds and weddings but it was not tested in a studio... 

Come on, this is a pro-sumer camera but definitely NOT professional or for real studio work.
I've been using it for 2 days and although I am REALLY impressed with the quality of the images, the high ISO smoothness and the amazingly huge viewfinder and LCD screen, it is just a limited camera.

First of all, it is useless without a grip. Try attaching a heavy 70-200 or a 100-400 to it and your index finger will be sore for hours.
Even with a 24-70, the lens is too heavy for such a small body. Forget it if you want to shoot vertical, you will get carpal tunnel in 5 minutes.

Syncing at only 1/200 is just not enough to freeze motion... The single top display is too crowded with too much information and the weak amber light is not even or strong enough, not to mention the viewing angle is limited to a 45-degree angle... Try looking at it from the very top and everything fades out.

A camera with a full AUTO mode is consumer, however you want to see it. There are more AUTO settings in the camera than in a Rebel... AUTO ISO, AUTO shutter speed, AUTO WB... Is this for photographers or kids?

at $3800 plus $380 for a BG-E11 grip, the 5D III sets u back approx $4200... If you can afford it, for another $2600 u can have the best camera in the world... Why go Half-Ass with a limited camera?

I can't wait for the 1DX to replace my 1D4. Quoting that funny movie, Telladega Nights, you can only count to Number 1. Anything else is just not good enough and Canon 1-Series is what I've been using since 2003... 

Cheers

Pat


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## wickidwombat (Mar 30, 2012)

Viggo said:


> wickidwombat said:
> 
> 
> > Viggo said:
> ...



sweet thats what I have too


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## clicstudio (Mar 30, 2012)

dericcainphoto said:


> Maui5150 said:
> 
> 
> > Have you updated your PW Mini TT1 for the 5D MKIII???
> ...



There is no update for the Mini TT1. Pocket Wizard DOESN'T HAVE a 5D III yet, therefore there is no firmware update. They told me they are hoping to get one soon and they will start to work on it asap. What a bunch of crap. Like they can't afford to get a camera to improve their products...


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## DavidRiesenberg (Mar 30, 2012)

Got a question. For studio work, if I want to set up a high speed sync system, is it possible to do so with only one receiver and setting the other heads for optical triggering? Will this work or will I need a receiver for each head to get the high speed sync?


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## wickidwombat (Mar 30, 2012)

DavidRiesenberg said:


> Got a question. For studio work, if I want to set up a high speed sync system, is it possible to do so with only one receiver and setting the other heads for optical triggering? Will this work or will I need a receiver for each head to get the high speed sync?



no because HSS changes the way in which the flash fires
normal flash punches out a single burst of light in about 1/20000th of a second at either the begining or end of the frame based on if you are using first or second curtain sync

with HSS it lowers the strobe power and pulses it for the duration of the open shutter very fast so that the strobe is emitting light for the whole exposure. this is why when using HSS you may need to use techniques such as ganglighting to provide enough oomph


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## DavidRiesenberg (Mar 30, 2012)

I am sorry, I now realize I wasn't clear at all with my question. I was referring to Viggo's post regarding studio strobes and not Canon's HSS :-[. Calling it "high speed sync" was my mistake. He was talking about syncing at all shutter speeds with Phottix Odin and I was curious about how this works and wether it's possible to trigger only one strobe with it and let the others be optically triggered by that one.


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## wickidwombat (Mar 30, 2012)

DavidRiesenberg said:


> I am sorry, I now realize I wasn't clear at all with my question. I was referring to Viggo's post regarding studio strobes and not Canon's HSS :-[. Calling it "high speed sync" was my mistake. He was talking about syncing at all shutter speeds with Phottix Odin and I was curious about how this works and wether it's possible to trigger only one strobe with it and let the others be optically triggered by that one.


ah ok I dunno i am guessing the odin delay the firing of the flash till the back end of the exposure so maybe it just has a count before it actually signals the flash to fire
but i'm gonna give it a go tonight anyway


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## Viggo (Mar 30, 2012)

wickidwombat said:


> DavidRiesenberg said:
> 
> 
> > I am sorry, I now realize I wasn't clear at all with my question. I was referring to Viggo's post regarding studio strobes and not Canon's HSS :-[. Calling it "high speed sync" was my mistake. He was talking about syncing at all shutter speeds with Phottix Odin and I was curious about how this works and wether it's possible to trigger only one strobe with it and let the others be optically triggered by that one.
> ...



I haven't tried as I had two recievers, but It did work at sync speed 1/200s with some cheap triggers I had before. Radio on camera, to one radio on one flash and the other triggered by the built-in slave function.


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## DavidRiesenberg (Mar 30, 2012)

With normal sync speeds I did use from time to time a combination of radio and optical triggering but I don't know if it'll work in a high speed sync setup.


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## DavidRiesenberg (Mar 30, 2012)

wickidwombat said:


> ah ok I dunno i am guessing the odin delay the firing of the flash till the back end of the exposure so maybe it just has a count before it actually signals the flash to fire
> but i'm gonna give it a go tonight anyway



I imagine it has something to do with timing the actual flash firing. Which makes me think that what I'm asking will not work since an optical triggering implies a certain delay. But I'll appreciate if you can confirm this.


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## wickidwombat (Mar 30, 2012)

DavidRiesenberg said:


> wickidwombat said:
> 
> 
> > ah ok I dunno i am guessing the odin delay the firing of the flash till the back end of the exposure so maybe it just has a count before it actually signals the flash to fire
> ...


just tested it, its fantastic
i set up an odin on a speedlight and an elinchrom strobe set to optical slave, turned off HSS on the odin and set it to 1/8000 sec made sure the speedlight was on first curtain in manual and it fired the studio strobe just fine
so sounds like what you want will work


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## Viggo (Mar 30, 2012)

wickidwombat said:


> DavidRiesenberg said:
> 
> 
> > wickidwombat said:
> ...



Great news! I have sold my Elinchrom's so I couldn't test it, but thats awesome! And I love that the only time you connect the Odin to a computer is when you get new functions. It simply understands everything always. ETTL is also very precise. Now if only Canon AF would be as smart , no fiddeling, just sharp images. ;D


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## DavidRiesenberg (Mar 30, 2012)

wickidwombat said:


> i set up an odin on a speedlight and an elinchrom strobe set to optical slave, turned off HSS on the odin and set it to 1/8000 sec made sure the speedlight was on first curtain in manual and it fired the studio strobe just fine
> so sounds like what you want will work



Many thanks. That's awesome.


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## dpinparis (Mar 30, 2012)

using them as basic triggers only, I do not have a problem shooting at 1/200 with flash.


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## Bosman (Mar 30, 2012)

my flex system is working well with the 5dm3 as far as i can tell.

I was able to shoot 1/8000 sec last night in testing, so the hypersync worked. Maybe its not dialed in but i reset the firmware to auto instead of preogramed for my 1dm3 and my regular 5d.


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## milo (Mar 30, 2012)

I'm sorry, I thought this camera was supposed to have High Speed Sync?


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## Viggo (Mar 30, 2012)

milo said:


> I'm sorry, I thought this camera was supposed to have High Speed Sync?



It's not the camera, neither the canon or other flashes, it's the Pocket Wizard triggering system for wireless flash. Use anything else and the problem is gone.


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## Bosman (Mar 31, 2012)

clicstudio said:


> This proves that all the reviews out there about the 5D III are really crap or done by amateurs or people that only shoot birds and weddings but it was not tested in a studio...
> 
> Come on, this is a pro-sumer camera but definitely NOT professional or for real studio work.
> I've been using it for 2 days and although I am REALLY impressed with the quality of the images, the high ISO smoothness and the amazingly huge viewfinder and LCD screen, it is just a limited camera.
> ...


Wow, seriously, you are complaining about how uncomfortable and heavy it is with a 70-200 without a grip? Have you heard of a monopod?  Yea shooting for hours with a handgrip will help for about an hour then your shoulders and arms start tucking in and you wonder why is it so hard??? lol.


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## wockawocka (Mar 31, 2012)

You know I had a similar experience with it yesterday.

Hand hurt, IQ is better than my 1Ds3 but this is still a prosumer camera.

The 1Dx is the pro one. Sure the 5D3 will do for a lot of applications but it isn't a pro camera. It still feels like a toy.


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## publiux (Mar 31, 2012)

Bosman said:


> clicstudio said:
> 
> 
> > This proves that all the reviews out there about the 5D III are really crap or done by amateurs or people that only shoot birds and weddings but it was not tested in a studio...
> ...



Well said! I was dying of laughter when I read that post, but I couldn't come up with a good response while at work. 

+1!


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## publiux (Mar 31, 2012)

wockawocka said:


> You know I had a similar experience with it yesterday.
> 
> Hand hurt, IQ is better than my 1Ds3 but this is still a prosumer camera.
> 
> The 1Dx is the pro one. Sure the 5D3 will do for a lot of applications but it isn't a pro camera. It still feels like a toy.



Feels like a toy? You should probably return it. Mine feels like a pro camera, and I think it works like one too.


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## Bosman (Mar 31, 2012)

publiux said:


> wockawocka said:
> 
> 
> > You know I had a similar experience with it yesterday.
> ...


+100!


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## Bosman (Mar 31, 2012)

publiux said:


> Bosman said:
> 
> 
> > clicstudio said:
> ...


Haha, yea write ups like this reveal alot.


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## briansquibb (Mar 31, 2012)

Viggo said:


> milo said:
> 
> 
> > I'm sorry, I thought this camera was supposed to have High Speed Sync?
> ...



I played with a 5DIII this afternoon.

- sync maxed at 160
- sync with pw maxed at 160
- sync with Pixel Kings maxed at 160

All with flash on hotshoe.

It is just to easy to point at pw as the source of all problems and not look elsewhere


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## Bosman (Mar 31, 2012)

briansquibb said:


> Viggo said:
> 
> 
> > milo said:
> ...


I havent tried my regular Pw's but the flex work at 1/8000 sec. I guess i didn't feel like testing those since i don't do much studio type work and dont have all my lights set up to try the Plus II's. I hope something changes for that or maybe you need to step up to plus III's for compatibility, Idk. The plus II's never failed me before, sorry you have this prob. Does it affect your shoots you think?


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## Viggo (Mar 31, 2012)

briansquibb said:



> Viggo said:
> 
> 
> > milo said:
> ...



What did the Odin get you for speed?

I'm getting a 5d3 to kill my waiting time for the 1d X also... I'll get to check it out myself, just curious.


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## briansquibb (Mar 31, 2012)

Bosman said:


> briansquibb said:
> 
> 
> > Viggo said:
> ...



This was normal flash on the hotshot. Any faster than 1/160 and the drcpnd shutter was seen.

The 5DIII belonged to another person and he was having problems with the flash (580EXII) so we looked at it together. I have my PW mini with me so we tried that as well - no difference.

On my bodies the mini and flex work fine - I use the auto hss without problem. I have to confess though I only use the flash up to about 30m because after that I find the subject doesn't fill the frame. I cant for the life of me see why any one would want to fire flash at 100m.


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## roofyroo (Apr 1, 2012)

5D Mark III

To confirm another case - sync maxed at 1/160 with MiniTT1 and Flex5, flashes 580 II and 580 on and of the hotshoe.

5D Mark II - fires any speed with the above flashes and PW units.

I also have issues with my 5D Mark II maxing at 1/160 with a PW Multimax and PW Plus II connected to my Profoto B2 pack. I see there is a new firmware for the PW Multimax but the PW update utility does not recognize the Multimax when connected via USB. Anyone had this issue?


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## clicstudio (Apr 1, 2012)

publiux said:


> wockawocka said:
> 
> 
> > You know I had a similar experience with it yesterday.
> ...


Does feel like a toy. At least it sounds better than the previous 5D II which sounded horrible...


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## clicstudio (Apr 1, 2012)

Bosman said:


> clicstudio said:
> 
> 
> > This proves that all the reviews out there about the 5D III are really crap or done by amateurs or people that only shoot birds and weddings but it was not tested in a studio...
> ...



Yeah, I am complaining. I don't use monopods... I don't shoot sports or birds. I only shoot hand held, cause i work with girls, who are moving all the time, just like I do so I get variety on my photos... I am not one of those old studio photographers who take 5 minutes to set up a shot. I am used to a 1D body. Heavy and with a great grip. I am sure the 5D III will be much better with the grip but those add-on grips are not quite the same either... They move and the screw-in system gets loose after a while...
I only rented the 5D for a week to test it and possibly buy it as a second camera. The quality is amazing but the ergonomics and customizing limitations are just not good enough for me, even as a second camera... I pre-ordered the 1DX but I'll keep my 1D4 as a backup...


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## clicstudio (Apr 1, 2012)

Bosman said:


> publiux said:
> 
> 
> > wockawocka said:
> ...


There is a reason it's worth $3800 and a 1DX costs $3000 more, even with 4MP less... Same with the Nikon D800 costing $3000 less than the D4. THe lower the model number, the better the camera. It is NOT a pro camera. Just a camera for the ones that can't afford the 1DX...


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## clicstudio (Apr 1, 2012)

roofyroo said:


> 5D Mark III
> 
> To confirm another case - sync maxed at 1/160 with MiniTT1 and Flex5, flashes 580 II and 580 on and of the hotshoe.
> 
> ...


PW tech support confirmed the same issue goes for the 5D II. The shutter is slower than displayed. 1/160 is the real max.


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## Bosman (Apr 1, 2012)

clicstudio said:


> Bosman said:
> 
> 
> > clicstudio said:
> ...


I hear ya man, I never think about it with my 1dm3 but then my monopod takes the brunt of things for me but then i dont have to move around a ton. but when i do i just carry to another prime spot and start shooting again. What do the girls do that you work with them, outta curiosity? I for one am happy for you on the 1dx, thats gonna be sweet, but primarily, why would you need a 1dx unless you shoot a ton of low light? Your 1dm4 should do well with that. I am just wanting to learn about you and what you do thats all. If i had disposable income id get a 1dx too. Kinda comes off that way that you can do that. Which if thats true i am jealous.


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## dpinparis (Apr 1, 2012)

I have used this with the flex tt5s in simple trigger mode only. Worked fine for me at 1/200.


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## smirkypants (Apr 1, 2012)

briansquibb said:


> On my bodies the mini and flex work fine - I use the auto hss without problem. I have to confess though I only use the flash up to about 30m because after that I find the subject doesn't fill the frame. I cant for the life of me see why any one would want to fire flash at 100m.


I once shot a client mounted on horseback hitting some shots while his two grooms followed him around pointing 430 EXIIs & PW Flexes throwing light on him at dusk. I was shooting with another flex and a 400mm 2.8 and HSS (just to be safe). I also set up a couple of 430s throwing light up at the goal posts. I think most of my shots were from between 40 and 100 yards.

I could have shot from a little closer with a shorter lens, but the angle and the quick movement makes riders harder to track. There were about 4 cool shots out of about 150 and I'd share but he was a very important client who values his privacy greatly.


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## roofyroo (Apr 1, 2012)

We are talking about the 5D MKIII right?

HSS not working and no firmware upgrades yet for the PW devices. Kicks back to 1/200 in this mode. MKII performs fine with high speeds.
Tried calling PW and was on hold for 45 mins before being kicked to voicemail. Loads of weddings next month so it's a pain to have to switch back to the MKII in situations where we need the HSS...


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## briansquibb (Apr 1, 2012)

roofyroo said:


> We are talking about the 5D MKIII right?
> 
> HSS not working and no firmware upgrades yet for the PW devices. Kicks back to 1/200 in this mode. MKII performs fine with high speeds.
> Tried calling PW and was on hold for 45 mins before being kicked to voicemail. Loads of weddings next month so it's a pain to have to switch back to the MKII in situations where we need the HSS...



I think we are talking about hss in general - not only pw - but Pixel Kings as well and also just a straight 580EX.

It is my understanding from my friend that Canon are going to make a firmware change


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## Viggo (Apr 1, 2012)

From what I've heard and read since the 5d was released it has to be one MASSIVE firmware to fix all the issues!!

*Soft images
*Pink bottom right corner
*Which button to use for zoom in in playback mode
*Tracking (reports of 30% hitrate)
*Flash use/sync
*How the AF points can be shown in the VF
*Banding noise at higher iso's
*Curtain showing in picture
*Strobe won't fire when camera horizontal
*Not supporting higher read/write speeds than 30 mb/s with the us of SD cards
*Not able to link spot-metering to the selected AF point

Wow...

And probably a few others I haven't listed.


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## wickidwombat (Apr 2, 2012)

Just an update on the odins
I discovered a couple o quirks on the weekend

1) shooting with mixed flashes (ie elinchrom strobes and 580s) with the shutter speed near x-sync (ie 1/250)
all flashes fire but the shot is only lit by the 580s the timing goes a little out
at high shutter speeds its all good still. not really an issue just drop the shutter back down to 1/200 and everything is all happy again

2) sometimes it would not let me go over 1/200th sec which is strange. i need to play a bit more but maybe you have to have HSS enabled on the odin for it to

I did most of the shoots with 1/200th sec using mixed light setups everything worked perfectly even with 580s hidden well out of view. I just played around with shutter speeds to see how it was going. very impressive little wireless beasts these odins


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## Mike Ca (Apr 2, 2012)

I tried my 5D III with PW+II triggers. I saw a hint of banding at the bottom of the screen. I had tried them earlier and didn't think there was any banding at 1/200 but when I looked closely, there was just a hint. At 1/160 there is no hint of banding. 

I was shooting with a white background. The key and fill light were 580EX II triggered by PW+IIs in modifiers. The background lights were two inexpensive flashes working as optical slaves. I'm wondering if the optical slaves on the background is the issue. I'm going to experiment more when I get some time. I have enough PW+IIs to trigger the background lights that way and see if it helps. 

I also tried a 580EX II on camera and there was no hint of banding at 1/200s.


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## roofyroo (Apr 2, 2012)

580 II on camera and no banding at 1/200

PW Multimax on camera to a PW Plus II on a Profoto B2 battery shows banding at 1/200 just like Mike Ca, just a tiny hint. 1/160 all okay.


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## Mike Ca (Apr 2, 2012)

Mike Ca said:


> I tried my 5D III with PW+II triggers. I saw a hint of banding at the bottom of the screen. I had tried them earlier and didn't think there was any banding at 1/200 but when I looked closely, there was just a hint. At 1/160 there is no hint of banding.
> 
> I was shooting with a white background. The key and fill light were 580EX II triggered by PW+IIs in modifiers. The background lights were two inexpensive flashes working as optical slaves. I'm wondering if the optical slaves on the background is the issue. I'm going to experiment more when I get some time. I have enough PW+IIs to trigger the background lights that way and see if it helps.
> 
> I also tried a 580EX II on camera and there was no hint of banding at 1/200s.



I did a few more tests. I put my background flashes on PW+IIs also, so no optical slaves were used. I still got the hint of banding at 1/200 and it was fine at 1/160. 

I also tried the Canon wireless system. I put a 580ex II on a long OCF cable as the master and used 3 other Canon flashes as slaves. There was no hint of banding with the Canon wireless system at 1/200.

What I'm seeing is subtle. The easiest way to see it is to take a shot of a white or light colored wall or backdrop at 1/200 and 1/160s and compare them. With on camera flash and the Canon wireless system, the pictures looked identical. Using the PW+II to trigger the off camera flashes, I could see a darkening along the bottom edge of the frame. If I go to 1/250s, then I got a real band across the bottom, which is what you would expect since that is over the maximum flash sync speed. 

I looked through the manual but didn't see any option that might affect this.

I don't think this is a big deal, just annoying.


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## smirkypants (Apr 2, 2012)

On the plus side, you can now get a $25 rebate on flexes and minis while you struggle to get it to work with your 5D3.

http://www.pocketwizard.com/25rebate

The rebates are mail-in, though. I hate mail-in rebates. I never bother with them.


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## neuroanatomist (Apr 2, 2012)

smirkypants said:


> On the plus side, you can now get a $25 rebate on flexes and minis while you struggle to get it to work with your 5D3.
> http://www.pocketwizard.com/25rebate
> The rebates are mail-in, though. I hate mail-in rebates. I never bother with them.



Thanks for the heads-up on the rebate. FWIW, it seems that Amazon.com is taking work out of the system, and just selling directly it at $204 for the FlexTT5 and $174 for the MiniTT1 (the post-rebate prices) with no mail-in hassle required. 

Now the question for me is, do I get another FlexTT5 to go with the 600EX-RT that I just ordered, in the hopes that PW will be able to update the firmware to support the 600EX-RT? Not yet, I think... Fortunately, the rebate runs through the end of May, hopefully PW will have something by then, and we'll also know if the range limitation issue of the 580EX II is seen in the 600EX-RT or not.


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## Viggo (Apr 3, 2012)

I'm very happy to report that the 5d3 works at ALL speeds down to 1/8000s with the Phottix Odin straight out the box!

btw, AF does not suck it's VERYVERY good!!!! I'm a happy camper, just bought one today!


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## wickidwombat (Apr 3, 2012)

Viggo said:


> I'm very happy to report that the 5d3 works at ALL speeds down to 1/8000s with the Phottix Odin straight out the box!
> 
> btw, AF does not suck it's VERYVERY good!!!! I'm a happy camper, just bought one today!



have you tried mixing speed ligths with studio strobes and the odins?
see if you can recreate the wired thing i got at 1/250 where the speedlight and studio strobe went out of sync with the studio light not showing up i the pic even though it fired


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## Bosman (Apr 4, 2012)

Just briefly played around with the Flex system again, I didn't get consistency. When i have more time i'll look into it but then its pocket wizard the TT system never was real reliable for Canon. Has anyone contacted them?


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## Viggo (Apr 4, 2012)

Bosman said:


> Just briefly played around with the Flex system again, I didn't get consistency. When i have more time i'll look into it but then its pocket wizard the TT system never was real reliable for Canon. Has anyone contacted them?



I had regular contact with them regarding the 20 million issues I had with the 5d2 and the mk4. I'm not sure what they CAN do, they never fixed any of the issues I had, and to honest, I think for each new firmware I tried, the worse it got.


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## Viggo (Apr 4, 2012)

wickidwombat said:


> Viggo said:
> 
> 
> > I'm very happy to report that the 5d3 works at ALL speeds down to 1/8000s with the Phottix Odin straight out the box!
> ...



Unfortunatly I have sold my Elinchroms, only using speedlites now.


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## Bosman (Apr 4, 2012)

Viggo said:


> Bosman said:
> 
> 
> > Just briefly played around with the Flex system again, I didn't get consistency. When i have more time i'll look into it but then its pocket wizard the TT system never was real reliable for Canon. Has anyone contacted them?
> ...


Yea, i even did a factory reset last week and didn't see improvements. I just dont get why it worked briefly and now it doesn't again. Ticks me off!! Now i feel bad for telling people it was working for me but it really was doing 1/8000 sec. Like when putting a flash on it wants to force the settings, even in manual to shoot 1/200 sec. This may be a Canon Flaw. I tried changing speedlight functions and that didn't help either. Seriously i called them today and waited 10 min with no Tech answering and then I call again and tell the lady and she paged them and after 5 min nothin. Called again and told her and a guy got on in about 2min. He sounded real laid back but at this point i am even more irritated by my pocketwizards but basically he ran me through the factory reset BS again and so i tested it and my 1d was working but underexposed most the time. I got my reg 5d and got it working but same inconsistant results. Some shots with the reg 5d were at 1/1000 sec F5.6 iso 100. I even bought 430 ex II's just to use with the wizards since they are supposed to work well. Wasted time, wasted money.
Here is a bit of info if you have trouble. They say connect things top down. This means connect the wizards to the flash, turn the flashes on then the wizards. with the camera attach the wizard then turn on unless using a flash then turn that on then the wizard. Do the first shots at 125 sec shutter than you may increase it from there.


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## Bosman (Apr 4, 2012)

Viggo said:


> wickidwombat said:
> 
> 
> > Viggo said:
> ...


Does this mean you got the Canon wireless flash system?


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## davidbellissima (Apr 5, 2012)

*5D MK iii with Pocket Wizards*

Just thought I would share a quick test done this morning to confirm that the 5D MK iii works just fine with the Mini-TT1 and Flex-TT5 Pocket Wizards. High speed sync works perfectly fine as well. Not sure what FW version my PW's have loaded but it hasnlt been updated in probably 18 months.

One annoying feature is that when you change shutter speed in the HSS range, the shutter speed diaplay momentarily shows 1/200th before flipping back and showing the correct (higher) shutter speed. Not a big deal, as it all works just as before on the 5D Mk ii.


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## Bosman (Apr 5, 2012)

*Re: 5D MK iii with Pocket Wizards*



davidbellissima said:


> Just thought I would share a quick test done this morning to confirm that the 5D MK iii works just fine with the Mini-TT1 and Flex-TT5 Pocket Wizards. High speed sync works perfectly fine as well. Not sure what FW version my PW's have loaded but it hasnlt been updated in probably 18 months.
> 
> One annoying feature is that when you change shutter speed in the HSS range, the shutter speed diaplay momentarily shows 1/200th before flipping back and showing the correct (higher) shutter speed. Not a big deal, as it all works just as before on the 5D Mk ii.


While i did have those results in testing a week later it always forced it to 1/200 sec no matter what i set in manual mode in iso 100 not auto iso. I just sent them in. I tested on my other cameras and got mixed results. When they work they are great. Wish i had gotten or known about the Odins else i would have ordered those.


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## Bosman (Apr 5, 2012)

*Re: 5D MK iii with Pocket Wizards*

Pocket wizard live training with mark wallace right now 
http://www.pocketwizard.com/webinar?utm_source=Lyris&utm_medium=eBlast&utm_campaign=PocketWizard%2BWebinar%2BReminder%2B4%2F5%2F12


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## Bosman (Apr 5, 2012)

Pocket wizard live training with mark wallace right now 
http://www.pocketwizard.com/webinar?utm_source=Lyris&utm_medium=eBlast&utm_campaign=PocketWizard%2BWebinar%2BReminder%2B4%2F5%2F12


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## davidbellissima (Apr 6, 2012)

*Re: 5D MK iii with Pocket Wizards*

An update to my original post: they DO NOT work properly. I was mislead by the quick test I did inside my home. It was only later that I realised that the flash is pumping out the same low power regardless (manual flash). Range was no more than about 6 meters. I tried them on my Mk ii today and achieved a range of around 25 meters. 

Let's hope PW come up with the goods, and soon!


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## Viggo (Apr 6, 2012)

*Re: 5D MK iii with Pocket Wizards*



davidbellissima said:


> An update to my original post: they DO NOT work properly. I was mislead by the quick test I did inside my home. It was only later that I realised that the flash is pumping out the same low power regardless (manual flash). Range was no more than about 6 meters. I tried them on my Mk ii today and achieved a range of around 25 meters.
> 
> Let's hope PW come up with the goods, and soon!



Why keep them when there's a cheaper and better alternative? I had 50 firmwares and they never worked properly, and the range was nothing.


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## Bosman (Apr 6, 2012)

*Re: 5D MK iii with Pocket Wizards*



Viggo said:


> davidbellissima said:
> 
> 
> > An update to my original post: they DO NOT work properly. I was mislead by the quick test I did inside my home. It was only later that I realised that the flash is pumping out the same low power regardless (manual flash). Range was no more than about 6 meters. I tried them on my Mk ii today and achieved a range of around 25 meters.
> ...


I just dont want to fork another $600 out if PW fixes things for me then i am good. In my letter I said i would give them one more chance than if they still aren't consistent then i would ask for money back. Its crazy to think about the hoops you jump thru to make their system work when others like Odin are doing it without socks and all this crazy stuff...


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## smirkypants (Apr 6, 2012)

*Re: 5D MK iii with Pocket Wizards*



Bosman said:


> I just dont want to fork another $600 out if PW fixes things for me then i am good. In my letter I said i would give them one more chance than if they still aren't consistent then i would ask for money back. Its crazy to think about the hoops you jump thru to make their system work when others like Odin are doing it without socks and all this crazy stuff...


You don't just fork over another $600. They have value. I just sold my PWs and they will 90% finance the Odins that work with my 580 EX IIs and will work with my 5D3 when I pick it up next Tuesday. I've had enough.


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Apr 6, 2012)

I'm thinking of selling my 580 EX II's and going to the new Canon flash. 

I had the old version of the PW's and sold them, and have sold two of my 580 EX II's. I held off buying the new Pocket wizard Mini's when my 5D MK II came out, and then the range issue came up, and the lame excuses that frequencies were not available, its been like a soap opera.

Odin sounds good, but, I may just splurge on the new flashes.


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## Bosman (Apr 6, 2012)

Mt Spokane Photography said:


> I'm thinking of selling my 580 EX II's and going to the new Canon flash.
> 
> I had the old version of the PW's and sold them, and have sold two of my 580 EX II's. I held off buying the new Pocket wizard Mini's when my 5D MK II came out, and then the range issue came up, and the lame excuses that frequencies were not available, its been like a soap opera.
> 
> Odin sounds good, but, I may just splurge on the new flashes.


 I would but i bought 2-430 exII's just for the PW's. I set up two lights for portraits and at the time i figured they would be a good backup flash since i have had my 580 exII's in for repair a couple times already. In fact i just sent one in yesterday because it didn't give full power to the flash so my last wedding things went fubar and i couldn't figure out where the specific issue was at the time and didn't have time to tinker. I still have 4 flashes with me, 1-580 ex, 1-580exII, 2-430exII's. But now i want to use my CP-E4's so i need both 580 EXII's since the older 580ex didn't have the external batteries option and neither do the 430exII's. 

Since i have all this stuff i can't justify the new flashes at the moment. Even if i bought Odins they would be a lot cheaper to get than stepping up to the new flashes. Still with the new flashes i'd prob just use them for family portrait stuff and use the 430 exII's for shooting weddings. I'm sure its cheaper to repair burnt bulbs on those than on the 600's. I don't need the bounce card I just use Stofens now. I used to have all the Gary Fong crap but seriously that stuff is bulky and heavy and my flash didn't stay in the position i wanted it in. I'd like to see Stofen cread a gell version so you can slide a little gell in place. I have Honi Gels but you still gotta fart around with them a bit more than i'd like.


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## awinphoto (Apr 1, 2013)

Any updates... We upgraded to the PW3's and they still have the 1/160 sync limit... oh well...


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