18th Apr 2008
My first Radio Popper frame at a wedding
This is my very first image captured by utilizing the Radiopopper system. Thank you Kevin King for getting these to me, all the way in Mexico no doubt!
I am such a bad professional. I ripped the bag open to reveal my new set of RP’s just 45 minutes before I walked out the door to a wedding 2 days ago. I ran around my place like a crazy man testing for a few minutes, but really didnt do much pro testing on these units before I unveiled them at a pro gig… shame on me eh? My client will be so disappointed that I tested a new product out at her wedding…
Shame on me…
here is my first TTL RP frame 
The down light is from a ceiling lamp in the bathroom…
the rp slave is located just in below the bride’s right arm, next to the sink in the bathroom…
I didnt use the RP’s too much at this gig, but I did play a little
More test results coming!
Cheers!
mateo
Edited to add…. If you are a pocket wizard junkie (like myself) TTL is a foreign language that takes some serious time to learn to speak. If you want to use baby steps to learn to speak the RP language of TTL, then try this technique…
This is a REQUIRED element for those testing the RP who are use to the PW system….
good luck
Love it!! I am so excited to check these out - PWs have been a blessing and a curse in one… a little risky when the shot matters most. Cool picture! I’m sure your bride will forgive you for pushing your creative bounds on her day (;
I hope to see really soon some work done with RP
Thank you for sharing your experiences and superb work.
:)
Did you have another Speedlite as your master, or something like the ST-E2 (because it doesn’t look like there’s any light coming from the front).
The shot looks fantastic by the way, but you probably already knew that… :^D
Gracias!
I was using an St-E2 with my RP in this frame. The remote flash was a 580 ex II.
Later, I used the St-E2 for auto focus assist only… with pocket wizard velcrowed to the battery door on top and transmitting to one remote manual flash.. (nikon sb-28).
Cheers!
mateo
Hi… I like the way you did your shots… I am to set an off camera flash on my gigs… Can you suggest how to set it up… what fashes or controllers shall I avail.. Tnx… you’ve been very helpful
percy,
setting up these type of shots are a bit of 2nd nature and hard for me to explain, short of what i’ve written in my articles. For the off camera flash setup, your protocol involves:
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/03/lighting-101.html
spending at least 1 hour on this website, 3 nights per week for 3 weeks.
You take that class and follow up with your discoveries!
Cheers amigo,
mateo
Well, damn. Here I am just getting my Speedlite rig together and new toys are coming down the pike… I am gonna be so broke! So Matt, do you think there is the potential for these little guys to replace our PW’s in the near future? I am diggin’ it! Keep up the good work.
Oh, just made my first contribution to the Flash Flavor flickr pool too! Lots of great stuff on there!
Jason
no way will the RP’s take over the PW’s…
I think they both are totally different creatures and take a 100% fresh mindset to operate. TTL is a whole different beast for us, I’m a dope with TTL and am coming into this as a kid with a new toy…
My first thoughts are I love my Pocket Wizard
its not going away any time soon…
yo! These look cool. Can someone summarize their function for me? I’m getting it that they up your shutter to 1/500 but if they do the TTL thing why do you need the PW?
Man, it’s too bad they couldn’t make some sort of a TTL adapter for the PW’s.
But that got me wondering… Can you switch the TTL on and off on the RP’s so you can use it like a PW?
Yes you can switch the TTL on and off but not on the RP’s but on the flash itself, Canon and Nikon Flashes have manual modes, so basically what you do is stick your RP’s on ‘manual’ flashes and not use TTL if you want so. Right now I can only imagine wanting a set of PW’s to fire different flashes (larger lights or different brands that don’t understand TTL) or to fire remote cameras for complex settings. Why else would you want your PW’s?
Hello Matt! I’m a bit confused… if what Gonzalo is saying is right, I can’t understand why you are still so in love with PW (other than the larger distance coverage). Wouldn’t be better to stick with RP and choose to use Manual or TTL if needed ? I think it opens up a lot of creative possibilities, FP sync, multiple use of lights with ease, less worries about blown out subjects and you could even use a pair of monkeys as assistants to just take flashes where you want them (I always ask myself how much does count assistants ability in adjusting flash outputs when using PW during a wedding… )
I am just hanging around for mine to come in. It is taking forever IMO. I have no idea why the delays as I should have been in the first batch. So I thought.
LTR bro. BTW never got a cal back
Matt:
The B&W bride shot is lovely (but you know that). It looks like two strobes, though, one from the low right side (that you mentioned) and one overhead. Did you use the RP on one and a PW on the other? Or did you…What?
Thank you VERY much for your time and effort here. You ARE appreciated!
Bob
I have no idea about switching them off… your thoughts sound plausible but if I were going to use the units in manual mode, i’m going to go with my Pocket Wizards, likely.
I know that they are designed to take the magnetic pulse from the TTL system and convey that via radio signal to the receiving unit.
This is how I will be using them.
Bob, thanks for the nice thoughts! we were pretty happy with our first frame using the RP.
—the down light is ambient light coming from a light fixture in the bathroom, its one of those spot can lights… balanced with the RP’s TTL flash burst pretty well!
Cameron,
TTL wireless flash lets you use high speed sync, up to 1/8000 of a second, with the 5d. The RP’s allow you to bridge your signal longer distances and supposedly defeat the “line of site” necessity of the old wireless ttl systems. Why you would need the PW…well, thats a personal choice. I’m sure there will be some inconsistencies with RP’s just as there are with Manual flash… If you are use to shooting manual flash (like me) then you will notice a difference when shooting TTL. It takes a whole new mindset to shoot TTL and use off camera flash rigs. Some practice is going to be necessary to get the hang of either system and I think you will find advantages to BOTH.
hope that helps
Cheers!
mateo
The advantage of manual via the RPs would be you can quickly adjust the power level of the remote flashes from the camera if you are using a 5xx flash on camera. See page 46 of http://www.eosdoc.com/manuals/?q=580EXII Ultimately it will come down to how reliable the RPs are in real world situations. From the reviews out so far it sounds like they are doing very well, though each has managed to get them to miss.
I’m sure by the time I can get them (in the UK) the picture will be clearer.
Nice work. Also, as long as the photos come out well, they shouldn’t be annoyed.
I got my RP in last week. Never used anything before.
I did a run and gun shoot for a religious fund raiser last weekhttp://www.kblawson.com/recent-shoots.html
I was not pleased, but it was me not the RP or my SB800.
I really like these dudes. small compact and work great
Ken from KY
nice work.
i also just posted a review emphasizing shooting wide open with high-speed flash sync.
view the article here:
http://www.kern-photo.com/blog/files/radiopopper_review.php
happy poppin’!
r. j. in denver