16 February 2009

New Pocket Wizards


It seems Pocket Wizards have been looking on a Radio Poppers with envy and decided they don't want an upstart moving in on their market. So, they have just announced new products for wireless E-TTL II control of Canon flashguns. 

It seems it's a whole new system for radio flash control with units called the MiniTT1 (transmitter) and FlexTT5 (transceiver). 

Currently it's only for Canon users and it allows wireless control up to 8fps. 

From the Pocket Wizard Website: 
The New Shape of Wireless Freedom

The smallest PocketWizard radio ever, the MiniTT1™ Transmitter locks onto the camera’s hot shoe supporting an on-camera flash with its own hot shoe while working with remote PocketWizard units. Remotes can be one or more PocketWizard FlexTT5™ Transceivers connected to Canon E-TTL II flashes or any PocketWizard Receiver for triggering flash or remote cameras.

The MiniTT1 Transmitter is easy to use; just slide in place and begin to shoot. The new PocketWizard ControlTL™ System interprets the complex E-TTL II data being sent through the camera’s hot shoe and digitally transmits it in a reliable radio signal. Change the flash compensation dial on the camera, and those commands pass seamlessly through the system to your remote flash. Adjust your shutter speed, aperture or ISO and the system corrects for those changes. A ratio command set on the flash or command unit passes through the MiniTT1 to set the remotes. PocketWizard ControlTL radio communication allows you to shoot farther, faster, around corners, through walls even at high noon in bright daylight. Now you can deploy a wireless flash system wherever you want, without infrared limitations, in seconds.

Use the MiniTT1 for standard triggering with any PocketWizard Receiver including the FlexTT5, PlusII or MultiMAX. When used this way with a digital camera, you can take advantage of PocketWizard’s HyperSync Technology that allows up to 1/500th of a second camera sync with many camera/strobe set-ups. HyperSync allows you to advance the timing of your flash trigger so that faster then X-sync speeds can be achieved.
Need more speed? Push your ControlTL system beyond 1/500th and go into FP/High-Speed sync mode automatically. No buttons to press or settings to change other then your shutter speed will give you flash sync all the way to 1/8000th.

A new PocketWizard Utility program is provided to support the MiniTT1 via a USB port. The Utility allows you to configure your channel settings, dial in your HyperSync timing, adjust your sleep-mode timers and update your product to the latest firmware.
The PocketWizard MiniTT1 Transmitter is the start of a new era in wireless trigger control.

AVAILABILITY: For Canon, March 1st. For Nikon, Q2, 2009. US & Canadian Markets. Contact your local Distributor for availability in other markets.

From their just posted Instruction Manual:
ControlTL: PocketWizard’s newest firmware platform taps into the camera’s digital communications
to enable an entirely new level of remote flash capabilities through our proven radio system, beginning with remote TTL for Canon E-TTL II flash systems with Slide-n-Shoot Simplicity.
HyperSync - Achieve better than X-sync with many
cameras and flashes – up to 1/500th second.
FP/High-Speed Sync: Need more speed? Push
beyond 1/500th and go into FP/High-Speed sync mode
automatically. No buttons to press or settings to change
other than your shutter speed will give you flash sync
all the way to 1/8000th.
Power Tracking: When working in E-TTL II, you can
change any of your control settings on your flash or
camera and the system adjusts for those changes.
Eight Frames per second: Never before have you
been able to shoot remote E-TTL II at this speed.
Nothing else comes close.
Low Profile Design: The FlexTT5 lies flat to stay out of
the way and uses a flip-up antenna for additional range
when needed. The MiniTT1, with an internal antenna,
weighs in at 2.3 oz. and is the smallest PocketWizard
ever.

It seems things are hotting up in the wireless flash world. Hit the comments with your thoughts on it all. 

UPDATE: They've also posted a video on youtube showing some of the features. 

-blabpictures-

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